Match Center: Tottenham v Sunderland

Lineups Announced

Well, there’s a few surprises in this Tottenham lineup.

Both Heung-min Son and Moussa Sissoko start on either side of Dele Alli. That relegates both Christian Eriksen and Érik Lamela to the bench. Anyone suspecting that Pochettino wasn’t going to rotate were clearly wrong. This is fairly aggressive, direct stuff.

Mousa Dembélé returns to the center of the pitch as expected, but not alongside Eric Dier. Victor Wanyama is set to perch up next to the Belgian, playing in the clear defensive midfielder role for the first time this season.

Dier isn’t on the bench, however. He’s shuffled back into the defensive backline in place of Jan Vertonghen, who is shifted out wide on the left. Ben Davies is benched — whether due to poor form or poor fitness it isn’t clear. The Welshman didn’t have the best day against Monaco, so the former seems more likely.

Sunderland’s lineup is slightly less surprising. Jermain Defoe leads the line as expected, with Adnan Januzaj and Steven Pienaar flanking him.

Club record signing Didier Ndong starts in a very defensive midfield with Jan Kirchhoff and Lee Cattermole. Sunderland are clearly looking to defend narrowly.

Whether that works against this version of Tottenham seems somewhat doubtful. Both Son and Sissoko are direct players who have no problem playing wide. Clearly Pochettino will look to stretch play wider, a tactic that threatens to make Sunderland’s muscular midfield a bit redundant.

The key defensively for Tottenham is keeping that trio of Sunderland attackers contained. Though they’re far from elite, there’s enough speed and cleverness there to cause a less-than-vigilant side trouble.

Check back here at half-time for some snap reactions and analysis!