On Sunday afternoon, Tottenham Hotspur hosts Fulham for match day of the Premier League season.
Ange Postecoglou’s side are looking to bounce back from the disappointing draw at home to AS Roma in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
For that game, Ange went with quite a strong XI — which makes the disappointing result even more frustrating. Fulham have had the week off, so we may see some changes from Ange — but who?
To start, of course, Ange Postecoglou will have to remove Rodrigo Bentancur from the starting XI — but who comes in? The instinctive answer is Yves Bissouma, but he looked leggy against Roma. Archie Gray impressed in spells at left-back, could he finally get the chance to start in midfield?
The issue with that is that you would feel James Maddison will come back into the side. The Spurs number ten scored twice in the win over City, and was not risked from the start against Roma.
A midfield three consisting of Gray, Maddison, and Kulusevski does feel a bit too open, even for Ange. Could we see a midfield three of Gray, Maddison, and Pape Sarr, with Dejan Kulusevski on the right wing, the role he played so well against Manchester City?
However, what would you then do with Brennan Johnson, who is arguably Spurs’ biggest goal threat at the moment. There would be quite the domino effect to starting Gray in midfield here, as nice as it would be to see him start.
Therefore, the likelihood is that Ange goes with a midfield three of Kulusevski and Maddison on either side of Bissouma. Even that is quite open, but so is Fulham’s midfield — often starting without a pure defensive midfielder themselves.
There is the possibility of Gray filling in at full-back again, with Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie having played the most minutes of any Spurs player so far this season. Djed Spence is another option who could come into the team, having shown bright cameos this season.
Furthermore, the upcoming schedule is seriously intense, with Ange’s side not having more than four days between games until January — and he could want his first-choice full-backs fresh and with a lower risk of injury.
Dominic Solanke looked exhausted against Roma and did seem to get a knock in the first half. However, there is just such a lack of alternatives, with Richarlison perennially injured. There is the possibility of a reshuffle in attack, with Son through the middle, Johnson off the left, and Kulusevski off the right, though that feels unlikely.
With the skipper's injury issues this season, and having started against Roma — Ange may even feel this is a game too many ahead of the festive schedule. Could we see Johnson and Kulusevski off the flanks, and Solanke through the middle?