When Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has spoken to the media lately, he’s gotten away from the industry standard platitudes and coachspeak. He’s been welcomingly candid, and sometimes unfairly criticized for being so. Today will see the end of the third straight transfer window in which Tottenham has not added a single new player.
For Pochettino, it must be difficult to be so hamstrung by a board that won’t allocate any funds for beefing up the roster. Pochettino recently admitted that his club just can’t compete financially with Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The Argentine also recently made it known that the club’s competitive priorities lie in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League; not in the domestic cups. And oh, he’s totally right about that.
Let’s take a look at what kind of lineup Pochettino could go with in the effort to further cement a place in the top four.
Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction vs Newcastle United 4-3-3
Attack: Lucas Moura, Fernando Llorente, Son
Midfield: Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier, Christian Eriksen
Defense: Davinson Sanchez, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose
Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris
Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United FC FYIs
Kickoff: February 2, 12:30pm, Wembley Stadium
Google Result Probability: Tottenham Hotspur win 68%, Draw 21%, Newcastle United win 11%
Odds via Bet365: Tottenham Hotspur win 2/5, Draw 7/2, Newcastle United win 7/1
Injury Report for both teams: go to this link
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2, Newcastle United 1
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.