Tottenham Hotspur will look to start their new season in the League Cup in the third round with a win against Championship side Barnsley, who made it into the third round by beating fellow Championship side Derby County in a hard-fought contest by 3-2. Though it should not be a problem for the Spurs to get a win against the Tykes, they will look to be cautious in their approach to avoid an unlikely upset.
Spurs will be going into the midweek clash having incurred a frustrating draw against Swansea City in their last match in the Premier League and will look to win the contest with ease. They will also look to rest some of their first choice aces so as to hand an opportunity to their players from the reserve bench to get some taste of first-team football.
Defence-
Spurs have been doing well defensively in the last few matches and will look to get another clean sheet under their belt in the match against Barnsley, who are not known to have a very strong strike force.
Apart from first choice keeper Hugo Lloris, who might be replaced by Michel Vorm, the North Londoners might be resting their first choice centre-backs Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez and get young Argentine defender Juan Foyth into the starting lineup along with Under 21 English International Kyle Walker-Peters to fill in for the first choice right-back Kieran Trippier.
Midfield-
In the new formation, the midfield might feature Moussa Sissoko to add some much-needed pace in the midfield for the Spurs, along with the likes of central midfielder Harry Winks, who might be filling in for Frenchman Mousa Sissoko pairing with England international Eric Dier. The trio will look to make it past the opposition players and get the ball as much as possible into the attacking third so as to help the forwards score goals against Barnsley.
Attack-
Pochettino might rest his English ace and the Golden Boot winner from the last two seasons Harry Kane for this more or less insignificant contest in the League Cup and replace him with the former Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente, who was signed in the summer transfer window to add to their firepower.
He will have the likes of Dele Alli and Heung Min Son assisting him in the attack to try and leave nothing to chance.
Predicted lineup-
Vorm, Walker-Peters, Foyth, Vertonghen, Davies, Winks, Dier, Sissoko, Dele, Llorente, Son.