Tottenham Hotspur head to the Hawthorns today to face a West Bromwich Albion side that will be determined to pick up three points and keep their dreams of a relegation miracle alive.
Spurs are without Harry Winks and Mousa Dembele looks set to miss out also after hurting his ankle in the win over Watford.
As such, it looks entirely likely that Mauricio Pochettino will field Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama together in the heart of the Tottenham midfield.
While both are fine players in their own right, this Spurs duo are much too similar in their style to be an effective partnership.
Tottenham’s attack relies on a deep-lying playmaker like Winks or Dembele to get the ball moving and supply Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli higher up the pitch.
Dier and Wanyama are both effective enforcers but they need a more creative player alongside them to provide balance to Spurs in the centre of the pitch.
Although it is unfortunate that both Winks and Dembele are injured at the same time, Pochettino needs to come up with a contingency plan for next season if this Tottenham pair are unavailable.
The two defensive midfielders, or one of them and Moussa Sissoko, have been fielded together in the past and it simply doesn’t work.
In this instance, Pochettino needs to change his formation or find a way of better utilising Eriksen to nullify the absence of Winks and Dembele – more importantly for next season than for today.