With Harry Kane out until March and Son away on international duty in the Asian Cup, Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has a selection headache in attack. It looks like he’ll try to resolve this via attacking midfielders, and by, in the words of Abba: “they were shouting there for you and me, for liberty, Fernando.”
Yes, Fernando Llorente will get his chance to shine, starting Sunday in a London derby at Fulham FC. Beyond the final third though a larger injury crisis looms in midfield. Pochettino is running out of options quickly for the center of the park and may end having to slot a defender forward for this one.
Here’s our best guess as to what Poch might do against the Craven Cottagers, feel free to post your own lineup prediction in the comments section.
The Bank Tottenham Hotspur FC Starting XI Prediction 4-3-3 vs Fulham
Attack: Fernando Llorente, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen
Midfield: Harry Winks, Erik Lamela, Oliver Skipp
Defense: Danny Rose, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier
Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris
Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham FC FYIs
Kickoff: Sunday, January 20, 4:00 PM local, Craven Cottage
Google Result Probability: Tottenham win 55%, Draw 27%, Fulham win 18%
Injury report for both teams: go to this link
Odds via Betfair: Tottenham win 3/4, Draw 5/2, Fulham 9/2
Prediction: Tottenham 1, Fulham 0
As always, feel free to post your own final score prediction in the comments section.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.