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Bissouma Suspended: Tottenham Predicted Lineup vs Fulham

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Shevaughn Racha | Last updated 10/23/23

The Premier League is back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 23, as Spurs welcome their London rivals, Fulham. With the Lilywhites sitting top of the table and the Cottagers currently 13th, here’s the predicted lineup for Ange Postecoglou’s team.

Tottenham Hotspur Predicted Line-Up Versus Fulham

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Forced Change to See Prominent Player Earn His First PL Start

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has been a lynchpin in the midfield since his 2020 transfer from Southampton. He’s featured prominently for the London outfit under various managers, including both Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. The arrival of Postecoglou to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has changed that, as the Dane has yet to start in any of the Lilywhite’s eight PL matches thus far. The Australian manager has opted for a double pivot in midfield consisting of African duo Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma. However, in a moment of pure lunacy in his last outing, Bissouma was sent off and will miss the upcoming game on Monday night.

While many Spurs supporters online are less than keen on Hojbjerg’s ability to fill in for the Mali international, however, Postecoglou was more optimistic. In his pre-match press conference, he stated that he fully trusts the Danish international and touted him as an ideal replacement for Bissouma.

More Changes to the Starting 11?

With Hojbjerg in for Bissouma seemingly confirmed, what other changes, if any, can we expect to the starting 11? The former Celtic boss has opted for Guglielmo Vicario as his starting goalkeeper, along with Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in front of him in all league matches so far. Pedro Porro has been the main choice at right back, with the Spaniard favoured over Brazil’s Emerson Royal in the last seven matches.

As mentioned, it has been a double pivot of Sarr and Bissouma in the middle of the park with James Maddison taking up the creative midfield role. In attack, Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski have started all games, with Richarlison and new signing Brennan Johnson sharing the left-wing role.

That position may once again be up for grabs, as Richarlison missed two glaring chances in the last game at Luton and Johnson is nearing full recovery.