Alli not in the Spurs squad as Armstrong returns for Saints

After being replaced at half-time last Sunday against Everton, Dele Alli (£7.9m) has been dropped from the Spurs squad altogether for Sunday lunchtime’s clash with Southampton.

The attacking midfielder was selected by some FPL managers as a cheaper alternative to Son Heung-min (£8.9m), in the hopes that he would recreate the excellent form at the beginning of Jose Mourinho’s time in north London last year.

Instead, Alli was taken off early on the opening day of the season and wasn’t part of Thursday’s Europa League struggles in Plovdiv. With Gareth Bale’s spectacular return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Alli’s days may be numbered and certainly are from a Fantasy perspective.

He is replaced by Tanguy Ndombele (£6.0m) in one of two changes made by Mourinho from last Sunday, with Toby Alderweireld (£5.5m) making way for Davinson Sanchez (£5.5m) at centre-back.

In what is a horrifically busy schedule for Spurs, it will be interesting to see how safe Son and Harry Kane (£10.5m) are from rotation in the coming weeks, although both start today.

Former Southampton captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (£5.0m) makes a swift return to his former club after a £15m summer transfer, with Southampton’s popular FPL defender Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.5m) also facing his old side after making the reverse journey.

The Saints lost 1-0 last weekend and have responded with their own two changes, as Stuart Armstrong (£5.5m) has recovered from a thigh injury picked up on international duty to replace Will Smallbone (£4.5m) in attacking midfield.

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl gave off negative vibes after their midweek Carabao Cup defeat to Brentford, suggesting it would be a very long and difficult season for a side who finished 2019/20 in brilliant form.

Whilst they would not have expected two defeats and no goals to start their season, the dual-threat of both Che Adams (£6.0m) and Danny Ings (£8.4m) up front should ensure that Southampton won’t be in serious danger and they would love to open their accounts today.

Hasenhuttl’s other change to the starting line-up sees Moussa Djenepo (£5.5m) replace the injured Nathan Redmond (£6.5m).

The winger suffered a light ankle injury against Brentford.

Southampton XI (4-4-2): McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand; Armstrong, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo; Ings, Adams.

Tottenham Hotspur XI (4-3-3): Lloris; Doherty, Dier, Sanchez, Davies; Hojbjerg, Winks, Ndombele; Lucas, Son, Kane.

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