Tottenham Hotspur are due to take on newly promoted Aston Villa at White Hart Lane on the opening day of the Premier League season.
Erik Lamela looks almost certain to start in Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League opener against Aston Villa now, and it will be up to him to take his chance.
Lamela has been at Spurs for six years now, but has never shown enough consistency to live up to his £30 million price-tag (London Evening Standard) when he signed from Roma.
The Tottenham attacker has too often been injured, and when he has been on the pitch, his end product has been questionable.
Lamela has been one of Mauricio Pochettino’s side’s stars of pre-season though, and his form has thrust him into first-team contention.
With Christian Eriksen’s future not sorted, Dele Alli out injured, Heung Min Son suspended, and no playmakers signed – Lamela is almost guaranteed to start for Tottenham against Villa.
It gives the 27-year-old a real chance to stake his claim for a place at Tottenham.
There have been too many false dawns with Lamela, where he has looked set to make a big impact at White Hart Lane, only for injury or a loss of form to strike.
But this may well be very best chance to break back into Tottenham’s line-up.
And the pressure is on Lamela to produce a big display on opening day, as Spurs look to kick off their season with a win against Dean Smith’s newly promoted Villa men.
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