Ben Davies to start, Bentancur omitted – Ex-Spurs Scout predicts Tottenham XI v Wolves
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent six years as a senior scout at Spurs and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Bryan also spent eight years on Everton’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells.
A depleted Tottenham team will travel to Wolves on Saturday 11 November where they will look to bounce back from their first Premier League defeat of the season.
Ange Postecoglou’s unbeaten start to life in the Premier League came to a dramatic end as his team, who were reduced to nine men, lost 4-1 against Chelsea at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday night.
They will have the chance to bounce back on Saturday against Wolves at Molineux, where a victory would see them return to the top of the table, at least temporarily.
However, they will be without the suspended Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie and are certain to be without the injured Micky van de Ven, with James Maddison also a doubt.
With that in mind, ex-Spurs scout Bryan King has spoken to Tottenham News and offered his predicted starting line-up for what is set to be Postecoglou’s biggest test yet.
“The goalkeeper and right-back will be the same, Guglielmo Vicario and Pedro Porro. I think he will bring Eric Dier in and then we have the situation on the left side of the defence.
“Ben Davies could either play as a left-back or a left-sided centre-back. If he plays in the middle, that offers Emerson Royal the opportunity to continue his exploits at left-back. Alternatively, Postecoglou could play Emerson as the right-sided centre-back, put Dier where van de Ven would be and play Davies as the left-back.
“I know Davies has been injured, but that seemed to coincide with his half-time substitution at Crystal Palace, perhaps someone in the club has made an excuse for him, and I am sure he will have recovered from this injury by Saturday.
“I think Postecoglou would be wise in selecting Porro, Emerson and Dier at centre-back and Davies at left-back as his back four. I can’t see him playing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as a centre-back because you need his energy in midfield.”
“Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr should continue in the middle, Dejan Kulusevski will start out wide. I think Hojbjerg will come in for Maddison, Brennan Johnson will resume his responsibilities on the left and Son Heung-min will play through the middle.
“I don’t think Rodrigo Bentancur is ready for 90 minutes at the moment after his injury, but he is progressing steadily. He has made two appearances off the bench and doesn’t seem to have pulled out of any tackles. He is on the right road back.
“When you look at the bench, four of the regular substitute options will be starting, so they will need replacing in the squad. That is where the likes of Bentancur, Oliver Skipp, Bryan Gil and Giovani Lo Celso will come in.”
In other Tottenham news, Paul Robinson believes the loss against Chelsea is more serious than just a “blip” on the road.