Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur came up short against European giants Juventus for their round of 16 clash in the UEFA Champions League clash. In the domestic league, Spurs are falling behind the chasing pack with Manchester City already gone far off and Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United looking to fight Spurs for the next three spots. They were in the middle of a fantastic unbeaten run and had collected 7 points from their 3 games recently against top sides like Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool away.
In their last five league games, they have won four and drawn just one match keeping four clean sheets in the process. They will hope to recover from their defeat against Juventus with a win against Bournemouth. Juventus ended a thrilling night of European football this mid-week for Tottenham by beating the English side at Wembley. Spurs had taken the advantage home last time by drawing 2-2 away at Turin and were in charge in the first half here as well. They took a well-deserved lead with Son putting them 1-0 up on the night.
However, things unravelled rather fast for Spurs and in a very anti-climactic fashion. The Tottenham players lost their calm when Higuain put Juventus on par tonight with a tap-in in the 64th minute. Spurs lost their pace and power and in the next 3 minutes, Dybala had tapped finished off the north London side with a calm finish in a one-on-one situation.
With a relatively easier match now coming up against Bournemouth, Tottenham will want to rest a couple of their performers. They will also hope to win all three points and secure the fourth European spot as the chance for a Champions League win is now gone. They will know that no Premier League match is easy either and will have to be careful so as to not drop any silly points with Chelsea still hot on their heels.
Here is how they will look to line up.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Defence:
Hugo Lloris will want to play in goal and should be expected between the sticks once again to lead the north London side. In the right-back position, Kieran Trippier could be replaced by Serge Aurier. The left-back could be marshalled by Ben Davies with Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez as the two centre-backs.
Midfield:
Mousa Dembele will be expected to line up next to Victor Wanyama with Christian Eriksen in front of them. Dele Alli can be expected on the left wing with Erik Lamela on the right.
Attack:
Harry Kane can be expected to lead the line.
