Following the cancellation of Spurs' recent pre-season clash against Leicester City in Thailand, the team wasted no time in their pre-season preparations to face Lion City Sailors in Singapore.
Spurs was scheduled to go head-to-head with Ex-Europa league finalists Roma in the Lion Ciy, but pulled out at the eleventh hour. Lion City Sailors stepped up as the next best alternative opponent for Spurs, believing that this would be a good test for the team’s ability as they will be up and running in the Asian Champions League (ACL) very soon.
“Within the club, we all know how important the ACL is and the target is really to do even better than the 2022 campaign. It is great for us to have the opportunity to test ourselves against a team like Spurs because we’re surely going to play against teams that play at a similar intensity and have physically strong players in their ranks,” mentioned Shawal Anuar in an interview with Lion City Sailors.
This would be the best time for fans to catch new signings, Rui Pires, Bailey Wright, and Richairo Živković playing alongside each other. It is evident with the amount of quality and experience these players were brought in by newly appointed head coach Ranko, whose record stands with three wins and two losses for the club so far, the fluency of play for Sailors with these experienced players playing together might be a game-changer for the whole squad. It is with a game like this, then will everyone see if the Sailors got what it takes to match up to teams that are of a higher caliber than them in the Asian Champions League.
“It is very important to play games like this because this game against Spurs will help us to test ourselves against world-class players, I can use every single player in the squad, and this game serves as a platform for me to try out formations and strategies that I can use in the ACL,” mentioned Ranko in the pre-match press conference ahead of the clash between both teams.
Ange Postecoglou and his side will look to play their brand of football and excite their fans in Singapore. Local Tottenham Hotspurs fanatics will be hoping to catch their favourite heroes such as Harry Kane, Son, Richarlison as well as newly signed Maddison in action.
“Looking forward to the game and every opportunity we get to play abroad and in front of fans who don’t regularly get a chance to see us regularly is a great opportunity for us to show our abilities. I think it s a good way for us to finish up the tour tomorrow, it is a great stadium and hopefully, we get a great turnout” mentioned Ange.
However, with the likes of all these players involved in the game, Lion City Sailors will approach the game without any fear and only aim to achieve their objectives, even if the scoreline might seem disastrous.
“It’s not about the score-line in matches like these, we’re not worried about being thrashed. It may sound like a cliché, but the performance is more important and we want to show that we can match up to Spurs in certain moments or aspects of the game” mentioned Shawal Anuar once again in an interview with Sailors.
Head-to-Head
This would be the first time both teams will lock horns against each other. Tottenham Hotspurs will be looking to adapt to their new head coaches’ tactics as they are still new and fresh to his plans whereas Ranko and his men will look to experiment with their squad for the Asian Champions League against a top-class team like Spurs.
Tottenham Hotspurs Form Guide: W-W-L-D-L
Lion City Sailors Form Guide: W-W-L-L-W
Tottenham Hotspurs vs Lion City Sailors team news
Tottenham Hotspurs
Dane Scarlett and Tanguy Ndombele have both picked up knocks during their pre-season tour. It is confirmed that Dane will miss out on this match against the Sailors, but Ndombele remains doubtful despite reports have mentioned that they have both returned to training.
“Dane unfortunately has had a bit of an injury that has set him back, he was back in training today, but tomorrow’s game is too soon for him. Tanguy is the only other one who has picked up an injury, he’s also trained the last couple of days. Apart from that, everyone is good” as Ange mentioned in an interview with SPURSPLAY.
Injured: Dane Scarlett
Doubtful: Tanguy Ndombele
Suspended: None
Lion City Sailors
There are no reported injuries or suspensions.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Tottenham Hotspurs vs Lion City Sailors predicted first XI
Tottenham Hotspurs Predicted First XI: Guglielmo Vicario, Ben Davies, Cristian Romero, Destiny, Yves Bissouma, Hojbjerg, Heung-min Son, James Maddison, Harry Kane, Kulusevski, Ivan Perišić.
Lion City Sailors Predicted First XI: Zharfan Rohaizad, Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Anu, Shawal Anuar, Hafiz Nor, Diego Lopes, Hami Syahin, Maxime Lestienne, Adam Swandi, Nur Adam Abdullah.
Tottenham Hotspurs vs Lion City Sailors prediction
Ange will be looking to approach this game to experiment as this is his best time to see and test his tactics on his players, and get a better feel of his new team. He has also mentioned that due to Spurs missing out on a game, he might not use everyone in this fixture.
“I think tomorrow I won’t use everyone. With us missing a game, this was the game where I was going to give game time to just about everyone in the squad but with us missing a game, I’ll probably still focus on the guys who need a game. So, I’ll probably do two elevens again, which means some will miss out but they’ll do some work and then we’ve got a full week of training after that”.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspurs 5-0 Lion City Sailors
