Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping to make it three Premier League wins in a row when they take on Crystal Palace at home on Sunday evening, and Jose Mourinho should unleash Sergio Reguilon in his team.
The former Real Madrid man was left on the bench for Spurs’ win against Fulham in midweek, and whilst Ben Davies did a solid job from a defensive point of view, he simply doesn’t offer the attacking threat of his Spanish teammate.
Reguilon has three assists in just 15 Premier League appearances this season, whereas Davies has just one assist in 19 top-flight appearances.
The 24-year-old full-back has regularly shown in his time with Spurs that he can deliver quality crosses into the box, with Harry Kane often the beneficiary of this, as the England captain has scored twice from Reguilon assists so far this season, against West Ham and Fulham.
Should Reguilon start on Sunday?
Yes
No
We have also seen Davies struggle when faced up against a pacey, tricky winger, as evidenced by his shocking display against Raheem Sterling in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha is one of the best in the league at beating his full-back.
The Ivory Coast international has contributed nine goals and two assists in the top flight so far this season, averaging an impressive 6.96 WhoScored rating – which comfortably ranks him as Roy Hodgson’s best performer so far this season.
If Mourinho were to unleash Reguilon, he could shackle Zaha with his pace, whilst also forcing the former Manchester United man to track back and defend because of his willingness to make attacking runs, whereas Davies staying deep would allow Zaha to stay high up the pitch and run at the Welshman when Palace have the ball.
Earlier in the season, Gary Neville was full of praise for Reguilon, saying:
“Loads of energy, quick to the ball, aggressive in his defending and he flies forward at great pace.”
Therefore, he seems the ideal candidate to deal with Zaha on Sunday and he can also offer Spurs a lot going forward, so Mourinho should unleash the £25.2m-rated defender, as he can be Tottenham’s game-changer against the Eagles.
And, in other news… Dele Alli’s return to form could be bad news for £31.5m-rated Spurs outsider