Here’s the Tottenham team that we reckon Thomas Frank could select to face Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday
Joao Palhinha, Randal Kolo Muani and Cristian Romero will all be hoping to impress again against Manchester City after shining for Tottenham in midweek
Thomas Frank must put together a Tottenham team to face Manchester City on Sunday in the Premier League from his remaining fit and available players.
Spurs have a treatment room that is full to the brim with injured stars but at least Thomas Frank will have those squad members back who were ineligible to take part in the 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night which helped the north London outfit finish fourth in the Champions League table and leap into the last 16.
However in the Premier League, Tottenham sit 14th in the table and begin a tough run of fixtures first against Pep Guardiola’s side, before travelling to Manchester United and then home games against Newcastle and Arsenal.
After finding that a 3-4-3 formation gets more out of his players, Frank is likely to go with that again as City come to town.
The Dane will be hoping that Micky van de Ven is fit enough to come in on the left side of the back three after saying he was training on Thursday and Friday but he will also be wary of losing the Dutchman for a sustained period of time if he comes back in half-fit against Guardiola’s attackers.
Kevin Danso was also limping heavily throughout the win in Frankfurt after an awkward fall following a first half collision with his own captain Cristian Romero. It remains to be seen whether whatever that was has settled down or got worse in the days since.
If Frank is light on options then Joao Palhinha could play in the defensive trio again after impressing in Germany, while Radu Dragusin will be hoping for his first start in a year. There is also 17-year-old Jun’ai Byfield, although that’s a big first start to be handed to someone so young, while there is also the option to play Destiny Udogie again as a left-sided centre-back and hand a debut to Souza, albeit the Brazilian needs a lot of fitness work after his season ended six weeks ago.
In the midfield Frank can now call upon Conor Gallagher and Yves Bissouma to come in. Archie Gray was excellent in midweek and could be called upon in the centre of the pitch or in other positions if anyone needs a rest, with Frank light on full-backs in particular. Pape Matar Sarr also completed his first full game in a while and has been a pest to City in the past.
Mathys Tel is a fresh option in the attacking slots while Dominic Solanke is likely to come back into the starting line-up after his late cameo and goal in Germany. Randal Kolo Muani’s improved display might earn him a start behind the England international and if so that would Wilson Odobert coming out as Xavi Simons is just too important to Spurs’ creativity.
With all of that in mind, here’s the team we reckon Frank might select:
(3-4-3) Vicario; Palhinha, Danso, Romero; Gray, Gallagher, Bissouma, Udogie; Kolo Muani, Xavi; Solanke.