Predicted Tottenham Line-Up To Take On Newcastle
Tottenham take on Newcastle at White Hart Lane on Sunday looking to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal.
Spurs head into the weekend action sitting fourth on goal difference but can move to within two points of the Gunners with a win over the Magpies ahead of their rivals clash with Manchester United later in the day.
Boss Andre Villas-Boas made wholesale changes for Thursday’s 2-0 win over FC Sheriff in the Europa League, so we should see a number of first team regulars return to the starting line-up this weekend.
Hugo Lloris sat out the midweek game but is expected to be recalled on Sunday. The goalkeeper was knocked out against Everton last weekend but has trained all week and is fit to play.
Michael Dawson and Vlad Chiriches should come back in to the defence with Paulinho also likely to be recalled in midfield. Mousa Dembele might get the nod over Etienne Capoue with Sandro set to miss out after picking up a hamstring strain last week.
Andros Townsend, Lewis Holtby and Aaron Lennon could all start in attack behind Roberto Soldado with the likes of Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen and Jermaine Defoe dropping back to the bench.
Danny Rose is likely to continue on the sidelines as he struggles to overcome a foot problem. Here’s the line-up AVB might go with:
What do you think of our line-up? What team would you start? Share your views below.
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Dubz
November 8, 2013 at 5:28 pm
Lamela for Townsend. If Townsend must start it shall be on the left. Lamela has to start no question about it he must play on Sunday. We want to see Lamela given a proper run of games and a start in the premier league. He is a class act and offers so much more than Townsend on the right. Lamela to start its a no brainer I hope AVB does the right thing and starts him. AVB has been waiting for Erik to show is brilliance which he did last night. To drop him after that would be detrimental, negligent and imo foolish. He is going to be a superstar and our best player when he hits his stride completely. Lamela starts he has too.
dnug
November 8, 2013 at 7:42 pm
Agreed, except Lamela may not come in so quickly this Sunday after doing 90 minutes on a Thursday. If he starts, you may see him leave after 60 min, to protect him … or used off the bench this weekend.
Alee
November 9, 2013 at 9:05 am
So, Townsend to start on the left and Lamela on the right with Lennon coming on for Lamela on about the 60 minute mark?
sybrian
November 8, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Lloris
Walker perm 2 from in the middle Naughton
Lamela Capoue Paulihno Townsend
Sigurdsson
Soldado
Alee
November 9, 2013 at 9:07 am
It’ll never happen, but I quite like that.
dnug
November 8, 2013 at 6:09 pm
Yup – I would hope AVB pairs Soldado with creative players like Lamela, Eriksen and Sygurdsson (or Holtby), and leave Townsend and Lennon to play with Defoe in the Cup games – those seem to me better matches of style and potential.
Marlow
November 8, 2013 at 6:18 pm
Lloris
Walker Dawson Chiriches Vertonghen
Townsend Capoue Paulihno Lennon
Lamela
Soldado
Don’t think H or E have are offering enough. Lamela looks perfect for the role. Can see why he scored and assisted so much in Itlay, if he gets the ball with options.
Garry
November 8, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Ll
Walker, Daws, Jan, Naughton
The Moose, Capoue
Lennon, Siggy
Lamela
Defoe
dnug
November 8, 2013 at 7:51 pm
I think we need to look at contribution to select the better attacking midfielders. I see Spurs fans still calling for Lennon and Townsend above the other options, but those two have the lowest success rates over multiple categories of any of the Spurs options: lowest successful dribbles; lowest creation of goal scoring opportunities; lowest goals-to-shots ratio (terrible, actually). They look exciting with their pace and dribbling at the defense, but where they excel at “highest” among their teammates is highest rate of turn-overs. Neither can see thr runs of their forwards (why Soldado is so isolated) and they both are far too slow at passing the ball (ditto Soldado isolation) – too many touches only helps the defense. It results-wise statistically, it is a no-brainer to go with Sygurdsson, Lamela, Eriksen and Holtby over these two.