After a fruitless summer in the transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur are back in Premier League action on Saturday with a trip to face Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Spurs have issues going into the game, with a host of players injured – including Erik Lamela, Victor Wanyama, Harry Winks and Juan Foyth.
Add to this is the complication that Tottenham had an array of players that made it deep into the World Cup, meaning they have returned to the club late and may lack match fitness after their shorter-than-usual summer break
Despite this, given the level of unavailabilities and the need to start the new season with three points, Mauricio Pochettino will surely call on the majority of his Spurs stars against Newcastle.
While some, potentially including Hugo Lloris, Kieran Trippier and Mousa Dembele may still be given time to get back up to speed, the likes of Harry Kane and Jan Vertonghen will most likely play in my opinion.
The fact that this Tottenham playing group has been together for a fair amount of time is an advantage and a perceived lack of ‘Pochettino-fitness’ can be papered over.
One issue is the centre of midfield – with injuries in this area, it would not be a surprise to see Christian Eriksen potentially drop slightly deeper.
As such, here is my predicted starting XI for the clash against Newcastle later today – COYS.
Predicted starting XI vs Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Aurier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Eriksen; Lucas, Alli, Son; Kane