Tottenham Hotspur could move into fourth place in the Premier League with a win over this evening’s opponents Liverpool as they welcome the defending champions to north London.
Spurs head into the encounter somewhat shrouded in mystery after Jose Mourinho hinted at injury troubles and refused to name which of players were struggling.
Although, the Evening Standard report that Sergio Reguilon has been ruled out for ‘around three weeks’ while Ben Davies is a doubt to face the Reds after being forced off in injury-time during their 4-1 win over Wycombe in the FA Cup on Monday.
It gives the Portuguese boss plenty to ponder going into such a crucial game. Liverpool have injury problems of their own and have failed to win in five straight league outings.
So with that in mind, what sort of XI could we see at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight?
Here’s the lineup we’re predicting…
With league duties resuming, we’re likely to see club captain Hugo Lloris return between the sticks, taking over from cup-keeper and current back-up, Joe Hart.
Mourinho could turn to a back three as he has done in recent matches against Sheffield United and Wolves in order to combat the firepower on offer for the opposition.
The Spurs boss is without Reguilon while Davies may not be risked if he’s not passed fit to feature, meaning we may see Japhet Tanganga deployed on the left for only the fourth time in his career.
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He was deployed in the role against Man City last season and helped keep a clean sheet. His debut even came against Liverpool, though on the other flank, and resulted in praise from the visiting boss, Jurgen Klopp. He said (via football.london):
“He played well. It was nice when the crowd cheered his name. It was his first Premier League game? Very impressive.”
Eric Dier and Joe Rodon could return to partner Toby Alderweireld, meaning once £42m club-record man Davinson Sanchez is axed whilst on the right, Serge Aurier comes back in after a bout of illness. He only made the bench on Monday.
Matt Doherty, like Davies, is a doubt too.
After it worked so well up at Bramall Lane, we could see that Tanguy Ndombele and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg partnership in the middle continue to thrive, especially after the 90-minute shift Moussa Sissoko put in against Wycombe, playing both in central midfield and then at right-back.
As a result, The Frenchman is dropped while fellow midfield ace Harry Winks, now valued at €40m (£36m) by CIES, also faces the axe.
Mourinho had to call upon Harry Kane and Heung-min Son to get the job done in the FA Cup and both will start here this evening.
Steven Bergwijn was well-rested and is also in contention to start over Gareth Bale and Lucas Moura, who both played over an hour on Monday.
It means there could be a total of nine changes with Carlos Vinicius and Erik Lamela also dropping to the bench.
AND in other news, Here’s how Levy struck gold with this Spurs summer transfer deal…