Tottenham Hotspur will make a short trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea as they look to cling on to their narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg. Spurs are in a rich vein of form of late but have some major injury concerns to cope with at the moment. Both Harry Kane and Dele Alli will miss out on this Thursday night clash due to injuries while Heung-min Son won’t be available for selection due to his international commitments with South Korea.
Hence, Mauricio Pochettino might have a selection headache as he looks to find the right formula to get a result against the Pensioners later this week. Spurs will likely opt for a solid 3-5-2 formation with Lucas Moura set to return to Pochettino’s starting XI.
3-5-2 Tottenham Hotspur Predicted Lineup To Face Chelsea
Defence
Paulo Gazzaniga will start in goal for Spurs as Pochettino seems to favour bringing him in for the cup competitions. Tottenham might lineup with a back three of Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Juan Foyth for this crucial second leg encounter versus the Pensioners on Thursday.
The North London outfit managed to keep a clean sheet in the first leg so Pochettino would demand a similar kind of performance from his defenders this week as he looks to seal a passage through to the final of the competition.
Midfield
The Spurs midfield would be comprised of Harry Winks, Eric Dier and Christian Eriksen who would all look to establish Tottenham’s dominance at the centre of the park. Both Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier will operate as the wing-backs so they would need to have a solid game if Spurs are to stop Chelsea from scoring in front of their home supporters at Stamford Bridge.
Both Dele Alli and Moussa Sissoko will miss out on this clash due to injury while Erik Lamela would be available on the bench if required.
Forward
Pochettino might opt to start with two forwards up top as he looks to set up in a way to hit Chelsea on the counter. Both Fernando Llorente and Lucas Moura are expected to lead the line for Spurs in the attacking end of the pitch.
One of them needs to step up in the absence of Harry Kane if the away team are to make it through to the final of the Carabao Cup this season.
