Tottenham have submitted their 22-man squad list for Wednesday’s Super Cup showdown with PSG and the inclusion of one man will come as a boost for supporters.
Spurs face the Parisian powerhouse in Udine on Wednesday night as they look to build upon their Europa League success in May. Brennan Johnson’s scrappy first half strike proved the difference in Bilbao as Spurs ended their 17-year wait for a trophy, claiming a 1-0 win over Premier League rivals Manchester United in the process.
In winning a first piece of European silverware since 1984, Spurs were automatically entered into the Super Cup, where they take on PSG.
The Ligue 1 giants were in fine form as they trounced Inter in the Champions League final earlier this year, as goals from Achraf Hakimi, Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Sunny Mayulu secured a 5-0 win in Munich.
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While PSG were unable to follow up success in Germany with the Club World Cup in America last month, Luis Enrique’s side crashing to a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea, the French outfit will be confident of kicking off the campaign with a first piece of silverware.
Spurs boost as key PSG man missing
The absence of Joao Neves, the Portuguese midfielder suspended, is a blow for PSG, the former Benfica man forging a fine partnership with compatriot Vitinha and Spain international Fabian Ruiz in Enrique’s favoured 4-3-3 setup.
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Even so, PSG head into the midweek meeting with Spurs as favourites as Thomas Frank gears up for his first competitive match as head coach.
Frank succeeded Ange Postecoglou at the Spurs helm earlier in the year, and the former Brentford man faces a real baptism of fire.
The north London side were humbled in their final pre-season game before the domestic campaign gets underway later this week, losing 4-0 to Bayern Munich.
Dominic Solanke has hardly kicked a ball in pre-season
Dominic Solanke missed that heavy defeat due to injury sustained against Reading last month and fans were concerned the England international wouldn’t be ready for the new season.
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Richarlison has been preferred as focal point of the Spurs attack but the Brazilian has come in for criticism for missing a couple of sitters in pre-season, notably close-range headers against Arsenal and Bayern.
However, Solanke has been included in Spurs’ 22-man squad list for the meeting with PSG, which will have come as a boost for the club even if he has barely featured in pre-season
In addition, Destiny Udogie has made the cut, with the Italian recently struggling due to injury.
Tottenham's 22-man Super Cup squad list
Goalkeepers: Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky, Brandon Austin
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Defenders: Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies
Midfielders: Joao Palhinha, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Sarr
Forwards: Mohammed Kudus, Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel, Richarlison, Dominic Solanke
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Fans will hope to see Lucas Bergvall make his first competitive appearance the 5-1 loss to Liverpool in April after the Swedish midfielder suffered an ankle injury to miss the final games of the campaign.
Injured sextet James Maddison, Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, Kota Takai, Bryan Gil and Manor Solomon all miss out on the squad list, while the latter pair have been linked with summer exits.
Elsewhere, Spurs have been linked with a move for Manchester City winger Savinho as the club step up their push to sign a replacement for Son Heung-Min, who departed for LAFC last week and impressed on his debut for the MLS side.
Topics: Football, PSG, Tottenham Hotspur, Champions League
Ben McAleer