The North Londoners are set to face Fulham on Sunday as Ange Postecoglou returns his focus to the Premier League following what was a physically and mentally taxing Thursday night in the Europa League, where Tottenham Hotspur came from a one-goal trail to secure the round of sixteen tie on a 3-2 aggregate against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and going on to advance to the quarter finals of UEFA’s second tier competition.
Time for tricky decisions?
And coming into the game, the Australian head coach faces tough decisions given the injury concerns at his disposal, as he needs to manage players, and he will need to start with centre-back duo Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, who have returned to full fitness, but then if you look at the amount of time that they served on the sidelines, they certainly need to be managed well (especially considering the concerns over the former, who was indicating a possible hamstring problem before coming off in the midweek).
You’d expect Archie Gray to return back into the starting eleven given his performances this season don’t warrant him to serve on the bench for a long time.
No Bergvall, No Son?
Midfield is a concern of its own. We saw teenager Lucas Bergvall cramping towards the end of the game vs. AZ, and given his age, he could be rested for tomorrow’s game. The duo of Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma, who were not a party to the starting eleven on Thursday, could likely step into the midfield and James Maddison takes up the creative role.
Then, moving on to the attacking side of things. January loan signing Mathys Tel can possibly continue to feature on the wing—the Australian coach has omitted him from the last two matches, and with the return of Solanke to the squad, the Frenchman could start out wide while giving Son some rest.
Brennan Johnson could come in for Odobert, who has played quite some minutes off late and it’s possibly time to give him a breather.
Ange acknowledges changes
Ange Postecoglou did speak about the need to shuffle his lineup and manage player fatigue. The former Celtic manager said:
“Yeah I think so, I think we need to. We saw how hard it is backing up. Sunday-Thursday isn’t too hard but Thursday-Sunday is a massive task. It helps that we are at home and with us having a more healthy squad it’s good for us to make some changes.”
That being said, a few players are expected to miss out on the availability with Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, and Kevin Danso serving the sidelines, and a return after the upcoming international break is expected for them.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
Tottenham predicted lineup vs Fulham
Tottenham Predicted XI (4-3-3): Vicario; Spence, Van de Ven, Gray, Udogie; Bentancur, Bissouma, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Tel
