Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Alasdair Gold & Robert Warlow & Rob Guest

Dier and Ndombele in, Winks on the bench: How Mourinho could line Spurs up vs Bournemouth

It is back to the Premier League for Spurs this weekend as they host Bournemouth at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Jose Mourinho will take charge of his first home Premier League fixture as Spurs head coach as the Cherries visit north London, with Tottenham looking to continue their winning start under the new boss.

Spurs followed up the 3-2 win at West Ham last Saturday with a 4-2 victory against Olympiacos in the Champions League on Tuesday, sealing their place in the knockout stages of the competition.

But with a busy period ahead in the top flight, will Mourinho be tempted to make changes for the game against Bournemouth?

We take a look at how he could line the team up, below.

Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold

The Jose Mourinho way so far has been one of little change and attempting to keep the winning momentum in this Tottenham Hotspur side.

However, the new head coach did also admit that his players looked tired following two matches in quick succession with a near unchanged side following their international exploits and travels.

He could make just a couple of changes to the team to add some fresh legs. They are unlikely to come in attack with Spurs having scored seven goals in those last two games but Mourinho will want to tighten up the defence and add some energy to the centre of the park.

Jan Vertonghen is in contention to feature for Tottenham. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Jan Vertonghen is back and fit to play in the centre of defence or potentially on the left while, with Eric Dier having only played 29 minutes, it could be Harry Winks who makes way.

Mourinho wants a defensive player and passer together, so that could see Tanguy Ndombele come into the side.

Alasdair's team : (4-2-3-1) Gazzaniga; Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Ndombele; Lucas, Alli, Son; Kane.

Club writer Rob Guest

It remains to be seen how many alterations Jose Mourinho will make on Saturday as he only made the one on Tuesday evening.

A change needs to be made at left-back with Ryan Sessegnon replacing Danny Rose given the England international's shocker against Olympiacos.

As Ben Davies is out injured and likely to be on the sidelines for a while, the time is right to give the summer signing a run in the side.

Tanguy Ndombele should also start and he could have a field day against the Cherries given their poor form.

Although Eric Dier was hooked on Tuesday to make way for Christian Eriksen, he should start once again and provide the defensive cover in the middle to allow Ndombele to flourish.

Rob's team (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Aurier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Sessegnon; Dier, Ndombele; Lucas, Alli, Son; Kane.

Production editor Robert Warlow

Given the turnaround against Olympicos on Tuesday night, it would be a surprise to see too many changes from the team that finished the game.

Eric Dier was substituted after less than half an hour against Olympiacos, but Jose Mourinho said it was nothing to do with his own performance and he could be restored to the starting line-up.

Tanguy Ndombele could also come back in to the starting line-up, perhaps to replace Harry Winks, who played the full 90 minutes against the Greek side.

Christian Eriksen celebrates with Serge Aurier after his crucial goal against Olympiacos (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

In defence, Serge Aurier should keep his place after an impressive performance against Olympiacos, while Danny Rose is likely to continue at left-back, with Ben Davies injured.

Robert's team (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Rose; Dier, Ndombele, Lucas, Alli, Son; Kane.

Now it is your turn to pick the team you would like to see on Saturday.

And you can select your team using our interactive widget below.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.