Spurs Boss Confirms He’ll Field Weakened Team For Liverpool Game

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that he’s ready to field a weakened team and play his youngsters during Tottenham’s EFL Cup clash with Liverpool at Anfield later this month.

The Argentinean coach handed debuts to a number of academy players during the third round of the competition when the north Londoners thrashed Gillingham 5-0 at White Hart Lane on September 21st.

Teenage defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and midfielder Harry Winks were both handed first team debuts while Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, Marcus Edwards and Anton Walkes all came off the bench to make their bows for the club.

Tottenham have been drawn to play Premier League rivals Liverpool in the last 16 and Jurgen Klopp may be tempted to play a strong side again given the fact the Merseysiders have no European football to contend with this season.

Klopp has taken the League Cup seriously and fielded many of his first team regulars so far as the Reds eased past Burton Albion 5-0 and Derby County 3-0 and the German coach is expected to put out a strong side when Tottenham come to town on October 25th.

However, it doesn’t look like Pochettino is set to follow suit as the Tottenham coach has confirmed that he’s ready to give his youngsters and fringe players another chance to impress at Anfield.

Pochettino is quoted as saying by Ham & High newspaper:

“For me, they are not kids or boys, they are players. To show and to prove that they can compete and have the quality to stay in the first team, it is the same to play against Gillingham at White Hart Lane and against Liverpool at Anfield. They need to show [what they can do].

“We believe in them and if my team is the same as against Gillingham or there are some changes, they need to prove they have quality. You know, always the big, big players start their careers [somewhere] and they need to make their debut sometimes in a difficult place like Anfield.

“We are involved in the Champions League and [Liverpool] are not involved in European competition so it’s a good opportunity for our players who don’t play too much, or the younger players, to build their reputation and build their career and confidence for the future.”

It makes sense for Spurs to give their first team players a rest as they have a Champions League double-header against Bayer Leverkusen as well as league matches against Bournemouth, Leicester and Arsenal to worry about over the coming weeks so Pochettino is understandably going to take this opportunity to give his key men a breather.