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Fixture: Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur
Competition: Premier League
Kick-off: 14:00 UK time
Roberto De Zerbi has picked his Tottenham lineup vs Sunderland for this afternoon’s Premier League clash at the Stadium of Light.
Spurs have turned to De Zerbi in a bid to avoid being relegated from the Premier League this season and today’s game is his first in charge of the north London side.
He has been clear that he does not want to change too much, with an awareness of the limited amount of games Tottenham have to save themselves.
De Zerbi does think he has inherited a team packed full of quality, but the Italian will need to hit the ground running.
To that end, the Tottenham boss has admitted he wants to see passion and spirit from his side at Sunderland today.
Spurs may be able to use an element of surprise, with Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris clear he does not quite know what to expect.
The earlier meeting between the two teams this season, at Tottenham, resulted in a 1-1 draw.
Sunderland’s form has been mixed of late, but they do head into the clash on the back of a big derby win over Newcastle United.
Antonin Kinsky is in goal in the Tottenham lineup vs Sunderland today, while at the back De Zerbi goes with Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie.
Midfield, a key area that Tottenham will be looking to control today in the north east, sees De Zerbi select Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Conor Gallagher, while Richarlison, Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani lead the attack.
De Zerbi may well need to shake up his Tottenham lineup vs Sunderland at some point and his options off the bench to do that include Mathys Tel and Xavi Simons.
Tottenham Hotspur Lineup vs Sunderland
Kinsky, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Gray, Bergvall, Gallagher, Richarlison, Solanke, Kolo Muani
Substitutes: Austin, Dragusin, Danso, Palhinha, Simons, Bissouma, Tel, Spence, Sarr