The Lilywhites are back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend, with West Ham the guests. Spurs will be looking to bounce back from that woeful defeat to Brighton, while the Hammers will simply want to improve on their dismal eight points from seven games.
Tottenham vs West Ham United
We believe that Guglielmo Vicario will start between the sticks for Tottenham, fresh off the back of his competitive debut for Italy in the international break.
At right-back, Pedro Porro returns to action after a successful recall to the Spain national team.
At left-back, Destiny Udogie retains his spot despite putting in his worst Tottenham performance to date against Brighton last time out.
In the centre of defence, Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven continue to be the go-to partnership for Ange Postecoglou, despite Radu Dragusin’s superb performance for Romania this week.
Rodrigo Bentancur starts in the pivot role, aided by the fact he has been training with Postecoglou at Hotspur Way all week rather than jetting off around the world.
Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison line up in the more attacking and creative midfield positions.
On the right of attack, Brennan Johnson will be hoping to make it eight goals in eight games for club and country across all competitions.
On the left, Heung-min Son finally returns from injury to captain the side.
Up front, Dominic Solanke leads the line following his first minutes for England in over seven years.
Micky Van de Ven retains starting berth but Netherlands suffer defeat
Mon 14 October 2024, 22:00
|
Tottenham Hotspur
Micky van de Ven kept his place in the Netherlands starting XI on Monday night but suffered defeat as his nation fell 1-0 to Germany in the UEFA Nations League.
For the first time in his international career, Micky started for a second consecutive game for the Oranje as their Nations League campaign continued in Munich on Monday.
Starting for the first time at centre back, the defender partnered Stefan de Vrij and played the full 90 minutes as a Jamie Leweling strike on 64 minutes was enough to give the Germans all three points and control of League A Group 3. They now sit two points clear of the Dutch.
The game saw Micky earn his 10th international cap.
Tottenham reportedly approved mass evictions over the summer
Two sources believe Dejan Kulusevski and Spurs’ “best midfielder” are also among those eliminated
The Telegraph recently reported that Tottenham are set to continue their relentless run this summer by axing several underperforming first-team stars
This development was at the request of coach Ange Postecoglou, who called for drastic changes
“We have to change this team,” Coach Postecoglou said
“We have to do that because we have to build a team that we think can play our football
For this to be successful, there must be an exit
The Spurs manager later added: “We need change, change has to happen
” “I can’t change the direction of this club dramatically, because I We’ve been going in one direction and now we’re going in a completely different direction and we’re assuming the same people are there
That’s not going to happen for us
There was a window and we definitely saw some growth in the players, but when I say there’s still a long way to go, that’s exactly what I mean
” He concluded: I’m trying
It’s just that we play a certain way, train a certain way, have a certain attitude, and that doesn’t suit everyone
“And it’s the same whether it’s Liverpool or Arsenal, if you look at the early part of their careers, when they’re competitive and successful, the teams are almost unrecognizable”
Tottenham’s new signings Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur have started life in North London with their first training session with the club
The pair arrived from Juventus on deadline day and are the first signings of the Antonio Conte era
Spurs will be hoping they can help the club finish in the top four this season
Kulusevski started training with his new teammates on Thursday, ahead of Bentancur, who was on international duty earlier this week playing for Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier
Conte downplayed expectations that the new signings would be included in the squad straight away for Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Brighton, but hinted they could play a role off the bench
“Both players are fit, so they will definitely be available tomorrow,” Conte said in his pre-Brighton press conference on Friday
“It’s not right in my opinion to start the match because they have to work with the team for a while
” “Again, these two players should help us a lot
It was no secret that Tottenham wanted to add a right-back to their squad in January, but their attempt failed
The idea is to bring him to North London and use him in this position
