Tottenham Hotspur play host to Rochdale in their fifth round FA Cup replay tie at Wembley on Wednesday night, and manager Mauricio Pochettino may see the clash against the League One strugglers as the perfect opportunity to give some game time to some of his younger players.
The Argentine boss picked a relatively strong line-up for the 2-2 draw against Keith Hill’s men earlier this month, but it wasn’t enough to get them the victory even with Harry Kane and Dele Alli both coming off of the substitutes’ bench.
The match against Dale starts a run of three home fixtures in a week for Spurs, with the cup tie being followed by a Premier League clash against Huddersfield Town and then the crucial Champions League last 16 second leg against Juventus next Wednesday.
With the north London outfit moving into the top four in the English top flight over the weekend and desperate to reach the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition, Pochettino will want to avoid any injuries to any key men and with some senior fringe players failing to impress when they have been given a chance to stake a claim for a regular spot in the team, the 45-year-old could turn to the youth.
Here are two Tottenham youngsters the Argentine must bring into the starting XI vs Rochdale…
Kyle Walker-Peters
The 20-year-old full-back has been rarely seen in the Tottenham team ever since he put in an impressive display at right-back in the 2-0 win against Newcastle United on the opening day of the Premier League season.
The youngster did feature against AFC Wimbledon and Newport County in the previous rounds of the FA Cup, but he only made the substitutes’ bench at Spotland last time out.
However, with this replay at home, Pochettino not wanting Kieran Trippier to get injured ahead of an important run-in and with Serge Aurier struggling against Crystal Palace on Sunday, now is the perfect time to give Walker-Peters a chance to shine.
Kazaiah Sterling
Having played back-up to Harry Kane for the majority of the season, Fernando Llorente was given a rare chance to impress in the starting XI at Spotland earlier this month, but he failed to take it.
The Spaniard just doesn’t seem to fit in to Tottenham’s style of play, and he made little impact against Keith Hill’s side before he was replaced by Kane, who went on to score from the penalty spot.
Pochettino ideally won’t want to risk Kane at home to a League One side ahead of an important set of fixtures, and with Llorente failing to impress it could be the perfect opportunity to bring 19-year-old Sterling, who has scored 11 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions for the club’s various youth sides this season, into the starting XI.
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