Tottenham Hotspur will be starting their 23/24 Premier League campaign this week and Spurs will be hoping they can kick off their season with a comfortable and commanding win against Brentford.
Last season, Spurs finished eighth on the EPL table while Brentford were just one point behind them and even though the Lilywhites go into Sunday’s match as the favourites, this one is going to be a very tightly fought game.
Tottenham have brought in a new coach in the form of Ange Postecoglou and it’s only the 57-year-old’s second job in Europe. He had been managing Celtic for two seasons before coming to London but the SPFL and the EPL are two very different leagues so it will be interesting to see how he takes Spurs back into the top six.
The North London side have brought in a few new players this summer but they are set to sustain their biggest loss because Harry Kane is on his way out of the club. It will be interesting to see how Postecoglou sets up his first starting line up without Kane and this Sunday’s game will give up a good idea of what kind of football Spurs will be playing for the rest of the season.
Tottenham’s team news and injuries:
Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon and Fraser Forster are all ruled out for the season opener which means the manager will be handing some debuts on Sunday.
Guglielmo Vicario will start in goal while Micky van de Ven will also make his debut in central defence alongside Christian Romero. Spurs have paid €40 million for Van de Ven and the manager will be hoping he comes good this season.
Destiny Udogie had a solid loan spell for Udinese where he played 34 games for the club so he will also be in line to get a start on Sunday.
Spurs have brought in James Maddison from Leicester City and the England international will come straight into midfield alongside Bissouma and Lo Celso. Rodrigo Bentancur is out with a ligament injury and he will not be back in action before next month.
Kulusevski and Son will be the two wide players and because Harry Kane is set to join Bayern Munich, the Spurs manager will bring Richarlison into the centre-forward’s role.
Spurs have accepted an offer from Bayern and Ange Postecoglou has told the press that he is no longer including Harry Kane in his plans.
The Spurs boss has confirmed to the press: “Fair to say I don’t have a blow by blow account but my understanding is it has progressed to the point where it looks like it will happen. From that perspective, at least it gives us some clarity and we move forward without Harry.
“From my perspective it is just about understanding where we are at and the information I have at the moment is the deal is imminent but like with all these things, you leave yourself some leeway. But moving forward and training today preparing for Brentford, we are doing it without Harry.”
Tottenham are bagging in a lot of money from the England international’s sale but the fans and the manager will be happy only when Daniel Levy goes out and signs a top-class replacement before the window shuts down. Right now, Richarlison will be the undisputed striker in the team but there’s no way Spurs will be able to rely on the Brazilian for the whole of the 23/24 season.
Spurs predicted line up vs Brentford:
Predicted Starting XI(4-3-3): Vicario; Udogie, Van de Ven, Romero, Emerson Royal; Bissouma, Lo Celso, Maddison; Son, Kulusevski, Richarlison.
