Tottenham and Southampton clash in the Premier League in the mid-week set of fixtures. Incredibly, this is Tottenham’s first home league game of 2022. The last time they strutted their stuff in front of their home fans was in a 3-0 demolition of Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
This isn’t the longest they have made the Spurts faithful wait to see their side play at home in a New Year. Incredibly, in 1985, they didn’t play at home in the league until March. Securing the signature of manager Antonio Conte was an astute piece of business from Spurs supremo Daniel Levy. Even if it took a little longer than it should have.
The Italian gestore is amid an incredible league run. In his last 21 league matches across stints with Inter Milan and Tottenham, he has won 20. The only blip on that record is the 2-2 draw with Liverpool back in December.
Tottenham vs Southampton FYIs:
Team News: go here
When is it?: Kick-off time: Wednesday 9th February, 7.45 PM
Where is it?: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Who’s in form?: Tottenham (WLWLW) Southampton (WWLDW)
What are the odds?: Tottenham (-165) Draw (+310) Southampton (+475)
Premier League Podcast: Listen here
This is the part where I put my reputation on the line and attempt to predict the starting XI for Tottenham Hotspur.
Frenchman Hugo Lloris will be the starting goalkeeper for Tottenham. He is a world-class operator and Tottenham always seems a more formidable opponent with him in the side.
Emerson Royal and Serge Reguilon will play as the wingbacks. The right wing-back, Emerson Royal showed what he is capable of in an attacking sense with an incredible deflected goal against Brighton in the FA Cup.
Davinson Sanchez and Ben Davies will play either side of Cristian Romero in the center of defense. The return of Romero to league action will be an enormous boost to the Spurs back-line.
Oliver Skipp’s injury means that Harry Winks and Pierre Emile Hojbjerg will continue their burgeoning partnership in the middle of the park.
The three-man attack will have a familiar look to it with Son Heung Min on the right, Brazilian Lucas Moura on the left, and England captain playing through the middle.
New signings from Juventus Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski will be forced to wait for at least one more match to make their starting XI debuts for Spurs.
I think that Spurs have enough about them to see off Southampton here. I think they’ll make light work of them. Prediction: 3-1 to Tottenham.
Stuart Kavanagh is an up-and-coming sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Co-host of the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast and football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter