Ange Postecoglou has made five changes to his Tottenham team for this evening's Premier League encounter against Chelsea. On the losing side last time out across west London against Fulham, Spurs will be attempting to get back on track as they plan a big end to the season.
As a result of a number of sides above them in the battle for a top-half finish dropping points over the past two evenings, Tottenham can reduce Bournemouth's current ten-point lead over them to seven. A win for Spurs would see them move above Manchester United in the standings and jump into 13th from their current position of 14th.
Heading into this evening's game at Stamford Bridge, Postecoglou has made a number of alterations from the defeat at Fulham. Micky van de Ven, Lucas Bergvall, James Maddison, Wilson Odobert and Son Heung-min all come into the team as Ben Davies, Archie Gray, Yves Bissouma, Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel drop out.
Richarlison isn't part of the matchday squad despite recently returning to first-team training with the rest of his teammates following a calf issue sustained in the team's Carabao Cup semi-final defeat at Liverpool back in February. Kevin Danso and Dejan Kulusevski remain out for Spurs but Postecoglou indicated on Wednesday that the duo are a couple of weeks away from returning.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the 59-year-old was asked about Chelsea and the challenge facing his team on Thursday evening. He said: "They’re a talented squad, good manager. I still think they've had a positive season in terms of what they're trying to build. They've got some real talent in that attacking third.
"They obviously got hit by injuries as well and have had some key players missing which affects all clubs and that affected their consistency and results. As you said at their place, they're tough to beat and it'll be a good challenge for us."
Here is the Tottenham team Postecoglou has selected to face Chelsea:
Confirmed Tottenham XI: Vicario; Spence, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Bergvall, Maddison; Odobert, Solanke, Son.
Substitutes: Kinsky, Porro, Davies, Gray, Bissouma, Sarr, Johnson, Tel, Moore.
Spurs' selection choices vs Chelsea, key player fitness & the loan latest - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham