Tottenham take strong squad to Azerbaijan for Europa League tie

Spurs face Qarabag in the Europa league on Thursday but will need to travel virtually through the night immediately after the game ahead of a midday kick-off against the Premier League champions on Sunday.

Pochettino has already outlined his dissatisfaction at the kick-off time for such an important match as his team try to maintain an unbeaten Premier League record since the opening day of the season but it has clearly had little influence on his selections.

Tottenham could have lost to Qarabag and still qualify for the Europa League's knock-out phase and there was a theory that he would take the opportunity to rest key players. The likes of Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen, however, have all still made the trip to Azerbaijan.

Injuries to Nacer Chadli, Nabil Bentaleb, Erik Lamela and Alex Pritchard had limited Pochettino’s options and there are also nine academy products in the squad, including 17-year-old defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, the 18-year-old forward Shayon Harrison as well as Josh Onomah, Harry Winks, Luke McGee, Kane, Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend and Tom Carroll.

 

(The Telegraph)