Inside Futbol

Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City

Competition: EFL Cup

Kick-off: 20:15 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has selected his team to play host to Manchester City in a last 16 EFL Cup tie at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening.

Postecoglou has indicated he expects to deliver silverware to Tottenham this season and the EFL Cup may be one of the likelier ways that he can do that.

The task will be tough though as champions Manchester City head to north London looking to progress.

Spurs lost 1-0 away at Crystal Palace at the weekend, while Manchester City beat Southampton; the Cityzens also won their last visit to Spurs, 2-0.

Guglielmo Vicario is Tottenham’s goalkeeper tonight, with Postecoglou picking a back four of Archie Gray, Cristian Romero, Radu Dragusin and Micky van de Ven.

In the engine room, Postecoglou picks Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner support Dominic Solanke.

Postecoglou has options off the bench if changes are needed during the course of the game and they include Lucas Bergvall and Richarlison.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Manchester City

Vicario, Gray, Romero, Dragusin, Van de Ven, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Werner

Substitutes: Forster, Porro, Davies, Udogie, Bissouma, Bergvall, Maddison, Moore, Richarlison

Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Stoke City boss Narcis Pelech is of the view that Tottenham Hotspur loan star Ashley Phillips is a good centre-back and thinks that has the potential to be very good in the future.

Tottenham signed the 19-year-old centre-back from Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 2023 and he is very highly rated by Spurs’ coaching staff.

Phillips joined Stoke on a season-long loan this summer but has yet to nail down his spot in the starting line-up.

On Tuesday, the Spurs youngster started for the Potters against Southampton in the Potters’ EFL Cup fourth round game and scored a goal in their 3-2 defeat.

Pelech admitted that Phillips’ performance against Premier League side Southampton impressed him and the Stoke boss thinks that the Tottenham loanee should continue his development path.

The Stoke manager admitted that the 19-year-old is a good centre-back and believes that Phillips has in him what it takes to be a very good player in the future.

“He had [goalscoring] chances against Sheffield United the other day”, Pelech said in his post match press conference.

“I’m impressed with his performance today and the other day.

“He needs to continue in this direction because I think he’s a good centre-back, can be very good in the future.”

The Tottenham loanee has now started back-to-back games for Stoke and he will be eager to keep hold of his place in the starting line-up for the upcoming games.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur defender Ashley Phillips has admitted he felt he had to make things right by scoring for Stoke City against Southampton in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night.

The 19-year-old defender is highly rated at Tottenham and joined Stoke City on a season-long loan this summer to continue his development with regular football.

Phillips scored his first goal at senior level on Tuesday against Southampton in Stoke’s EFL Cup fixture in the 45th minute of the game, which ended with a 3-2 defeat for the Potters.

The Tottenham talent believes that he was at fault for Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ first goal and revealed that he wanted to score a goal to compensate for his mistake.

Phillips stated that he is very happy to score his first goal at senior level and revealed his intention to add more goals to his game.

When asked about his goal against Southampton, Phillips told Stoke City TV: “Yes, I am very pleased.

“To be honest, I should have scored twice against Sheffield [United].

“I should not have hit the bar, also personally, I felt like I was at fault for the first goal of Southampton from the set piece.

“So I just felt I had to make it right and score myself and it is not a bad goal to score a few first goals.

“Now I am really happy, and I think for me personally, I want to be getting a lot more goals, so hopefully it is the first of many.”

Phillips will be keen to put in impressive performances during his loan spell with Stoke in the hope of catching the attention of Ange Postecoglou before he returns to Tottenham.

Stoke are next due to play host to Derby County in the Championship.

Richard Keys believes that there may be trouble ahead for Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur and admits he still cannot work out what the Australian is trying to do.

The Lilywhites have lacked the level of consistency that they attained during the early part of Postecoglou’s reign at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

A 1-0 defeat against relegation-battlers Crystal Palace at the weekend was Tottenham’s second defeat in the last three games and pushed them down to eighth in the Premier League.

Keys has been left baffled by Tottenham’s performances and feels that the 59-year-old could find himself in trouble in the near future.

The veteran broadcaster also took time to express surprise at the way Tottenham have been operating this season.

“There may be trouble ahead for big Ange”, Keys wrote on his blog.

“I really can’t work Spurs out.”

A second-half collapse against Brighton & Hove Albion in early October saw Tottenham concede a two goal lead from the first half to lose the game 3-2 in the end.

Spurs are in EFL Cup action later this week when they play host to Manchester City.

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou thinks that the more Spurs talent Mikey Moore gets to play in the right environment, the more he is going to thrive.

The 17-year-old winger is highly rated at Tottenham and this season has made seven appearances for the first team so far with three outings in the Europa League.

On Sunday, Moore started his first game in the Premier League for Spurs in their 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace.

Postecoglou thinks that the talent has learned a lot from Sunday’s game but believes that with every appearance Moore is improving.

The Tottenham boss is of the opinion that Moore will keep thriving the more Spurs will be able to get him the opportunities in the right environment.

When asked about Moore’s performance, Postecoglou said in the post match press conference: “Like I said it wasn’t really a great game for anybody out there from our perspective.

“Mikey every time he’s out there he’ll be a better player and the more we can get him out there in the right sort of environment then he’ll keep thriving.

“I’m sure he’ll learn a lot today.

“The kind of team we want to be or the way we want to play we need to be a lot more composed in the way we deal with certain things out there to not let the game get out of control.”

Tottenham are set to face Manchester City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday and Moore will be hoping to get into the starting line-up for that game.

