It was back to winning ways for Tottenham after last week’s hammering of Bournemouth. It was not just the scoreline but also the football quality that was witnessed by the supporters, that this game against Aston Villa who are still yet to replace Tim Sherwood after sacking him last weekend is expected to end in a similar fashion for Tottenham.
In goal will be club captain and one of the best keepers in the PL currently, Hugo Lloris. The Frenchman has pulled off some crucial saves and has always shown that he is a player who will be sorely missed if not in the line up.
The back 4 will not see any changes from last weekend though Kieren Trippier was given a PL debut at the club as a 2nd half substitute, Poch seems to have settled on his best defensive combination. The club has a very tight defensive record in the Premier League and he has the Belgian duo of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen to thank for it. The 2 CBs have incredible chemistry and if they keep performing like this throughout the season, we may even see them make it to the top 5 defenders in the PL. Both players in the prime of their careers, Spurs really have to use this to their advantage and can’t give any defensive failures as an excuse. Players like Fazio, Wimmer have to wait a LONG time to feature in the PL starting XI. The unpredictable Kyle Walker too has had a good season so far, not showing his disappointing side of football on the majority of the occasions, while Ben Davies and Rose keep each other good competition for a spot in the side. This will be the only spot that one can’t say for sure, who will play until it’s out to the public by the manager.
Bentaleb is still injured, and with Mason returning to the side, Poch may still be limited in his midfield options, but when his current first choice of Delle Alli and Eric Dier is flourishing, there is no need to experiment with the side and probably lose something that is going perfectly well. The duo will continue to play as CM pairing, with Chadli still in doubt for the game, Eriksen will play out wide down the left flank while Dembele and Lamela will be the other 2 options for CAM and RW respectively. Both of the latter 2 players scored last weekend and Lamela especially is enjoying a brilliant 3rd season at Spurs, currently the leading goal scorers in all competitions for the club. He will look to continue his brilliant run of form and prove that the 33 Million invested in him was actually worth it.
Harry Kane came back to goal scoring form in style last weekend with a hat trick and it was no secret that the return of Eriksen to his best form was a major reason in the Englishman finding his scoring touch once again. Kane would hope Eriksen continues to feed him those glorious through balls and the set-pieces that are just asking to be buried. With Villa also in a rut, Kane will look to pile more misery and is the perfect opportunity for Spurs to start mounting a top 4 challenge. They could be the dark horses in this race and the key to that is naming an unchanged XI against Villa and winning the game convincingly.