An injury-stricken Tottenham Hotspur clash with high-flying London rivals Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon.
A disappointing defeat at Bournemouth earlier this week saw Spurs drop to 10th, with calls for Ange Postecoglou to be sacked growing louder. While reports suggest that the board will give him more time, a lacklustre performance against rivals Chelsea would be disastrous for the Australian.
Here’s the predicted Tottenham lineup to face Chelsea on December 8.
Goalkeeper
Fraser Forster
Forster continues to fill in for first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who is sidelined with an ankle injury. The veteran keeper has been in good form lately and will be searching for his first clean sheet of the season against Chelsea.
Defenders
Pedro Porro, Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Destiny Udogie
With first-choice centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero injured, Postecoglou has been forced to deploy a much weaker backline in recent games. To make matters worse, back-up centre-back Ben Davies is also out injured now, and the manager will likely turn to youngster Archie Gray to play as a make-shift central defender against Chelsea.
Midfielders
Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski
Bussouma and Sarr have forged a strong partnership in the middle of the park and will have Kulusevski ahead of them in attacking midfield. Winning the midfield battle against Chelsea will be crucial for Tottenham, with the visitors having arguably the best midfield trio in the league in Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, and Cole Palmer.
Forwards
Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke, Son Heung-min
Spurs have scored just one goal in their previous two Premier League games against Fulham and Bournemouth. Solanke has not scored in over a month and will hope to receive more chances with the expected inclusion of captain Son Heung-min in the starting eleven.
Tottenham Hotspur predicted lineup vs Chelsea
Fraser Forster; Pedro Porro, Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Destiny Udogie; Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski; Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke, Son Heung-min.
