Tottenham Hotspur make the challenging trip to Glasgow this Thursday as they prepare to battle Rangers in the Europa League.
Spurs find themselves on a barren run of four games without victory, losing recent Premier League outings against Bournemouth and Chelsea. Those results have left Ange Postecoglou’s side in the bottom half of the table as pressure starts to build on the former Celtic manager in north London.
One mitigating factor for recent disappointment is Tottenham’s defensive injury crisis. Spurs find themselves short in the centre of their backline and may have to field a lesser-seen combination for Thursday’s trip to Scotland.
Here is how Spurs could line up against Rangers.
GK: Fraser Forster – The experienced goalkeeper wasn’t helped by his error-prone defence on Sunday as he shipped four. Things are unlikely to be much more cohesive in front of him on Thursday.
RB: Pedro Porro – Porro was given a difficult afternoon by Jadon Sancho at the weekend and will be relieved to avoid players of the Englishman’s quality on Thursday. Still, he could be made to work hard by the likes of Nedim Bajrami and the in-form Hamza Igamane.
CB: Radu Dragusin – It’s fair to say the absence of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in recent weeks has exposed Dragusin’s deficiencies. With both of the normal centre-back pairing suffering setbacks on their returns at the weekend, the Romanian will have to start again at Ibrox.
CB: Archie Gray – With Ben Davies also among Tottenham’s ever-growing injury list, the versatile Gray may be asked to step in. The young summer recruit has generally performed well when called upon this term.
LB: Djed Spence – Destiny Udogie could do with a rest following a busy spell in the starting lineup and the seldom spotted Spence could be handed a run out as a result. He has made just five appearances this term.
CM: James Maddison – Postecoglou has found it difficult to facilitate both Maddison and the impressive Dejan Kulusevski in the same XI this season. Maddison started on the bench at the weekend, meaning he should get the nod against Rangers.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – The midfielder is still suspended in domestic fixtures but is available in the Europa League. He will be the deepest member of Spurs’ midfield at Ibrox and has huge responsibility when covering a weakened defence.
CM: Lucas Bergvall – The young Swede has been almost entirely limited to cameos from the bench this campaign but has made the odd start in the Europa League. The 18-year-old has shown glimpses of his quality.
RW: Timo Werner – With Brennan Johnson withdrawn due to illness at the weekend and Wilson Odobert among the injured troops, Werner could be tasked with starting on the right-hand side against Rangers.
ST: Dominic Solanke – Will Lankshear has occasionally got the nod ahead of Solanke in Europe but Richarlison’s injury means there is no senior replacement for the summer signing. He scored a first goal in a month against former employers Chelsea at the weekend.
LW: Son Heung-min – Son has an underwhelming record against Chelsea for a forward of his quality and consistency but he did add to his tally against the Blues in stoppage-time on Sunday. We’re yet to see him fully hit his stride this season.
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