Spurs welcome fierce rivals Chelsea to White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, in what is a huge clash in terms of this year’s Premier League title race. But there is one big decision that Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino must make prior to the game, that could prove crucial to the outcome of the game.
We can all take a very good guess that Antonio Conte will set up his side in a 3-4-3 formation, as he has done since the start of October, but there is a little more uncertainty as to which formation Mauricio Pochettino will set up his side in.
As has been the case in many games this season, we saw Spurs play in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Southampton last Wednesday, but Pochettino set up his team in a 3-5-2 formation on New Year’s Day against Watford. The question is, what will the Argentine do on Wednesday night at White Hart Lane?
Obviously taking into account the opposition, there are pros and cons to both formations when playing against Chelsea. Starting with the 4-2-3-1 formation, how this formation is played depends on the attitude of the full-backs and how much they push on. They can either stay back and take care of their wingers, or they can try to push their winger back by looking to cause problems going forward at every opportunity. This is something that Kyle Walker and Danny Rose are both very good at doing.
In every team, there must be a mix of your physical players in the defensive midfield, the likes of Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama, and your creative players such as Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli. An advantage to playing this system against Chelsea is that Spurs will be able to play both Wanyama and Dembele in the middle of the park without having to sacrifice either Eriksen or Alli.
However, you would think that against Chelsea, a side that play with a lot of pace and width, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker would be kept rather busy, without being able to get forward. This eliminates a big part of the Spurs attack, the full-backs causing problems.
That is one of the reasons I would lean towards playing a 3-5-2 formation against Chelsea. This provides a little more defensive solidity. The wing-backs can drop in to defend, just as they did at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal, and at least one of them can get forward when in possession and cause problems going forward.
The formation matches Chelsea, and if the wing-backs do their job defensively, the Blues are matched in the width that they offer. It gives a nice balance. The wing-backs can drop in and defend if they need to, but also have the licence to get forward with a reduced risk of getting caught on the break.
The only drawback to Mauricio Pochettino in playing this formation is that Spurs would have to sacrifice either one of the strong defensive midfielders or an attacking midfield player. That is another decision he would have to make.
For those exact reasons, that is why Mauricio Pocehttino should set up his team in a 3-5-2 formation on Wednesday night against Chelsea, if Spurs are to beat Antonio Conte’s side.
