Tottenham Hotspur host Serie A side Fiorentina at White Hart Lane on Thursday as they look to advance to the next stage of the Europa League. Spurs are coming off an unfortunate loss to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup and will certainly be looking to keep themselves in the Europa League.
The two sides drew 1-1 last week in Florence as Nacer Chadli’s penalty conversion was overlooked by Fiorentina’s Federico Bernardeschi’s goal in the second half.
Spurs have the slight advantage going into this match as they grabbed a crucial away goal in the first leg. They’ll also be looking to advance past Fiorentina after the Italian side knocked them out of the Europa League last season.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino will be changing the lineup around a little bit. Jan Vertoghen, Clinton N’Jie and now Tom Carroll will be unavailable for the match. Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembélé will have late fitness tests.
Goalie
Michel Vorm – Hugo Lloris is still battling a shoulder injury he picked up against Manchester City a couple weeks ago. Lloris’ status for Thursday’s match is still up in the air, but for right now Vorm will be in net if the Frenchman is deemed unfit.
Defence
Kieran Trippier will replace Kyle Walker, who had a surprisingly poor match of Sunday against Crystal Palace. Ben Davies will also be in for Danny Rose as Poch has been rotating between fullbacks to keep them fresh. Toby Alderweireld will be back in at centre-back after some much needed rest while Kevin Wimmer will be next to him as the other centre-back.
Midfield
Eric Dier will be back as holding midfielder after playing centre-back last match against Crystal Palace. Unfortunately Mousa Dembélé sustained an groin injury against the Eagles and could possibly miss out. I’d love to see Pochettino drop Alli back into the centre-midfield role since Tom Carroll is unavailable to replace Dembélé due to a calf injury.
The attacking midfield will feature Christian Eriksen in the No. 10 role, and Erik Lamela on the right. Lamela is still battling illness and will have a late fitness test. I’d love to see him get the start if he’s able to go. Paulo Sousa’s side, along with most of the Serie A, play using slow buildup from the back and high pressing from Lamela could cause a mistake from their back line. Son Heung-min will start on the left with Alli dropping into the midfield. The South Korean look brilliant against Crystal Palace but that one extra dribble a lot of times cost him.
Striker
Harry Kane – Kane suffered a broken nose against Crystal Palace but is okay to play and will be wearing a mask now. He’ll be the lone striker on Thursday.
Sousa’s Fiorentina side are still unbeaten in the last seven matches in all competitions. They also boast an impressive record against English sides away from Florence, having lost just twice in 11 matches.
This match is sure to be an interesting one as Tottenham look to use their high pressing to disrupt how Fiorentina want to play. Also being down an away goal, they’ll have to take the match to Spurs early instead of sitting back. Because of this I think Tottenham will advance to the next stage of the Europa League.
What’s your best Tottenham lineup and what do you think the result will be?
(4-2-3-1)
Via – Lineup Builder
