Postecoglou axes Bergvall, two changes – Tottenham predicted XI v Bournemouth
Ange Postecoglou could axe Lucas Bergvall from his starting XI when Tottenham take on Bournemouth on Sunday.
Spurs will welcome the Cherries to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 9 March and will be looking to make it a fourth win out of their last five Premier League games.
Postecoglou’s men were held to a 1-0 defeat last time out against AZ Alkmaar so will no doubt be out for vengeance at the weekend.
None of Spurs’ players played well in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie but Bergvall put on a particularly poor display, which is why Postecoglou could look at making some changes to his team.
Postecoglou to make two Tottenham changes v Bournemouth
Guglielmo Vicario will be expected to keep his place between the sticks after he made three saves last time out (Sofascore).
Archie Gray and Kevin Danso are also likely to keep their places at centre-back after Gray made nine clearances while Danso won 100 per cent of his aerial duels.
Pedro Porro will be the first change on Spurs’ team with the Spaniard coming in at right-back after maintaining a pass accuracy of 77 per cent from when he was brought on for Destiny Udogie.
Djed Spence will also keep his place in Tottenham’s starting XI after an impressive month but will likely switch over to left-back after making one key pass against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.
Bergvall could be Tottenham’s second and only other change for their clash against Andoni Iraola’s men after he was less than impressive on Thursday.
Not only did the midfielder score an own-goal but he only won 58 per cent of the ground duels he attempted and also lost possession of the ball 11 times.
| AZ Alkmaar | Tottenham |
| Lucas Bergvall 18′ (OG) |
So, in his place will come Pape Matar Sarr who will offer some extra defensive help after 92 per cent of his passes were accurate during his 18-minute cameo.
James Maddison will keep his role within the starting XI but could be pushed a bit further forward to try and create some chances.
Against AZ Alkmaar, the former Leicester man won 83 per cent of his ground duels and completed 100 per cent of the long balls he attempted.
The last player to make up the midfield three will be Rodrigo Bentancur, the Uruguay international put in a solid display on Thursday and had 104 touches of the ball while successfully completing 66 per cent of his dribbles.
Son Heung-min will probably remain at left wing as he has done for most of the season even though he hasn’t had the best campaign thus far with Thursday’s game against the Eredivisie outfit no different.
The South Korea international had three shots against AZ Alkmaar with one going off target while the others were blocked.
Mathys Tel will be in at striker, the Bayern Munich loanee is now Spurs’ only natural option at striker as Dominic Solanke went off injured in the dying embers of their last game.
He maintained a 100 per cent accuracy with his passes and also won 50 per cent of the ground duels he attempted.
Last but not least, Brennan Johnson will keep on the right-wing after a performance that saw him complete three tackles throughout the clash and make one key pass.
Tottenham need Son to step up
It’s no secret that Tottenham have been well below par this season.
The North London outfit are 13th in the Premier League and only have the Europa League left to fight for.
If they want any chance of earning qualification to the 2025/26 Champions League, they need to get back to their best.
Players such as Son need to step up and prove to their fans that Tottenham still have some fight in them, otherwise, it could end up being curtains for Postecoglou before the end of the season.