Tottenham face Chelsea in a Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday, and this has the makings of a very interesting game.
This match is packed full of narrative. Romelu Lukaku could return to the Blues’ starting XI after his apology on social media on Tuesday evening, while this match will also represent Antonio Conte’s first return to Stamford Bridge as Tottenham manager.
Factor in that the Carabao Cup represents Spurs’ best chance to end their long trophy drought, and this begins to look like a match the north London outfit will be desperate to win.
With that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting Tottenham’s starting XI for this one.
Teams usually use the Carabao Cup as a chance to rotate their starting XI, but we reckon Spurs may field a very strong side for this one.
The Lilywhites have the chance to rest their star men this weekend as they face Morecambe in the FA Cup, so there’s no real reason for them to rotate for this one unless their squad is feeling extra fatigued after the festive period.
We anticipate just one change to the starting XI as Tanguy Ndombele comes in for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
That means that the likes of Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane and last weekend’s goalscoring hero Davinson Sanchez all start this one.
Of course, this predicted XI could be affected by the two PCR test results that Antonio Conte stated he was waiting for on Monday, but with the Italian seeming hopeful that he’d have everyone available for this match, we expect to see a very strong side.
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