Tottenham Hotspur play host to Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Europa League league phase at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs return to European action after a 4–1 thumping of West Ham United at the weekend. Club captain Son Heung-min returned to action for Tottenham after missing the last few games with a hamstring problem. The 32-year-old was on the scoresheet as the hosts put four unanswered goals past Alphonse Areola to erase Mohammed Kudus' early opener.
Tottenham aims to make it three wins from three matches played in the Europa League after previous wins against Qarabağ FK and Ferencváros. Ange Postecoglou will likely give minutes to talented youngsters Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall while handing Radu Drăgușin a start. AZ will be the toughest team Tottenham has played thus far in the Europa League and Postecoglou must keep that in mind when determining how much he rotates his team for Thursday night.
Here's how Tottenham could take the pitch against AZ in the Europa League.
Tottenham Hotspur Predicted Lineup vs. AZ Alkmaar (4-3-3)
GK: Guglielmo Vicario—Vicario didn't have much to do last time out after Kudus' early goal and he'll hope his defense can step up once again to make his job a little easier.
RB: Archie Gray—The versatile youngster is likely to feature from the jump at right-back but could end up playing either left-back or in the midfield later on in the game should Spurs take care of business.
CB: Radu Drăgușin—The Romanian defender hopes to avoid getting sent off like he did in his first start of the season vs. Qarabağ. A solid performance from the ex-Genoa player would no doubt help his cause for more minutes in the Premier League given Cristian Romero's inconsistent start to the season.
CB: Micky van de Ven—Postecoglou will likely play one of Micky van de Ven or Romero alongside Drăgușin given he can't fully rotate his starting center-backs. Van de Ven gets the nod with his pace being the x-factor in Spurs' ever-present high line. e
LB: Ben Davies—Davies starts on the left side of the defense, looking to tuck into the midfield to help jumpstart attacks.
CM: James Maddison—Maddison came off after the first half vs. West Ham but it wasn't due to injury—it was a tactical change from Postecoglou. Maddison should be fit to start in the midfield operating as one of the team's eights alongside Bergvall.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur—The Uruguayan played just under 10 minutes at the weekend and will be raring to get back to action with a start in the middle of the park.
CM: Lucas Bergvall—The 18-year-old is set to make his fourth start for Tottenham having watched on from the bench during the last two Premier League matches.
RW: Brennan Johnson—Johnson failed to find the back of the net in his last outing for the first time in over a month and he'll look to get back on track at home to inspire Spurs to victory.
ST: Dominic Solanke—While Postecoglou might be tempted to give Richarlison the nod as he's back from injury, Solanke leads the line to start before Richarlison comes on in the second half.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tottenham Hotspur Predicted Lineup vs. AZ Alkmaar: UEFA Europa League.
