It’s been an interesting season for Tottenham Hotspur so far this year.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have played some of the most entertaining football in the Premier League this season and have picked up some big wins along the way, like the ones against Manchester United and Aston Villa, but slip-ups against the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace see them remain out of the top four at present.
However, where the North Londoners have been inconsistent in the league, they have been exemplary and remain undefeated in both the League Cup and Europa League.
1
Lazio
8
9
2
Tottenham Hotspur
5
9
3
Anderlecht
4
9
4
Ajax
7
7
5
Galatasaray
4
7
6
Frankfurt
3
7
7
Midtjylland
3
7
8
Athletic Club
3
7
9
Bodo/Glimt
2
7
10
Lyon
4
6
In fact, the Lilywhites are second out of 36 teams in the latter, and with that, they can afford to rest a few players for the game against Galatasaray tonight, especially as one of the stars Postecoglou should start is more than good enough to help shut down Victor Osimhen.
Why Postecoglou should rest starters
Okay, there is certainly an argument to be made that, given the strength of Galatasaray and the intimidation factor their stadium can provide, Postecoglou should be looking to start his absolute strongest lineup tonight.
However, there are a couple of reasons why this might not be necessary or the best idea, with the first being quite obvious: injuries.
The club’s campaign was utterly derailed by a rash of unfortunate injuries around this time last year, and given how injury-prone the likes of Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, and Rodrigo Bentancur seem to be, it feels unwise to risk them tonight, especially when there is a potential banana skin waiting for the team on Saturday in the guise of Ipswich Town.
The second reason is that tonight’s game is the perfect opportunity to hand out more game time to those who might not start every week and to put them into what could be the most hostile environment of the season to test their mettle.
Moreover, as we saw against Manchester City and in the game against Aston Villa, the players outside of Postecoglou’s first-choice XI are good enough to make a difference in challenging games, and there is one player in particular who deserves to start, someone who could play a significant role in keeping Victor Osimhen quiet.
The Spurs ace who deserves to start against Galatasaray
As we said, several players deserve to start in Turkey tonight, but in this case, we are talking about Yves Bissouma in particular.
The Mali international has made ten appearances for Postecoglou this season, but in the last two games, he started on the bench, with Bentancur and Pape Matar Sarr the manager’s preferred midfielders to play alongside the incredible Dejan Kulusevski.
Yet, in both games, he came off the bench to play a significant role in two outstanding wins.
Against City, he played the entire second half and was a constant nuisance for the Champions’ attackers, earning himself a 9/10 match rating from LondonWorld’s Rahman Osman for his tireless defensive work and sensational goal-line clearance to deny Nico O’Reilly from grabbing an equaliser.
The “world-class” defensive midfielder, as dubbed by Sky Sports presenter Adam Smith, didn’t do anything quite as eye-catching in his 34 minutes of action against Villa, but was once again a constant throne in the opposition’s side.
He won 100% of his ground duels, made two clearances, one interception, one tackle, lost the ball just twice, maintained a passing accuracy of 100% and took 29 touches.
He was so effective that despite his relatively short time on the pitch, the Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick awarded him an 8/10 on the night, writing that he ‘impressed again off the bench, snapping into tackles and helping Spurs to win the midfield battle in the second half.’
So, with back-to-back brilliant displays off the bench against two of the best teams in England, it would be fair to say the former Brighton & Hove Albion star has more than earned a chance to start tonight’s Europa League clash.
Ultimately, if he can keep the likes of Phil Foden, Ollie Watkins, Bernardo Silva and Savinnho quiet in the space of a week, he should be able to handle Osimhen, who’s not been playing top opposition week in and week out this season.
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