Tottenham predicted line-up vs Bournemouth: two key changes made as £34m signing earns start

Tottenham Hotspur are back in Premier League action this weekend with a home clash against AFC Bournemouth. Ange Postecoglou’s side take on the Cherries on Sunday afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they look to return to winning ways.

Spurs were beaten 1-0 away at AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their Europa League clash on Thursday night. They have work to do in the second leg as they look to turn it around.

Postecoglou’s side are sat in 13th place in the table after a disappointing seasn to date. They have 33 points on the board with 11 fixtures left to play.

Tottenham Hotspur predicted XI

Guglielmo Vicario is back fit for Spurs and has become their number one again as he looks to keep a clean sheet against Bournemouth. January signing Antonin Kinsky provides back-up from the bench.

£34m man Pedro Porro was on the bench for the London club against AZ before coming on and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him come back into the team. He likes to get up and down the flank, with Djed Spence doing the same on the other side.

Archie Gray continues to slot in at centre-back as Postecoglou waits for the right time to throw Micky van de Ven back into the fold following his injury issues. Kevin Danso, who joined this past winter from RC Lens, is also likely to get the nod again with some key players still sidelined in that department.

Midfielders James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur are poised to feature again for Spurs, whilst Pape Matar Sarr may come in for Lucas Bergvall to freshen things up. The trio will all be eager to cause the Cherries some issues and create opportunities for the players ahead of them on the pitch.

Going forward, Mathys Tel, Son Heung-min and Brennan Johnson all have pace to get in behind defenders. Dominic Solanke took a knock against AZ and is now an injury doubt which gives other players in that department the chance to show what they can do.

Vicario; Porro, Gray, Danso, Spence; Maddison, Bentancur, Bergvall; Son, Tel, Johnson

What did Ange Postecoglou say after Europa League loss?

Spurs were left disappointed after losing to AZ and speaking after that defeat, Postecoglou said: "It wasn’t great from us tonight, pretty much in all facets of the game. We didn’t really get to grips with any part of the game. We struggled to gain any momentum with the ball, we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be without the ball.

“It was a tricky surface, but having said that, we knew that from (training). We just didn’t tackle the challenges we had out there in a positive way. That allowed AZ to get into a rhythm, which when you’re playing away from home, it is difficult to stem the tide."

He added: "I don’t think it’s a matter of effort or attitude. I don’t think it is going out there and not trying, but like I said, we didn’t really come to grips and have the right mindset to tackle an away fixture in Europe. It is always tough and we obviously conceded the goal, which was a disappointing set of events, but even after that we didn’t really settle down into the game at all. You are going to face some pressure when you play away from home in Europe and weather the storm and get to grips with it, but we never really did so that was a disappointment."