Ange Postecoglou will have a fairly simple choice when it comes to selecting his Tottenham centre-back pairing for Thursday evening's Europa League clash against Galatasaray. Micky van de Ven will not feature for Spurs until after the international break due to a strained hamstring, with Cristian Romero currently nursing a foot injury that forced him off in last weekend's win over Aston Villa.
Due to the lack of available numbers in such a key position right now, Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies will almost certainly partner each other at the heart of defence in Istanbul. Neither are regulars for Tottenham in the Premier League but the duo have seen an increase in game time of late due to the club's hectic schedule.
What will perhaps be extremely pleasing for Postecoglou at present is that Dragusin and Davies do appear to be forming a very strong bond at the heart of defence. Given the understanding that Romero and Van de Ven have established over the past year, having another partnership to come in and replace the first-choice duo can only be a good thing for Postecoglou and Spurs.
It was at this stage in the season 12 months ago when the 59-year-old's options at centre-back were sparse to say the least. Losing Van de Ven for a period of time due to a hamstring injury, Romero was also unavailable because of the red card he received in the 4-1 defeat at home to Chelsea last November.
Rather than giving established centre-back Eric Dier an extended run in the team, Postecoglou instead went for Emerson Royal and Davies as his makeshift defensive partnership. In the 3-3 draw away at Man City in December 2023, Postecoglou selected a four-man defence comprising solely of full-backs and Spurs still managed to leave the Etihad Stadium with a point in the bag.
Not having a player of Dragusin's quality back then to immediately come into defence, Spurs are now reaping the rewards of signing the highly-rated Romanian from Genoa at the start of this year. Dragusin may not be playing week in, week out as he would like but his addition has really helped Tottenham out.
The 22-year-old was outstanding in last week's 2-1 win over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and he followed it up with another excellent performance as Spurs put Aston Villa to the sword. In both of those games, Dragusin was joined at centre-back by Davies as a result of Romero leaving the field early in both fixtures.
The Wales international was superb both times he was called upon as he helped solidify things at the back for Tottenham. He even had a hand in Dominic Solanke's first goal against Villa after making a vital block on the halfway line which resulted in Tottenham going on to punish their opponents.
What has helped both Davies and Dragusin over the past two games is that they already have experience of playing alongside each other. Paired for the first time this season in the 2-1 win away at Coventry City in the middle of September, the partnership resumed a fortnight ago for Tottenham's Europa League encounter against AZ Alkmaar.
The game time together has given both the opportunity to develop an understanding and it has to be said that they look at home alongside one another at present. That meant that Davies fitted in seamlessly next to Dragusin when introduced in the second half against both Man City and Aston Villa.
Davies' introduction for the final 29 minutes of the Villa game was actually his first Premier League appearance of the season, although you couldn't tell that going on the quality showing that he delivered alongside his teammate. The fact that both have been regularly used in the cup competitions this season has also helped their game and the partnership as they are not coming into matches cold due to a lack of minutes.
Unfortunately losing one defensive partnership due to injury, the great thing for Postecoglou is that he has another duo ready and waiting when needed. Dragusin and Davies may not be Romero and Van de Ven but they are a major asset to Postecoglou and Tottenham right now.
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