After a disappointing loss against Chelsea in the League Cup final on Sunday, the boys will look to bounce back in style with a win against Swansea. With no fresh injury concerns, Mauricio Pochettino has a full squad to choose from. With the team returning to the lane with the fans fully behind them, everyone has good reason to look to the future.
The youthful squad has a strong future ahead of them, and not for many years has a squad manage to connect with the fans more than with this squad, so the future looks bright. With youth surrounding the team, the youth side making strides in the Youth Cup, all this spearheaded by a young manager, the loyal Spurs fans have a lot to be positive about, even in the light of defeat.
But another small step in that future is Swansea City at home, and if we get through this test, and with results going our way, we could reclaim our place in the race for the top four.
Changes from the cup final loss on Sunday may be limited, but some of the players my be changed around for fitness reasons. Here is the team news and predicted line-up.
Team News:
Mauricio Pochettino has no new injury concerns to contend with when picking the starting eleven to face Swansea.
Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris
After captaining the side at Wembley, Hugo will maintain his record of starting every Premier League game this season.
Defence: Kyle Walker; Eric Dier; Jan Vertonghen; Danny Rose
This appears to be the starting four in our Premier League side, so unless any last minute injuries affect the team, this is most likely going to be the back four.
Defensive Midfield: Ryan Mason; Nabil Bentaleb
After putting in a fine performance on Sunday, Nabil Bentaleb will keep his place in the starting eleven alongside his partner in crime, a fan favourite and Tottenham boy Ryan Mason. These two manage to consistently control the game and pull the strings, and against a team such as Swansea who enjoy a large amount of possession, these two will be vital.
Midfield: Mousa Dembele; Erik Lamela; Andros Townsend
The biggest change of the squad will be the absence of Christian Eriksen from the midfield. Eriksen has been worked into the ground recently and needs a break, which was almost evident in the cup final. With a fresh Dembele, hopefully given a free role in the middle, the game will be run through him, and he will be the dictator of the attack for Spurs. As for the wings, its likely that against Swansea, who’s full backs do enjoy to bomb forward, the pace of Lamela and Townsend will be exploited to its fullest. Also, its very likely that both wingers will swap sides throughout the game to switch up play and exploit the full backs and provide Kane and possibly Dembele with ammunition for goals.
Striker: Harry Kane
Despite being relatively quiet against Chelsea, Harry Kane is still the main danger man, and goalscoring force for Tottenham. If Kane scores against Swansea, he will become the first Spurs youth product to score 25 goals in the same season since Mark Falco in 84/85. This speaks volumes of how much Harry Kane has been a revelation this season, and hopefully with a bouncing White Hart Lane behind him, he could possibly beat Falco’s record.
