Tottenham Hotspur will look to get their Premier League campaign up and running after dropping two points against Manchester City last week. The Lilywhites next visit the Stadium of Light to play a struggling Sunderland.
Spurs have won their last four league games against Sunderland and given the Black Cats’ current league form, Tottenham are easily the favourites in this fixture.
Predicted 4-2-3-1 Tottenham Hotspur Lineup To Ease Past Struggling Sunderland
Defence
Hugo Lloris is expected to start under the bar after being rested in the weekend. After a mixed game against Manchester City, the French international would hope to get back to normalcy.
Pochettino could have a tough time selecting his back four against Sunderland. Although the Black Cats haven’t been the best of scorers this season, they have some serious threat in Jermain Defoe, Fabio Borini and Adnan Januzaj. Wycombe easily split open Spurs’ defence at will in the weekend and we expect two changes at the back from their FA Cup clash.
Danny Rose missed the FA Cup clash with a knee injury he incurred in the game against City, and we expect him to be fit for the game. Ben Davies started the game on the weekend but Pochettino is likely to fall back to his first choice Kyle Walker.
Toby Alderweireld also missed the game with a slight hamstring against City and he could shake it off for the game against Sunderland. We expect Eric Dier to start alongside him as Jan Vertonghen is out until March. Kyle Walker was on the bench against Wycombe and he will take the right-back position.
Midfield
Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele could start in the double pivot. The duo’s impact didn’t quite work against City as the three-at-the-back tactic seemed useless against the pressing City tactics. Now with four at the back, we hope them to be more effective with Wanyama taking up the defensive duty and Dembele the creative part.
Dele Alli came off the bench in the 60th minute to score an equaliser in the weekend and is expected to start against Sunderland in the number 10 role. Christian Eriksen and Heung-Min Son are expected to start on the flanks. Son scored a brace against Wycombe playing as the striker and will look to add to his tally.
Attack
Harry Kane was rested in the weekend’s game as Pochettino gave him time to recover from the groin injury he incurred against City. He is expected to be back in the starting line-up.
