Tottenham XI v Brentford: Ange Postecoglou to axe Brennan Johnson
Tottenham will look to bounce back after they were eliminated from the FA Cup when they host Brentford in the Premier League on Wednesday 31 January.
Spurs’ FA Cup journey came to an abrupt halt on Friday 26 January when they were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium via an 88th-minute Nathan Ake winner.
It was a bitter pill for Ange Postecoglou’s side to swallow, with the possibility of Spurs’ trophy drought increasing to a 17th year now looking incredibly likely.
The only way for Tottenham to prevent that possibility from becoming a reality is by winning the Premier League this season, an outcome which seems unlikely at this point, but with league competition all that is left on the agenda for the club, Postecoglou will be ensuring all of his squad’s energy is put into each and every fixture.
That will begin when the Bees make the short trip north for a midweek London derby, boosted by the return of Ivan Toney who made a goalscoring comeback in the 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday 20 January.
It will likely be Guglielmo Vicario between the sticks looking to prevent Toney from making it two in two. Vicario didn’t have his finest hour against City, with the Italian spilling Kevin De Bruyne’s late inswinging corner which allowed Ake to bundle home, and he will be looking to put that mistake behind him with a clean sheet and big performance against Brentford.
Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie will be the expected full-back pairing, with the latter enjoying a particularly strong game at left-back against City, making three tackles, two clearances and one interception, while also winning eight of his 14 ground duels as he kept Phil Foden relatively quiet (Sofascore).
Micky van de Ven was impressive last time out in what was his second start since returning from injury, as he made seven clearances and completed 97 per cent of his passes, and he will expect to start alongside Cristian Romero who contrastingly wasn’t at his best against City, winning just 50 per cent of his ground duels while only managing to complete 88 per cent of his passes.
In midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur will likely start as he looks to continue building up his fitness after a long layoff, and Oliver Skipp could start alongside him in place of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. The Denmark international struggled against Pep Guardiola’s side as he was dribbled past twice, made one error which led to a shot and won just one of his five ground duels, and Postecoglou might therefore be keen to shake things up.
James Maddison returned to action from the bench in the FA Cup, and he will expect to start from the beginning this time. As a result, Dejan Kulusevski could be moved to the right to make way for the England international, which would see Brennan Johnson dropped to the bench.
Johnson was poor against City, as he completed zero per cent of his crosses, just 50 per cent of his passes and won zero of the three duels which he contested. He was also dribbled past once, gave possession away 13 times and missed Spurs’ only big chance of the match on what was a night to forget for the Wales international.
Postecoglou is limited when it comes to options on the left, and although Timo Werner struggled against City as well, he looked slightly brighter than Johnson as he created one big chance and completed his one dribble, and he is, therefore, likely to keep his place.
Richarlison is the club’s only senior striking option available, and despite a quiet performance against City which saw him fail to register a shot at goal, he will expect to be given the nod as he looks to keep his impressive league form up, which has seen him score six in his last six in England’s top flight.
In other Tottenham news, a Spurs expert has speculated that one midfielder could be set to leave the club after an update emerged from the African Cup of Nations.
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