Tottenham can go level on points with Aston Villa in fourth place on Saturday should they emerge victorious from their Premier League clash with Luton Town.
Ange Postecoglou’s side are desperate to qualify for the Champions League this season at the expense of Aston Villa and Manchester United but cannot afford to drop points against relegation-threatened sides like Luton.
With Villa and Man Utd not playing until later in the day, Tottenham have a chance to put pressure on their competitors.
Here’s the Tottenham lineup Postecoglou may choose against Luton.
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – The Italian made his debut for the senior national team last week and kept a clean sheet against Ecuador, having worked so hard to become the undoubted number one at Tottenham. He’s more than vindicated his summer transfer.
RB: Pedro Porro – It’s been a great season for Porro, who impressed for Spain during the week. He recently spoke about how valued he now feels at Tottenham, saying: “It’s different from when I arrived. Now I feel more important in the team. I feel much more confident.”
CB: Micky van de Ven – Spurs hope Van de Ven will be fit enough to make his return here, having missed out against Fulham and during the international break. He undoubtedly makes Tottenham a better team.
CB: Cristian Romero – While the whole team will benefit, Romero is the player who profits most from Van de Ven’s return. He scored an excellent header for Argentina against El Salvador during the internationals.
LB: Destiny Udogie – Returned from Italy duty without an injury, but his performance against Venezuela left a lot to be desired and he is far from certain of a place in Luciano Spalletti’s Euro 2024 squad.
CM: Pape Matar Sarr – The hype around Kobbie Mainoo has led to an online focus on young midfielders at other Premier League clubs. Sarr certainly deserves a lot of praise for how well he has performed for Tottenham in his second season at the club.
CM: Yves Bissouma – After Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s comments about his lack of starts under Postecoglou, Bissouma may need to pick up his form to avoid the coach giving the Dane another chance at his expense.
RW: Dejan Kulusevski – The Swede produced a superb cross for his national team to set up the only goal of the game against Albania. He created four chances in that match and showed how dangerous he can be.
AM: James Maddison – Provided the assist for Jude Bellingham’s late equaliser against Belgium on Tuesday and many fans felt he should have been given more minutes across the two fixtures. As long as he keeps playing well for Tottenham, Maddison should be on the plane for England this summer.
LW: Son Heung-min – Was the subject of a lot of headlines after the Asian Cup after an altercation with Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in, but the duo were celebrating together earlier this week. Son said: “When you play football obviously there are some issues. I’m 100% sure Kang-in will grow as a person and player.”
ST: Richarlison – The Brazilian spoke openly and bravely about his mental health during the international break. He should get a chance as the main striker on Saturday in what would be his first start since mid February.
