This season, Tottenham Hotspur will be returning to European competition after 2023/24 ended up being a fallow year.
Spurs made it to the last 16 of the Champions League in 2022/23, narrowly losing to AC Milan.
However, their eighth-placed Premier League finish that year deprived them of Europe the following season.
Tottenham have since put that right, finishing fifth last season to earn a place in this season’s Europa League.
The tournament means Spurs will have great opportunities to give competitive game time to some of their fringe players and academy stars.
Football.london journalist and Tottenham expert Alasdair Gold has now looked at which Spurs players could get the bulk of their minutes in the Europa League.
Alasdair Gold backs Fraser Forster and Radu Dragusin for Europa League starring role
On Saturday, Gold hosted a fan Q&A on football.london, with supporters fielding questions about the latest goings-on at N17.
One fan asked him how much rotation he expects to see in the Europa League and whether the likes of Brandon Austin, Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin would feature plentifully.
Gold replied: “I think naturally there will need to be a hefty dose of rotation although much will depend on the opposition.
“With games every three days for much of the coming months, Postecoglou can’t afford to just put out his strongest team in every match otherwise they will tire quickly or even worse, get injured. He has already spoken about keeping his main men fresher this season with more rotation.
“I would think Fraser Forster will play in goal for most of the games, otherwise the decision to include him instead of (Djed) Spence looks a bit daft. Radu Dragusin will play plenty but Davies may be needed at left-back at times.
“It’s a good competition to give (Lucas) Bergvall and (Archie) Gray – perhaps at right-back – plenty of minutes in as well as others like Timo Werner and the many central midfielders who will be vying for spots in all the games.
“Richarlison, when he returns, will likely be able to get his sharpness and goalscoring on point in the competition and we’ll get to see youngsters like Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear hopefully.”
How Guglielmo Vicario stands to benefit
Tottenham were being widely tipped to leave Forster out of their Europa League squad, but Ange Postecoglou controversially opted to leave Spence out.
Although it’s a huge shame for Spence to miss out, it makes sense to include Forster in the squad.
The Tottenham goalkeeper is an “unbelievable” player with extensive experience who deserves to be in the spotlight, and he’s very popular in the dressing room too.
Last season, Forster made just one appearance for Tottenham, in the League Cup, so it’ll be good to see him get many more minutes.
Obviously it’s not all about sentimentality – Forster playing in in the Europa League means Guglielmo Vicario will get some rest so he can remain fresh and focused for the Premier League campaign.