Jose Mourinho has named his first XI as Tottenham Hotspur manager, with few surprises in the ex-Chelsea and Manchester United chief’s selection.
Harry Kane (£10.8m) unsurprisingly leads the line, with FPL managers set to keep a keen eye on the England striker’s positioning under his new boss.
Dele Alli (£8.4m) looks set to line up as the ‘No.10’ in a likely 4-2-3-1 formation.
On the midfielder, Mourinho said yesterday:
“I asked him if he was Dele or Dele’s brother. He told me he was Dele. ‘OK,’ I said. ‘Play like Dele’.” – Jose Mourinho
Son Heung-min (£9.6m) and Lucas Moura (£7.0m) should staff the flanks either side of Dele, which leaves contract rebel Christian Eriksen (£8.7m) to warm the bench alongside Danny Rose (£5.4m).
“I need to understand what is in Christian’s mind and heart.” – Jose Mourinho
Paulo Gazzaniga (£4.5m) is between the sticks as Spurs’ only fit senior goalkeeper, Brandon Austin on the bench. The Argentinian could potentially provide a budget source of points if Mourinho has the desired effect on what has been a leaky Spurs defence up until now.
Jan Vertonghen (£5.2m) is not part of the matchday squad due to injury, so Toby Alderweireld (£5.4m) is partnered in central defence by Davinson Sanchez (£5.3m).
Serge Aurier (£4.8m) gets the nod at right-back, while Ben Davies (£5.4m) makes the XI after impressing for Wales over the international break.
Harry Winks (£5.3m) and Eric Dier (£4.9m) make up the remainder of Mourinho’s initial XI. Tanguy Ndombele (£5.9m) also misses out through injury.
Manuel Pellegrini has stuck with under-fire keeper Roberto (£4.4m) despite several unsatisfactory displays between the sticks for the Hammers.
Mark Noble (£5.0m) has recovered from a knock to take his place in midfield, behind attacking trio Andriy Yarmolenko (£5.9m), Robert Snodgrass (£5.2m) and Felipe Anderson (£6.8m). Pellegrini could use a variation of formations ahead of his back four, most likely 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1.
Angelo Obgonna (£4.5m) replaces Fabian Balbuena (£4.3m) at centre-back, while the other change for the Irons sees Pablo Fornals (£6.0m) drop out for Yarmolenko. Michail Antonio (£6.9m) has recovered from injury to make the bench at the London Stadium.
Line-ups
West Ham United XI: Roberto; Cresswell, Diop, Ogbonna, Fredericks; Rice, Noble; Yarmolenko, Snodgrass, Anderson; Haller.
Tottenham Hotspur XI: Gazzaniga; Davies, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Aurier; Winks, Dier; Son, Dele, Lucas; Kane.
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