Tottenham Hotspur host Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar on Thursday evening in what promises to be an exciting Europa League showdown.
Spurs will be eager to maintain their perfect start to the Europa League campaign, a competition they’ll surely fancy their chances of winning.
The north Londoners made light work of capital rivals West Ham United last weekend, running out 4-1 winners in the London derby.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou was delighted with his side’s emphatic response to their shocking 3-2 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.
The loss at the Amex Stadium ended their five-match winning streak across all competitions, but Postecoglou be keen for his side to pick up where they left off against West Ham.
Mohammed Kudus gave the Hammers an early lead, but Dejan Kulusevski levelled matters shortly after the half-hour mark.
A second-half strike from Yves Bissouma was closely followed by Alphonse Areola’s own goal before skipper Son Heung-min marked his return to the XI with a beautiful goal to wrap up the three points.
Son has recorded five goal contributions (three goals and two assists) in eight games, but he won’t be part of the squad to face AZ on Thursday.
Postecoglou confirmed that the South Korean forward felt ‘a bit sore’ after the West Ham game and has been omitted as a precautionary measure.
However, Spurs have been handed an injury boost ahead of Thursday’s showdown, with summer signing Wilson Odobert in contention to get some minutes after shaking off a hamstring problem.
£50 million signing Richarlison is also in line to feature against AZ after making a late cameo in the win against West Ham.
Postecoglou will likely field a heavily rotated side on Thursday, as has been the case with Spurs’ previous Europa League outings against Qarabag and Ferencvaros.
Highly rated trio Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, and Mikey Moore all featured in the opening two Europa League games and will likely be named in the starting line-up to face AZ.
Predicted Tottenham line-up:
(4-3-3): Guglielmo Vicario; Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie; Pape Matar Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall; Mikey Moore, Richarlison, Timo Werner.