Tottenham Hotspur are back in action this evening as they make the trip to Portugal to face Primeira Liga giants Sporting CP in the second outing of Group D in the Champions League.
Antonio Conte’s side defeated Ligue 1 outfit Marseille 2-0 last time out to extend their seven-game unbeaten run to begin the 2022/23 campaign and after their Premier League clash with defending champions Manchester City was postponed over the weekend, they could benefit from some added rest.
Although with the prospect of Leicester City on Saturday night, the Italian will still need to keep in mind rotation but luckily, he has the depth to do so.
Here’s the lineup we could see at the Estádio José Alvalade tonight…
Spurs fans, prediction for tonight’s UCL clash?
Sporting win!
Draw…
Tottenham win!
Between the sticks, club captain Hugo Lloris should remain as the 53-year-old head coach rarely rotates his goalkeeper, even despite the addition of veteran backup Fraser Forster in the summer.
We could, though, see a return to the starting XI for Ben Davies, who replaces Clement Lenglet on the left-hand side of a back three. He joins both Eric Dier and Cristian Romero, as well as wing-back duo Ivan Perisic and Emerson Royal.
In midfield, Conte could be tempted into another change as Yves Bissouma is in line to be granted his first start since arriving from Brighton and Hove Albion, in a bid to keep Rodrigo Bentancur fresh for the weekend. He should partner Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the engine room.
Whilst up top comes the Italian’s toughest decision and ultimately, he should make the bold call to drop an out-of-form Heung-min Son with Richarlison delivering in recent matches.
The Brazilian should start on the left, supporting striker Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski, who is the third and final alteration from last Wednesday’s win over Marseille.
Once described as a “non-stop machine” by journalist Nima Tavallaey Roodsari, the £35m Sweden winger should come back into the fray after a positive cameo from the bench in the same game.
Only Lucas Moura is unavailable due to injury.
Predicted Spurs XI (3-4-3): Lloris; Davies, Dier, Romero; Perisic, Hojbjerg, Bissouma, Emerson; Richarlison, Kulusevski, Kane
AND in other news, Conte must ruthlessly drop Spurs’ £192k-p/w “beast” tonight, he’s been “very quiet”…