Tottenham Hotspur Projected XI for Wolfsberger in Europa League

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Tottenham, Jose Mourinho, Ben Davies (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images) /

Tottenham Starting Defense

Besides Joe Hart, we see some familiar faces with the same four that started against Everton a week earlier. While the Davies, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Doherty line is unlikely to instill immediate confidence in the fans, it is what Spurs have.

Ben Davies – Left Back

Until Sergio Reguilón is healthy, Davies is all there is on the left. Dennis Cirkin really has not been sniffing the senior squad on gamedays so seeing him play seems unlikely. The experiment to play a right back on the left – see Matt Doherty – failed miserably, so things are what they are at left back until Sergio is well. Hopefully Davies can hang on, as his minutes have been enormous this season.

Toby Alderweireld – Center-Half

Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez in theory should form a solid back line. While it would be awesome to see Joe Rodon play in a match like this, he is not in the squad for the competition so it simply is not possible. Given the importance of the game, Toby has to get the call.

Davinson Sanchez – Center-Half

Davinson Sanchez seems to split opinion among Tottenham faithful, although that opinion is between serviceable and not. Sanchez seemingly has all the tools to be an excellent defender, he just struggles keeping it all together for a full 90 minutes. The mistakes were supposed to be something coaching helped to rectify, but instead seems to be something Spurs faithful simply have to live with.

Matt Doherty – Right Back

Japhet Tanganga played well on Saturday, so it would not be surprising to see him get the call again. However, Tanganga’s positional flexibility make him a better call for the bench on the day with limited options at other positions. Matt Doherty, needs to get back on the field and have a good game to get some confidence back. Doherty played some good football early in the season during some of the Europa League campaign, but has been inconsistent at best the last couple of months. Doherty is too experienced and too young to simply have forgotten how to play, Spurs need him to get his head on straight and get back into action.

Joe Hart – Goalkeeper

Joe Hart gets the call because it is his turn and frankly Hugo needs a day or maybe more off. Hugo is still the teams number 1 but sometimes one can learn a lot from watching.