Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou is set to pick a strong side against Galatasaray in the Europa League
Tottenham Hotspur have two more games to play until the upcoming international break after what has been an intense few weeks of action.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have responded strongly to the shock Crystal Palace defeat, beating Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and Aston Villa in the Premier League in the process. But there is now one final fixture in the Europa League and Premier League before Spurs players leave the club for their international duties.
The Tottenham squad have flown out to Istanbul to face Turkish champions Galatasaray on Thursday evening. They have begun the Europa League campaign in great fashion, winning three out of three. This has put the Lilywhites in second place in the table and in a commanding position to advance to the knockout rounds.
Ange Postecoglou has rotated his squad well in the Europa League, handing a number of youngsters such as Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Mikey Moore opportunities to impress. Injuries and suspensions to key members have also played a part in his team selections but overall Postecoglou has put out strong teams in the opening three fixtures.
Currently, Spurs are carrying several injuries heading into the game against Galatasaray. Cristian Romero and Richarlison were forced off with injuries against Aston Villa and will miss Thursday’s European fixture, while Wilson Odobert has suffered a serious injury setback. Djed Spence is also injured, even though he wouldn’t have played due to the club not including him in their Europa League group-stage squad list.
So, one could imagine that Big Ange will have some big decisions to make when putting his strongest XI on the pitch at RAMS Park. Asked what kind of rotation he will make with all the absent players, Big Ange stated in his pre-match press conference (h/t Football London):
“Through the Europa League we’ve rotated the team as we’ve seen. Obviously, we are playing three games a week at the moment, have been since the start of the season and we’ve used pretty much all our squad, but that’s worked well because players have come in and been fit because they’re playing football regularly. We’ll make changes tomorrow night but again it’s just about making sure we have a team out there we believe can match the opposition and get a result for us.”
Spurs players will step into a cauldron-like atmosphere at RAMS Park to play Galatasaray, who are the current league leaders in Super Lig. They are a top team with some fantastic and experienced players such as Victor Osimhen, Dries Mertens, Mauro Icardi, Baris Yilmaz, Davinson Sanchez and Karim Demirbay and so on.
So, our players have to perform as a unit, soak up the pressure from a hostile atmosphere, stick to the game plan and return home with all three points. It is going to be an uphill battle but we do have a quality squad—despite some key absentees—to beat Omar Buruk’s side.
A win at RAMS Park would represent something of a statement to the rest of the teams in this competition.
