football.london reporters pick their Tottenham starting XIs for the trip to Liverpool on Sunday in the Premier League
Igor Tudor could have as many as 13 players missing this weekend when crisis-hit Tottenham head to Liverpool in desperate need of a big result.
Spurs are now fighting for Premier League survival and have lost all four of their matches under Tudor, who replaced Thomas Frank in mid-February.
Tudor confirmed on Friday during his pre-match press conference that Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha will be missing on Merseyside following a nasty clash of heads in the closing stages of the 5-2 Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid.
There are also doubts over the availability of Conor Gallagher (fever) while Yves Bissouma (injured) and Micky van de Ven (suspended) will also be missing on Sunday.
The Croat is somehow going to have to put together a scratch XI to get a result and football.london reporters Alasdair Gold (Tottenham Correspondent) and Ryan Taylor have had their go at selecting the starting team that should take to the field.
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Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Correspondent
It never rains but it pours at Tottenham and with Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha ruled out through concussion after headbutting each other in the air, Yves Bissouma having a muscle problem, Micky van de Ven suspended and Conor Gallagher suffering from a fever, Tudor will have 12 players unavailable if the latter recovers in time as expected.
The Spurs boss hinted to football.london that Archie Gray would be having to play at Anfield in yet another new position under him which suggests the 20-year-old will fill on the right of a back three as he has already played at left-back, right wing-back and in midfield for the Croatian.
Tudor confirmed that Guglielmo Vicario will be back in goal and then there are decisions to make up front. I'd personally like to see a front pairing of Richarlison and Dominic Solanke with Xavi Simons playing behind them but Tudor seems to have banished Xavi from starting XI existence.
Gold's T ottenham XI vs Liverpool: Vicario; Gray, Danso, Dragusin; Porro, Gallagher, Sarr, Spence; Xavi; Solanke, Richarlison.
Ryan Taylor
Defensively, this is a major roll of the dice but it surely can't get much worse?
Tottenham need to somehow remain compact at Anfield and Liverpool are hardly free-scoring - just look at their below-par display in Istanbul on Tuesday against Galatasaray.
It goes without saying that I would bring Guglielmo Vicario back in from the start in place of Antonin Kinsky, then I'd go for a back-three of Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso and Radu Dragusin.
I'd have Djed Spence and Souza as the wing-backs with Archie Gray and Pape Matar Sarr providing energy in midfield.
Then I'd select Mathys Tel and Xavi Simons behind Dominic Solanke, though I find it hard to envisage Tudor naming Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani on the bench.
The back-three is hardly inspiring and Spurs will have to defend in a deep block out of possession before hitting on the counter through Tel, Solanke, Simons, Spence and Souza.