David Balogh/Getty Images

Fixture: Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 14:00 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has picked his starting line-up and substitutes to take the trip to Selhurst Park to face Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace in the Premier League this afternoon.

Postecoglou knows his men face opponents who are desperate to record a win and ease the pressure on Glasner, and the Australian will want no slip-ups.

History is firmly on Spurs’ side today as they have won an impressive 15 of their last 18 league meetings with Palace, losing just once.

Postecoglou is without Djed Spence, who has a groin problem, while Heung-Min Son is also absent.

Guglielmo Vicario is between the sticks for Tottenham, who go with a back four of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van den Ven and Destiny Udogie.

Midfield sees Postecoglou pick Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, while Brennan Johnson, Mikey Moore and Dominic Solanke lead the attacking threat.

If the Spurs boss needs to make changes then his options on the bench today include Lucas Bergvall and Richarlison.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Crystal Palace

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Maddison, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Moore

Substitutes: Forster, Davies, Dragusin, Gray, Bentancur, Sarr, Bergvall, Werner, Richarlison

Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Former Ligue 1 star Benoit Cheyrou feels Marseille’s Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg, who is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, is one of the best players in the French top flight this season.

Spurs offloaded multiple players in the summer transfer window, either permanently or on loans and Hojbjerg is one of the loaned out individuals.

He has joined French outfit Marseille on a season-long loan and they have an obligation to make the move permanent next summer.

Ex-Marseille midfielder Cheyrou insisted that the Spurs loanee reminds him of current Juventus boss Thiago Motta, who had a decorated playing career.

Cheyrou also feels that the Dane is one of the best players in the league this season, issuing high praise to him.

“For me, he is one of the best players in Ligue 1”, Cheyrou told French daily La Provence about the Spurs loan star.

“He makes others better.

“He reminds me of Thiago Motta, of the influence he had at Paris Saint-Germain.”

Spurs signed Hojbjerg four years ago from Southampton for £15m and they are set to pocket £17m from Marseille at the end of this season.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs AZ Alkmaar

Competition: Europa League

Kick-off: 20:00 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has picked his starting line-up and substitutes to play host to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening.

Spurs have won both their Europa League league phase games so far and another victory tonight would mean a foot in the qualification zone early on.

They take on an AZ side who arrive in poor form, having lost their last four games across all competitions, including one in the Europa League, at Athletic Bilbao.

Tottenham start as firm favourites, but AZ did win their Europa League opener, against Elfsborg, and will be eyeing a shock in north London.

Fraser Forster is in goal for Tottenham this evening, while at the back Postecoglou picks Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie as a four.

In the engine room, Tottenham go with Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison, while Mikey Moore and Richarlison support Timo Werner.

Postecoglou can chop and change if needed and his options tonight include Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs AZ Alkmaar

Forster, Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie, Bentancur, Bergvall, Maddison, Moore, Richarlison, Werner

Substitutes: Vicario, Austin, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Sarr, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Odobert, Johnson, Solanke, Lankshear

Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Troy Parrott, who plays for AZ Alkmaar, has hailed his former side, marking them as ‘world-class’ and admitted that getting a result against Spurs will not be ‘easy’.

The Ireland international striker was considered a top prospect at Spurs but he failed to make a break through in the first team.

He left the north London club in the summer for a reported £6.7m fee and has already scored six goals for them.

The 22-year-old insisted that breaking into the first team as a young player has become difficult these days because he feels Spurs are a top outfit in England.

AZ Alkmaar will face Spurs tonight in the Europa League and Parrott admitted that the game will be a difficult one against a ‘world class’ Spurs side.

“Spurs are such a big club. I have had a few chances to play for them and I am proud of that”, the former Spurs forward told Dutch daily De Telegraaf in an interview.

“I was at the club for seven years. I grew up there and was able to develop as a person and as a footballer.

“They want to develop young players and deliver them to the first team. But that is incredibly difficult because the club is in the top five of the Premier League.

“It was not meant to be that I broke through there. Now my own journey has begun.

“It is definitely a special match. It is nice to go back and see some familiar faces. There are some world-class players there, so it is not going to be easy.

“But for me and my fellow players, it is an exciting and beautiful evening,”

Parrott will be looking to play an impactful role against Spurs tonight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Jaimi Joy/Getty Images

Ferencvaros coach Pascal Jansen has insisted Tottenham Hotspur’s ‘noticeably’ high defensive line is a weakness of theirs ahead of Spurs’ Europa League match tonight.

Earlier this month, the Hungarian side faced Spurs in the Europa League and lost the game by a marginal 2-1 scoreline.

Spurs will host Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar tonight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Jansen has given the Dutch side some critical tips.

The Ferencvaros and former AZ Alkmaar boss revealed that if the Dutch side are able to break through Tottenham’s intense pressing, they will be able to cause damage to the north London side.

Spurs play a high defensive line under Ange Postecoglou and Jansen stressed Tottenham’s high defensive line is a weakness of the Premier League side.

“It is not only the backline that is noticeably high on the pitch at Tottenham”, Jansen told Dutch magazine Voetbal International about the north Londoners.

“Up front, they apply extremely high pressure, which can cause problems in the build-up from the back.

“We also provoked their high pressure a bit.

“We managed to take advantage of the spaces that were created at times.

“If you manage to get out from under their initial pressure, you can then go in different directions, thanks to the spaces that are then exposed between the lines and behind their high defence.

“Then you can almost put the ball behind their defence from midfield with your eyes closed.

“Especially if you have speed up front.”

Now it remains to be seen if the Dutch side will be able to set themselves up to take full advantage of Tottenham’s high defensive line tonight.