Spurs have a very busy schedule coming up, with four games in 10 days, featuring their crucial Europa League second leg, the Carling Cup Final, and most importantly for Fantasy Football managers a double Gameweek 28. Here I’ll outline their upcoming fixtures and focus on some key strategies on dealing with their two fixtures in Gameweek 28.
Fixture Pile-Up History
First of all here’s a quick recap of their forthcoming fixtures.
Thu 26 Feb – Fiorentina vs Tottenham (Europa League)
Sun 1 Mar – Chelsea vs Tottenham (League Cup Final)
Wed 4 Mar – Tottenham vs Swansea (Premier League)
Sat 7 Mar – QPR vs Tottenham (Premier League)
To assess the likelihood of rotation for their key fantasy assets, I’ve had a look at how Pochettino dealt with three comparable fixture pile-ups this season. On each occasion, they also had games on Thursday/Sunday/Wednesday/Saturday. I’ve included the starters for each four-game sequence, with goals and assists in brackets:
Fixture Pile-Up #1
Thu 18 Sep – Partizan 0-0 Tottenham (EL)
Sun 21 Sep – Tottenham 0-1 West Brom (PL)
Wed 24 Sep – Tottenham 3-1 Nottingham Forest (CC)
Sat 27 Sep – Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham (PL)
4 Starts: None.
3 Starts: Lloris, Vertonghen, Naughton.
2 Starts: Kaboul, Rose, Davies (1A), Capoue, Stambouli, Bentaleb, Paulinho, Lennon, Townsend, Eriksen, Chadli (1G), Lamela (2A), Adebayor.
1 Start: Vorm, Chiriches, Kane (1G), Soldado (1G).
Fixture Pile-Up #2
Thu 27 Nov – Tottenham 1-0 Partizan (EL)
Sun 30 Nov – Tottenham 2-1 Everton (PL)
Wed 3 Dec – Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham (PL)
Sat 6 Dec – Tottenham 0-0 Crystal Palace (PL)
4 Starts: Lloris, Vertonghen, Davies.
3 Starts: Fazio, Chiriches, Mason, Bentaleb, Lennon (1A), Lamela, Eriksen (1G), Kane (1A), Soldado (1G, 1A).
2 Starts: None.
1 Start: Naughton, Dier, Stambouli (1G), Dembele, Paulinho.
Fixture Pile-Up #3
Thu 11 Dec – Besiktas 1-0 Tottenham (EL)
Sun 14 Dec – Swansea 1-2 Tottenham (PL)
Wed 17 Dec – Tottenham 4-0 Newcastle (CC)
Sat 20 Dec – Tottenham 2-1 Burnley (PL)
4 Starts: None.
3 Starts: Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Bentaleb (1G), Chadli (1G, 1A), Eriksen (1G, 4A), Kane (3G).
2 Starts: Lloris, Vorm, Chiriches, Rose, Davies (1A), Stambouli, Mason (1A), Townsend (1A), Lamela (1G), Soldado (1G).
1 Start: Kaboul, Dembele, Paulinho.
Conclusions
No one is safe from rotation during the double Gameweek. The only players to play all four matches in any of these examples are Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen, and Ben Davies in Fixture Pile-Up #2 (when Danny Rose was out injured). This means the line-ups against Fiorentina and Chelsea will be key. Anyone who starts both of these matches should not be seen as likely to start both double Gameweek fixtures, unless their name is Hugo Lloris or Jan Vertonghen, and even they are not total certainties.
Pochettino’s energetic pressing game takes it toll, particularly on attackers – I would not expect any of them to start all four matches, and as we saw with Eriksen against West Ham, the Argentine is not averse to resting a key man in the league. Of course, should Harry Kane or Christian Eriksen start on the bench against Swansea or QPR, you’d definitely expect them to make a sub appearance, but it’s worth being wary of.
I expect Rose and Davies to share game time – I would only pick up Rose if Davies plays against Fiorentina and even then it would be no surprise for them to get a game each in the double Gameweek. As for the other two defensive spots, I would expect Kyle Walker, Eric Dier and Federico Fazio all to play their part. If Dier starts at right-back against Fiorentina, with Walker on the bench, then Walker becomes an option, but I’m not sure Spurs’ defensive resolve warrants the risk of Dier or Fazio – Lloris/Vertonghen would be my picks for their relative security.
Their midfielders and attackers are, frankly, a minefield. Kane and Eriksen have the quality to make a telling contribution off the bench, but otherwise, I’m not anyone else is even worth a punt – rotation is so likely, that you can’t say it’s a true double Gameweek for any of Nacer Chadli, Andros Townsend, Moussa Dembele or Eric Lamela; there’s simply too high a chance that they’ll end up starting only one match.
9 years, 7 months ago
Great piece. Definitely bracing myself for rotation.