Tottenham continue to lack options due to injury
By Ryan Wrenn
Come Saturday, Tottenham will face off against Everton with a rather predictable gameplan in place.
Mauricio Pochettino has plenty of experience with predictable, of course. Though he experimented a bit last season with Tottenham, it’s not too hard to guess how his teams line up week to week.
The difference these days is that Spurs lack a reliable Plan B if Pochettino guesses wrong.
So say, for instance, that Everton prove tricky at Goodison come Saturday. Pochettino’s 3-4-2-1 formation isn’t finding the traction it needs against a narrowly organized Blues defense.
It would be in situations like that where Pochettino would love to call upon his full roster.
He might want another playmaker to supplement the efforts of Christian Eriksen. He might want more muscle in midfield to prevent Everton Gyfli Sigurddson from finding a pass through to Sandro Ramírez. Perhaps he sees that Ashley Williams is struggling to deal with balls through the air, and that Spurs would benefit greatly from a proper target man.
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Tottenham will likely lack the proper options from the bench to address each of those scenarios. Érik Lamela remains sidelined with a hip problem, with no foreseeable date of return. Victor Wanyama appears to still be struggling with a knee injury. New signing Fernando Llorente broke an arm over the summer in a cycling accident, and consequently might not be fit enough to even make the matchday squad on Saturday.
Add to that list likely absences from Danny Rose, Serge Aurier and Georges-Kévin Nkoudou, and Tottenham look decidedly short of options.
The beauty of this Spurs team is that their starting XI is usually strong enough to dismiss such issues with depth. More often than not they find a way through, especially against teams like Everton that look like they lack a little something in offense.
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With a midweek match against Borussia Dortmund looming though, Pochettino will need that starting XI as fresh as can be. With rotation options decidedly lacking, the next week will be about as difficult of a balancing act as Pochettino has yet encountered at Spurs.