Tottenham Draws Gillingham in Capital One Cup

Tottenham earns a favorable draw in the League Cup’s third round.

Starting in September, Tottenham will have a very busy schedule ahead of them with three competitions being played at the same time.

Beginning with a Premier League fixture on September 10th, Spurs will travel to the Britannia Stadium to take on Stoke City.

Following that would be their first Champions League match on either September 13 or 14.

Afterwards will be a home game versus Sunderland on September 18th, followed by Spurs’ third round proper against Gillingham on the week of September 19.

All of this adds up to a difficult stretch moving forward for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

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Because Spurs will play four matches in about 12 or so days starting with the Potters on September 10th, Tottenham’s bench will be put to the test.

And currently, it’s getting thinner and thinner now that Nabil Bentaleb has joined Schalke on a season-long loan.

When the 21-year-old Algerian international was told he had no future with Tottenham last month, it was obvious depth would be an issue.

With so many games happening in a two-week span and not enough rest, something as easy as facing the Gills could prove to be tricky.

Tottenham hosts Gillingham at White Hart Lane and former Spurs defender, Justin Edinburgh, who spent 10 years with the North London club making over 200 appearances, plus winning the League Cup in 1999, is excited for the draw.

“I’m delighted for the club and the players; it’s a great reward for a fantastic performance at Watford,” Edinburgh said (via Gillingham’s official site).

“I’m sure this game will be even better for everybody involved with the club, from the chairman to the staff, the players and the fans, because of the size, stature and history of Tottenham.”

“It’s just reward for what the players did on Tuesday against Watford.”

“We said to them before the game that when you get those opportunities, you want to make the most of them, and that’s what they did.”

“The effort, the work rate and the quality they showed was impressive. We were very good with the ball, as well as putting in an unbelievable shift.”

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While Spurs are the heavy favorites to win (as they should), a couple of factors could play a part in the decision going to the minnows of League One.

One would be a heavy rotation throughout Spurs’ starting lineup to rest starters.

This is obvious as having Pochettino’s strongest starting XI face the Gills is not only overkill, but pointless when winning the League Cup is not at the top of Tottenham’s priority list this year.

Secondly, starting a handful of academy players is great exposure in a cup game, but it could cost Tottenham a win if Gillingham opt to go with their best players to advance to the fourth round.

Lastly, it’s the importance of this match.

While the League Cup wasn’t a priority for Mauricio Pochettino last season — seeing as how it helped Spurs have less games to play — it has been nearly a decade since Tottenham last won a major trophy.

Although the entire club has been talking about the Premier League and Champions League, winning a trophy is something that Spurs should be aiming for even it costs them a top-four finish and Champions League next season.

With Pochettino now in his third season with Spurs, he has a good enough squad (minus the bench) to win the League Cup if he takes this competition seriously.

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Something must give in order for Spurs to win a trophy this season. And the easiest solution is to take the League Cup very seriously.

This would be a big accomplishment in the short term, which they can then build on and work towards the FA Cup next year.

Finishing in the top-four and regularly competing in the Champions League is a yearly goal for Tottenham, but doing so could see a title of any kind hard to win if Spurs forego the League and FA Cups respectively.