Alan Smith has suggested that he expects Tottenham Hotspur to start with Gareth Bale against Manchester City at the weekend, while speaking to the Pitch to Post podcast.
Tottenham are set to take on City tomorrow, and there has been an expectation that Bale may be dropped for the game.
Jose Mourinho has allowed his Spurs side greater attacking freedom this season, but it would be a shock if he didn’t set his side up to keep numbers behind the ball against City, and look to limit their space.
However, Smith believes that Mourinho will stick by Bale and actually start him to unleash on the counter attack.
“You’d expect City to come at Tottenham. That’s the way that they play,” Smith said.
“But Tottenham, given their counter attacking abilities, it might play into Mourinho’s team’s hands.
“You’d imagine that it would be Son, Kane and Bale being that front-three. Can they make an impression on the City back four? I think there’s a fair chance of that happening.”
If Bale does stay in Tottenham’s starting line-up. it would highlight an increasing amount of trust in him from Mourinho.
The Welshman, who was hailed as ‘brilliant’ by Roy Keane in midweek (ITV), has begun to receive increased opportunities, as he develops his fitness at Spurs. and he is showing plenty of signs of promise.
Mourinho may feel that Bale isn’t ideally suited to starting against City yet though.
The Portuguese boss could opt to pick Lucas Moura, who would surely give Tottenham greater defensive stability than Bale, while ensuring that they still kept pace to break with.
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