Tottenham Hotspur had a quiet transfer window and will be aching to start their season on a strong note when they face Newcastle United on Saturday.
Spurs were the only club not to sign a single player in the summer transfer window. Instead, the Lilywhites shifted their focus to extending the contracts of their key players and most importantly, doing well in the new season.
The North London side will take on a Newcastle side who showed fighting spirit in the second half of the last campaign. Head coach Rafael Benitez has already put in a lot of effort on strengthening their squad during the summer and will be keen on starting on a strong note.
Predicted Tottenham Lineup
Defence
Michael Vorm will be the man between the sticks for Tottenham. The Dutch keeper will replace Hugo Lloris who returned to the team training on Monday following an extended break due to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Mauricio Pochettino won’t have to deal with any injuries in the defensive department. But, he could miss out on the services of Jan Vertonghen who also returned to the club earlier this week. We expect the young Kyle Walker-Peters to feature in central defence alongside Davinson Sanchez as Pochettino just doesn’t have the options because the players came back so late following the World Cup.
Serge Aurier’s presence will be a huge boost for the Argentinian. The Ivorian is expected to play on the right while Ben Davies will start on the left.
Midfield
We expect Pochettino to use a 4-2-3-1 formation with Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele playing in midfield. Dembele isn’t 100% fit, though, so we could see Pochettino rotating the team pretty early in the second half.
Up ahead, it will be Christian Eriksen operating from the number ten position. Dele Alli is unlikely to feature having just returned, so a lot of the creative onus will be on Eriksen’s shoulders.
Attack
Tottenham will most likely be without their talismanic striker Harry Kane. In his absence, Fernando Llorente will spearhead their attack and make the most of his opportunity this weekend.
Llorente will be partnered by the duo of Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son on the wide areas. Moura, in particular, will be keen on making an impact this season following a slow start to his career at North London.
