Mauricio Pochettino’s men had no answer to Lionel Messi’s brilliance as Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Barcelona on matchday two of the Champions League. The defeat at Wembley dealt a huge blow to Spurs’ chances of making it to the knockout rounds after they went down 2-1 to Inter Milan on matchday one.
However, Spurs have done reasonably well in the Premier League this season. They started on a high with an unbeaten run of three games and then suffered defeats at the hands of Watford and Liverpool.
But Pochettino’s men have enjoyed a brief winning streak with back-to-back victories over Brighton and Huddersfield Town and they should be the hot favourites to come away with three points when they take on Cardiff City on Saturday.
Spurs are facing an injury crisis at the moment and Pochettino will be without the services of some of the key players. Mousa Dembele, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Serge Aurier will all be unavailable due to their respective injuries.
The Frenchman had a nightmarish outing in the Champions League but Pochettino should hand him another start to help him regain his confidence.
The English international struggled defensively but provided impetus to the attack against Barcelona and must start on Saturday.
He had a couple of howlers against Barcelona but Pochettino has no other choice since Jan Vertonghen is injured.
The Belgian found himself in no man’s land at times in the Champions League and was poor with his positioning but Spurs do not have any replacement for him.
The experienced English international should replace Ben Davies, who was poor in the Champions League and deserves a break.
He hasn’t been in good form this season but should start ahead of Victor Wanyama, who had a poor outing in the Champions League.
The youngster has shown a lot of promise in the limited game time he has received and made full use of his opportunity in the Champions League. Pochettino should hand him another start.
The Korean has been a hard worker down the flanks and Spurs need him to come up with better end products.
The Brazilian has had a couple of disappointing outings after a bright start to the season but he must do better over the weekend.
He has gotten his name on the scoresheet on a regular basis since returning from injury and will play a key role this weekend.
He is Spurs’ indispensable weapon in the final third and added some respectability to the scoreline in the Champions League with a superb individual effort. The team will need him to deliver the goods once again.