Mauricio Pochettino has made eight changes from the side that beat Sunderland last weekend for Tottenham’s FA Cup replay at Leicester, their fourth meeting with the Foxes this season.
Eric Dier, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen are the only players to keep their places after the 4-1 win over Sunderland. Dier is pushed back to central defence, partnering Kevin Wimmer.
Nabil Bentaleb earns a rare start alongside Tom Carroll, while Heung-Min Son leads the line up front. Kyle Walker captains the side in Hugo Lloris’ absence.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to all the team news.
Quite like this. Good to see Toby rested yet a strong CB pair. Great to have Bentaleb back and front 4 solid too. https://t.co/YkZs6f8aQh
— Nikhil Saglani (@Nikhil_Saglani) January 20, 2016
Big game for Bentaleb can he recapture his form from last season? #COYS
— Kenny Palmer (@KennyPalmer) January 20, 2016
Time to find out how strong the #THFC squad really is. Properly rotated team. Good to see Bentaleb starting again 🙂
— Jay Jaffa (@jayjaffa) January 20, 2016
I for one am excited to see how Eric Dier does at centre-back tonight. Need a break from CM and provides Alderweireld a well-earned rest.
— Ben McAleer (@BenMcAleer1) January 20, 2016
Eric Dier and Kevin Wimmer should be an interesting pairing. Both Belgians esp Toby Alderweireld (finally) get a rest. BENTALEB BACK #COYS
— Harry Charalambous (@PrimeSpur1992) January 20, 2016
That moment when you find out Michel Vorm is starting. pic.twitter.com/PfyEYwQizL
— Raj Bains (@BainsXIII) January 20, 2016
Battle of the Reserve teams
— Spooky (@Spooky23) January 20, 2016
I wouldn't trust Vorm to save my place in queue ffs ?
Hope he proves me wrong
— ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ (@laurenthfc) January 20, 2016
No Vardy, Mahrez, Okazaki, Morgan or Kante in the starting XI for Leicester. Puts Pochettino's XI into perspective.
We can win this!
#THFC
— Ricky Sacks (@RickSpur) January 20, 2016
The 'I told you so' lot will return tonight if we don't pick up a good result
— Spurs Focus (@FocusSpurs) January 20, 2016
Doubt Vorm, Wimmer, Dier, have had much game time together. Important the keeper/CB's have an understanding. Brave
— Paul O Keefe (@pokeefe1) January 20, 2016
Concerned about Dier/Wimmer/Vorm at the back. No game experience together, will have to deal w/ a lot of direct play.
— Ian M. Walker (@WalkerIanM) January 20, 2016
Is our team the strongest available? No.
Is our team capable of beating Leicester's? Yes.
— Alan (@hotspur423) January 20, 2016
I don't mind playing a weakened squad. I do mind playing Vorm. #THFC
— Glen Hussey (@Glebbers_N17) January 20, 2016
Just sent the teams. Have Poch and Ranieri done a deal to play second XIs?
— Liquid Spurs (@LiquidSpurs) January 20, 2016
Aside from the keeper I like the line-up & I think we're going to win tonight. We've had time to suss them out & we have more quality.
— Chris Miller (@WindyCOYS) January 20, 2016
Our team selected should comfortably beat that Leicester team, no idea why anyone is moaning, we all know rotation for cups is policy #coys
— Sherm (@shermdogg7) January 20, 2016
Hoping for performances from Bentaleb, Chadli and Son. The stronger our squad is, the more we'll come out with at season's end. #thfc #coys
— Martin D. Hendry (@martinsaidthis) January 20, 2016
#thfc Bentaleb and Carroll will presumably want to play in a similar way. Will they complement each other or get in each other's way?
— Ben Pearce (@BenPearceSpurs) January 20, 2016
Thought the team selection would've been just a bit stronger than that, but will wait to see how this XI does first. Come on Tottenham!
— Spurs In The Blood (@SpursInTheBlood) January 20, 2016
Fair enough niether manager really wants to win then . Heads you win tails we loose .
Good management