The Tottenham Hotspur manager could be without key man Jan Vertonghen for next week’s visit of Juventus in the Champions League.
Tottenham face a huge challenge in the second leg of their Champions League tie with Juventus at Wembley next Wednesday, in a game that will have a huge bearing on their hopes of success this season.
Mauricio Pochettino will be sweating on the fitness of Jan Vertonghen ahead of the visit of Max Allegri’s men, after the Belgian suffered an ankle injury which kept him out of his side’s win at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
If the 30-year-old is unavailable for the Champions league clash, the Argentine will be faced with a huge conundrum – stick with Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier as a pair, or bring contract rebel Toby Alderweireld back into the fold.
The key to this decision will surely be where Pochettino sees Dier as being at his most effective.
If the Spurs boss believes the 24-year-old will have more of an influence in central midfield, bringing Alderweireld back into the side to partner Sanchez will be a no-brainer.
Poch might be tempted to stick with Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama as his two deep-lying midfield players, though.
If this is the case, the strong partnership forged between Dier and Sanchez would make it hard to recall Alderweireld.
The Tottenham manager could, of course, opt to play three at the back, and in doing so, would create space for all three central defenders.
Juventus are so incredibly strong through the middle, however, so Spurs would be wise to deploy two wide-men, and in order to do that, a 4-2-3-1 system might just be their best bet.
Who Pochettino will opt to play in defence, though, remains to be seen, especially if Vertonghen does not win his race to be fit in time.
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