Tottenham’s Jose Mourinho team will seek to redress Sunday’s injustice seen at Brighton & Hove Albion.
In the 1-0 defeat at Amex, which was so bad and far from their best from the first to the last minute, Spurs lost ground in the top four.
For Tottenham, a London derby will certainly not make it any easier to face Chelsea in N17.
Now with a new manager at the helm, after Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard on the hot seat, the Blues have a win and a draw from their first two games under the German.
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They will be anxious to extend their undefeated run to three games and add even more misery to their rivals after a nightmare in recent days for Spurs.
But how will Mourinho’s Tottenham side position themselves at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday night?
Our Tottenham and Football.London Reporters name the teams the head coach would like to see against Chelsea.
Rob Guest – Tottenham Hotspur reporter
The first thing Jose Mourinho has to do is scrap the formation with three at the back and the full-backs.
With Sergio Reguilon injured and it is not clear when Serge Aurier will be back, it just won’t work without the duo as they are attacking players who can make a big impact in the final third.
It’s time to get back to four, but this time with Toby Alderweireld and Joe Rodon as Mourinho’s center-backs.
Japhet Tanganga should nod on the right at Matt Doherty’s poor form, with Ben Davies starting on the opposite flank.
After his role as right full-back on Sunday, Moussa Sissoko will have to return to central midfield alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to give the team in the middle against Chelsea the much-needed energy.
It also seems like the perfect game to get Erik Lamela off to a start after Gareth Bale’s poor performance as the team could use a bit of bite and aggression against their London rivals there.
(Image: Mike Hewitt / Getty Images)
Tanguy Ndombele and Son Heung-min start alongside the Argentine in a three behind Carlos Vinicius, as Spurs need this focus in advance, which unfortunately did not exist in the first half at Amex.
Guest team: Lloris; Tanganga, Alderweireld, Rodon, Davies; Hojbjerg, Sissoko; Lamela, Ndombele, son; Vinicius
Lee Wilmot – Head of Football for London and the South
Another game and fight to choose a side considering what happened before.
One thing is certain, the last three don’t work.
Before Hugo Lloris, I see no reason to ditch Joe Rodon as he is a fan of the partnership between Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier.
I think I would have Alderweireld alongside the Welshman, with Ben Davies as left-back and then right-back. You have the same problem as before – neither Serge Aurier nor Matt Doherty are up to the task, it seems.
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I will choose Doherty because I don’t want to see Moussa Sissoko there again.
Sissoko should play three in midfield with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Tanguy Ndombele.
Before them I would pick Steve Bergwijn, Son Heung-min and Carlos Vinicius.
Wilmot’s team: Lloris; Doherty, Alderweireld, Rodon, Davies; Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Sissoko; Bergwijn, son, Vinicius
