Tottenham Hotspur takes on Southampton on Wednesday night in a tie that has been undermined due to the ongoing uproar against the European Super League.
Spurs are one of six Premier League clubs who are the founder clubs of the European Super League have seen their fans rise in arms against the board of directors and their decision to take part in the ESL. This has been a very happening week for Tottenham, who also fired their manager Jose Mourinho after a series of disappointing results and an equally dire style of play. Spurs have appointed 29-year-old former midfielder Ryan Mason as their interim head coach with Ledley King, Chris Powell and Nigel Gibbs assisting him.
Tottenham Hotspur comes into this game on the back of a 2-2 away draw to Everton, which proved to be Mourinho’s final game in charge of Spurs. The London club have won only one of their last 5 games going into Wednesday night’s game. Interim manager Ryan Mason will be hoping to get off to a winning start and go into the Carabao Cup final against Man City on Sunday with some momentum in hand. Spurs are currently 7th in the Premier League and are 5 points off fourth-placed West Ham United.
Southampton, on the other hand, been in a mixed run of form with 2 wins and 3 losses in the last 5 games. They were last in action against Leicester City in the FA Cup semi-finals and lost the tie 1-0. They have been poor defensively, conceding 13 goals in the last 6 games.
Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will be hoping to keep a clean sheet considering Spur’s poor form and get some points in the league. Southampton are one of the 14 Premier League clubs protesting the formation of a European Super League and they are expected to wear pre-match warmup shirts stating the same, similar to Leeds United against Liverpool on Monday night.
TEAM NEWS:
Tottenham suffered a blow in their draw against Everton, with Harry Kane going off with an ankle injury and is expected to miss out on the Southampton game. Defenders Ben Davies, Matt Doherty are also expected to miss out on the tie against Southampton. Barring these exceptions, Spurs are expected to have all other players fit and available for selection.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will be without Michael Obafemi, Will Smallbone and midfielder Oriol Romeu. English Winger Theo Walcott and on-loan Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino are back fit and will be available for selection. Danny Ings will undoubtedly be the star man for Saints going forward.
PREDICTED LINEUPS:
Tottenham XI: Hugo Lloris; Serge Aurier, Joe Rodon, Eric Dier, Sergio Reguilon; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Moussa Sissoko; Lucas, Tanguay Ndombele, Heung-min Son; Carlos Vinicus.
Southampton XI: Fraser Forster; Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Ryan Bertrand; Takumi Minamino, James Ward-Prowse, Ibrahima Diallo, Stuart Armstrong; Danny Ings, Che Adams.
PREDICTIONS:
Tottenham Hotspur vs Southampton – 2:1
