Tottenham Hotspur will clash heads with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday looking to bounce back from their narrow 1-0 defeat against Manchester United last weekend. Spurs have fallen off the pace in the title race and are now in danger of being caught by some of their top four rivals if they cannot get some favourable results in the Premier League over the next few weeks.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and will be forced to play Lucas Moura as a centre-forward up top in the absence of the injured Harry Kane.
4-2-3-1 Tottenham Hotspur Predicted Lineup To Face Fulham
Defence
Hugo Lloris will line up as Pochettino’s first-choice goalkeeper once again on Sunday after keeping two clean sheets in his last three starts in the Premier League. The French goalie will need to be at his best as he might be called into action by the likes of Aleksander Mitrovic and André Schürrle who have both been Fulham’s biggest weapons going forward.
Spurs could start with Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez as the duo are expected to put in a solid shift at the heart of the Tottenham defence. Jan Vertonghen might be available on the bench as he nears a return to first-team action after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury.
Kieran Trippier will likely get the nod ahead of Serge Aurier to start at right-back while Danny Rose looks to use his pace to join in on the attack down the left flank. Spurs have been far too inconsistent defensively which has seen them fall behind in the title race so Pochettino will be expecting an improved showing from his defenders this weekend.
Midfield
Both Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko could operate as the holding midfielders as they look to establish Spurs’ dominance at the middle of the park. The trio of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Erik Lamela will lineup ahead of them as they would hope to link up with each other to create some good opportunities in the opposition half. Both Eriksen and Alli will need to step up in the absence of Heung-min Son who is currently unavailable due to his 2019 AFC Asian Cup commitments with South Korea.
Attack
Harry Kane had picked up a serious knee injury against Manchester United last weekend which will see him miss a number of matches over the next few weeks. Hence, Tottenham might be forced to play Lucas Moura as a makeshift centre-forward up top.
The Brazilian speedster started this campaign quite brightly but has since fallen down the pecking order at the North London club. So this London derby against the Cottagers could be the perfect opportunity for him to impress in the colours of Tottenham and reclaim a place back in Pochettino’s starting XI.
