‘Richarlison will be dropped’ – Ex-Spurs Scout predicts Tottenham XI v Chelsea
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.
Tottenham will look to return to the top of the Premier League when they welcome former boss Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday 6 November.
Once a hero in north London, Pochettino will now return to a stadium he used to call home with one of his former club’s fiercest rivals.
It is a game with plenty riding on it, and after Arsenal’s defeat at Newcastle, Ange Postecoglou’s side are the final team in the Premier League yet to taste defeat this season.
The Australian confirmed in his pre-match press conference (via Football London, 2 November) that left-back Destiny Udogie is a “50/50” for the crunch clash, and with that in mind, ex-Spurs scout Bryan King has spoken to Tottenham News and offered his predicted starting line-up for the big London derby.
King believes that Richarlison will make way for Brennan Johnson and has named Emerson Royal as the man to replace Udogie, should he not be fit enough.
“I imagine the first names on the team sheet will be Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. However, Spurs are now in a position where they are waiting to see if Udogie can play. If Udogie can’t say that he is fit, then he won’t play, he will be the one to decide if he is ready.
“If he doesn’t play, I think Emerson will step into that position. He did alright against Crystal Palace in the second half, and I think he could do a similar job against Chelsea.
“I presume both Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr will start. There have been no reports about any injuries to Spurs’ attacking players so I am sure that James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min will all start too.
“The only difference for me is I think Richarlison will drop to the bench and Johnson will start in his place.
“Richarlison was lucky to stay on for as long as he did against Palace and look what Johnson offered when he came on. He got into smart positions behind the full-backs, he got the ball into the box, and he showed plenty of enthusiasm and energy.”
In other Tottenham news, Postecoglou has revealed the club will show “respect” to Pochettino when he returns with Chelsea.