da premier bet： Tottenham Hotspur travel to Belgium on Thursday night looking to bounce back from a demoralising defeat at Anfield last Saturday.
da 888： The defeat to the Reds essentially put an end to their challenge for Premier League glory and Mauricio Pochettino must now look elsewhere for silverware this season.
Spurs are one of the best teams left in the Europa League draw and must fancy their chances of winning their first European trophy since 1984.
That campaign starts against Gent who finished second in their group, which contained Turkish and Portuguese opposition.
It’s a tricky proposition and one the Lilywhites must take seriously if they’re going to progress. With the advantage of playing the second leg at home, Spurs know that a result in Belgium on Thursday puts them in an excellent position to progress.
Here are THREE things Pochettino must tweak from last weekend’s match to get a result…
Another chance for Harry Winks
Harry Winks’ time in a Spurs shirt has been limited this season with the vast majority of his appearances coming from the bench. However, this is the time deploy him.
Having just signed a new contract with the club that keeps him at White Hart Lane until 2022, Winks will be bursting with confidence and ready to prove he is worth the faith that Pochettino and the club have showed in him.
In the middle of a busy schedule, rotation is important and swapping out either Mousa Dembele or Victor Wanyama for Winks seems like a perfect choice.
If you do have to rotate, the best case scenario is bringing in a player with something to prove and Winks most definitely has that.
Eriksen on the left, Sissoko on the right
One of the key features of Saturday’s game at Anfield was Spurs’ inability to defend their left-hand side with Son Heung-min not protecting Ben Davies whatsoever.
Moving Son out of the team and bringing in Sissoko on the right side offers a bit more steel and work ethic to that three behind Harry Kane, with Eriksen able to effectively combine with Davies on the left-hand side too.
We’re expecting to see a more restrained performance from Davies compared to Danny Rose, who had become a de facto winger at times before his injury. That means Kyle Walker will likely have the responsibility to bomb forward from deep, making the presence of Sissoko all the more important on that right flank.
More discipline needed from Alli
Dele Alli has been given something of a free role in recent weeks and even months at Spurs but playing away from home in Europe, that’ll need to be curtailed slightly.
The 20-year-old midfielder will be required to support whoever the midfield two behind him are and not just be the swashbuckling attacking midfielder we know he can be supporting Harry Kane.
This will be a vital component of Thursday night’s match. If Alli doesn’t put in the hard work to track back and help out Wanyama and co. then Spurs run the risk of being overrun by what will be a highly motivated and determined Gent side.
We know he has the attacking prowess to punish sides, but does he also have the discipline required to be the midfield force Spurs need him to be in Europe?