Tottenham Hotspur had a terrible outing against Liverpool a couple of days ago and will have to improve when they travel to San Siro to take on Inter Milan. The Serie A side also lost at home to Parma and have a woeful start to their league campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side will be up against an upbeat team, however, as Inter are returning to the Champions League after a long hiatus. The team has some good players who can beat the best sides if they function as a unit and Spurs can ill-afford to be as poor as they were in their 1-2 defeat to Liverpool.
Tottenham Hotspur Team News
Spurs will be without Hugo Lloris and Dele Alli for the tie but the latest press conference by Pochettino also revealed that Toby Alderweireld and Kieran Trippier will miss the clash due to a ‘technical’ decision. That does make the squad considerably weaker and it seems the team will have to dig deep.
Predicted Tottenham lineup
Defence
Michel Vorm made a few good saves against Liverpool but was also at fault for both the goals as his indecisiveness came to the fore. He’ll have to be wary against Inter who do have some height in their team and will be tough to stop during set-piece situations.
Part of the reason why the Spurs defence collapsed against Liverpool was that of the lack of protection they had from the midfield. In Alderweireld’s absence, Davinson Sanchez is expected to start and Jan Vertonghen will partner the Colombian at the heart of the defence.
Serge Aurier will start in Trippier’s absence while Ben Davies could start on the left in place of Danny Rose.
Midfield
The diamond simply didn’t work against Liverpool and we expect Pochettino to revert to a two-man midfield pivot. Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama could start in the middle. The latter’s ability to dribble out from the defence will be a key factor tomorrow while Wanyama will have to sit in front of the defence and keep the likes of Icardi quiet.
Christian Eriksen should play in the number 10 role as he’s averaged more than two key passes a game. Against a pragmatic side like Spalletti’s, Eriksen will have to be at the top of his game to find the defence-splitting pass.
Attack
Lucas Moura should be played on the left as he has the pace and trickery to trouble teams. His confidence is high after scoring thrice for Spurs and he was unlucky to score against Liverpool after hitting the outside of the post.
Harry Kane has been subdued and perhaps needs a break. Son Heung-Min looked lively against Liverpool and we see him starting against Inter.
Eric Lamela too has had a good pre-season and should be given the nod to start on the right. Lamela and Lucas’ ability to cut in and trouble the defenders could be what Spurs need to test the Inter defence.
Son
Lucas – Eriksen – Lamela
Dembele – Wanyama
Davies – Vertonghen – Sanchez – Aurier
Vorm
Stats via Whoscored