Sky Sports pundit predicts Tottenham clash against Gent, criticises senior player
By Amir Mir
Charlie Nicholas believes Tottenham will record a 1-1 draw against Gent in their Europa League clash in Belgium on Thursday night.
Sky Sports pundit Nicholas was critical of Spurs centre-back Eric Dier for his “extremely poor” showing during the 2-0 defeat against Liverpool last time out.
The senior player was at fault for the Reds second goal when he was dispossessed in his own half by Sadio Mane, who went on to score his second of the game.
Now, they will be looking to bounce back from that damaging defeat in the Premier League as they will be hoping to take some sort of advantage for the second leg.
Former Arsenal striker Nicholas believes they will score on the night as he delivered his verdict on who he thinks will play in the match.
“Suddenly a little spanner has been thrown into the works for Spurs, who everybody was saying were genuine contenders, and they are now facing their critics after a really poor performance at Liverpool,” Nicholas told Sky Sports.
“Now Mauricio Pochettino has to decide what his priorities are and how to shuffle his pack with the Europa League sandwiching the FA Cup at the weekend.
“I would imagine he will make a point about how unhappy he is, with Eric Dier in particular extremely poor at centre-back once again against Liverpool
“I would think Pochettino will only make two or three changes here but I’d expect Dele Alli and Harry Kane to get a rest, with Vincent Janssen coming in.”
Pochettino’s side were knocked out of the Champions League group stages when they finished third earlier on in the season.
They picked up two wins against CSKA Moscow during those games as Bayern Leverkusen and Monaco progressed through to the next round.
Now, the north London club, who have an FA Cup tie on Sunday, will be looking to stamp their authority on this gruelling competition.
After their fifth round FA Cup tie at Fulham on Sunday, they will then welcome back Gent to White Hart Lane for the return leg next Thursday, before hosting Stoke in the league three days later.
In other Tottenham news, this senior star has made this claim ahead of the Europa League clash.
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