What Tottenham squad could look like vs Man City after Richarlison claim and fresh injury update
Ange Postecoglou will once again have to contend with a threadbare Tottenham squad for Sunday’s Premier League clash against Manchester City. Losing some key players over the past month, Rodrigo Bentancur became the latest player to join the long list in the treatment room after picking up an ankle ligament injury in the home defeat to Aston Villa.
There will once again be no Pape Matar Sarr for the showdown, with Postecoglou indicating in his pre-match interview on SPURSPLAY that the Senegalese star is currently behind Richarlison in terms of his comeback. The head coach also spoke about the Brazilian, revealing that the 2022 summer signing could take his place in training 24 hours before the match at the Etihad Stadium.
“Richy’s probably the closest out of the ones who have been missing, so looking to get him involved in training hopefully tomorrow and then we’ll see how he is as he’s obviously missed a fair bit,” explained Postecoglou.
“He’s done his rehab really well and he feels good which is important. He’s sort of the next cab off the ranks in terms of the injured guys.”
On Sarr he added: “Pape’s probably a little bit behind him [Richarlison], so we’ll just see how he goes.” said the 58-year-old. “I guess out of all the injured guys they’re the two who we’re hoping will be back over the next couple of weeks and the rest of them we won’t see them until the new year.”
So what could the Tottenham squad look like against Man City? football.london takes a look below.
It appears that Postecoglou will be opting for the same backline that he started in last weekend’s defeat against Aston Villa if his comments in his press conference are anything to go by. Asked by football.london about Eric Dier potentially coming into the team to give them some height in defence and to try and help them deal with Erling Haaland, Postecoglou said: “No. I thought it was one aspect where we struggled last week, maybe around set-pieces. To be fair, Villa are very good at them.
“Overall I thought our defending was actually quite good. We were disappointed with the second goal, more than the first goal. Not just the back four, but defensively, we were really passive in that five to 10 minute spell which we paid a price for. That’s more of a collective thing.
“They haven’t grown – they are all the same height as last week. We tried to feed them some different stuff but we’ll go with that.”
Starting with Guglielmo Vicario in goal as ever, that means a back four of Pedro Porro, Emerson Royal, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie looks likely. In midfield, Yves Bissouma will take the place of the injured Bentancur and Giovani Lo Celso certainly deserves another start after a very good showing last Sunday.
Dejan Kulusevski could once again take his place in the No.10 role unless Postecoglou wants to strengthen his midfield by bringing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg into the team in place of Bryan Gil. If that is the case, one of Kulusevski or Lo Celso would move into the front three alongside Brennan Johnson and Son Heung-min.
On the bench, Postecoglou and Tottenham may have to name two goalkeepers on there once again unless the head coach decides to bring one of the academy players into the matchday party. If it is to be two goalkeepers selected, Brandon Austin will join Fraser Forster as a substitute.
Dier and Alfie Dorrington will be the defensive options available to Postecoglou from the bench, with Oliver Skipp and one of Hojbjerg or Gil on there as well depending on the 58-year-old’s starting XI selection. Jamie Donley and Alejo Veliz will provide Postecoglou with cover in attack and there’s the possibility that Richarlison could be selected following the Australian’s comments when speaking to SPURSPLAY.
That may all depend on how Richarlison comes through a training session on Saturday, though, as he could be considered as an option for the bench if he is in a position to take his place in the matchday squad. If not, youngsters Max Robson, Jude Soonsup-Bell and Tyrese Hall may possibly come into Postecoglou’s thinking after training with the first-team squad at Hotspur Way this week.
Possible Tottenham starting XI and subs vs Man City
Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Emerson, Davies. Udogie; Bissouma, Lo Celso, Kulusevski; Johnson, Son, Gil. Subs: Forster, Austin, Dier, Dorrington, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Donley, Veliz, Richarlison.
