Hotspur HQ
Fansided

Tottenham Hotspur XI for Stoke in Carabao Cup Quarterfinals

By Aaron Coe

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with Harry Winks of Tottenham. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with Harry Winks of Tottenham. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
Dele Alli, Mourinho, Tottenham
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 04: Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur talks to Jose Mourinho, Manager October 04, 2020 (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /

Tottenham XI – Midfield

After a weekend where this unit let Tottenham down, there is likely to be some renewed effort and energy. Likely only one Spur – Pierre Højbjerg – keeps his role in the midfield as Harry Winks gets one last chance to shine and Dele Alli is brought back in. For Winks and Dele, this may be about impressing the coaches or impressing in the shop window. Either way, it needs to be about impressing.

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (CM)

Pierre Højbjerg  has played two of his least influential matches for Tottenham the last two matches. Seemingly distracted by the referees, first with his yellow card against Liverpool, and again with some questionable calls against Leicester city. Expect the Dane to do everything he can to prevent Tottenham from turning a couple losses into a losing streak. Interestingly these performances came after a match off, so do not expect another for Højbjerg anytime soon.

Harry Winks (CM)

We at HotspurHQ were extremely critical of Harry Winks in our player ratings from the Leicester City match. While Sissoko has been the preferred partner for Højbjerg, Tottenham need to get back to knocking the ball around the park and that is something Winks can do well. With Sissoko in reserve for more defense late, Winks gets one more opportunity to show his stuff. Tottenham need to get back to having a strong passing game to move the defense and create space for opportunities on offense. Winks can do that.

Dele Alli (CAM)

Giovani Lo Celso was seemingly injured on Sunday and Tanguy Ndombele seemed to only play the first five and last ten minutes of the half before being subbed off at the break. If Dele is looking for an opportunity for a player to make a statement about being a part of the team moving forward a better one, he is unlikely to find. If the young midfielder is left out of the team again, maybe his time is truly done at Spurs. We at HotspurHQ certainly hope that is not the case and hope we get to see Dele do Dele things on Wednesday against the Potters.