Tottenham Hotspur projected 11 for friendly vs Motherwell
By Aaron Coe
It will have been 27 days since Tottenham Hotspur played a match when they take the pitch Friday against Motherwell; these are the players you should expect to see.
After almost a month without Tottenham Hotspur football, the idea that Spurs will be streaming their “behind-closed-doors” friendly against Scottish side Motherwell is just fantastic. Although we won’t see Harry Kane, Heung-min Son, or Hugo Lloris, we will get a few familiar faces.
Tottenham Projected Defense
We are starting with Spurs’ defense, where we expect to see an experienced but not out-of-the-ordinary back three.
Left-back – Clement Lenglet
Unless Antonio Conte wants to see an academy player in action, Lenglet is the obvious replacement for Ben Davies, who is still out from World Cup duty with Wales. Lenglet had a more positive play and poor performances for Tottenham before the break and will want to build on that with just over six months left on his loan.
Center-back – Davinson Sanchez
Maybe Lenglet plays as the center back in a back three, but there are more options for Conte on the right making it easier to shift Davinson Sanchez central in the defense. Sanchez is likely in a make-or-break run with Tottenham over the rest of the season, with his contract expiring in 2024.
Right-back – Emerson Royal
This is where we are making the slightly unnatural call. Although Emerson Royal is a right-back by trade, that is more in a four-back formation than Conte’s three-back system. However, with Sanchez moving centrally, Royal drops from wing-back to right-back. Maybe we get to see Japhet Tanganga, but the Englishman has not appeared for Spurs since the end of the first game of the Champions League group stage.
Goalkeeper – Fraser Forster
With Hugo Lloris out on duty with France, expect Fraser Forster to get the start on Friday. Brandon Austin will likely get some minutes too, but we expect Forster to start. While Fraser is a sure shot-stopper, the real question about Forster is his ability with the ball at his feet.