Ange Postecoglou to consider double Tottenham change at Sheffield Utd amid Micky van de Ven call

One point is all Tottenham need to finish the 2023/24 Premier League season in fifth and secure the Europa League position that comes with it. Confirmed to be back in Europe next season following Newcastle United's defeat at Manchester United on Wednesday evening, all that needs to be determined now is whether Spurs finish the term in fifth or Chelsea leapfrog them and they instead come sixth.

Heading into Sunday's final Premier League game of the campaign against Sheffield United, Tottenham are firm favourites to stay ahead of their London rivals due to the fact that they only need to obtain a point away at the Premier League's bottom club. The Blades have endured a nightmare campaign back in the top flight and have only won three of their 37 league games, conceding 101 goals in the process.

After a poor run of form recently, Tottenham did look much better in their midweek defeat against Man City and on another day may have come away with something from the game. So could Postecoglou make a couple of changes here and there to his Tottenham XI to take on Chris Wilder's side? football.london takes a look below.

Oliver Skipp/Emerson Royal for Radu Dragusin

The first decision Postecoglou has to make revolves around Micky van de Ven. Having been utilised as a left-back in the closing stages of the Burnley match and going on to score the winner, the Dutchman played the full 90 minutes as a full-back in the Man City defeat.

Although he does have experience of playing as a left-back in the past, Van de Ven did have quite the task on his hands trying to get the grips with Postecoglou's system and also trying to stop Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva down his side of the pitch. It was a position that didn't get the best out of him, although one big positive to come from the match was Radu Dragusin's performance at centre-back.

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Van de Ven is clearly better operating as a centre-back for Tottenham and the head coach must decide if the ex-Wolfsburg man is to move back next to Cristian Romero for the Sheffield United match. If that is indeed the case, Dragusin could unfortunately find himself back on the bench despite delivering such an impressive performance.

If Romero and Van de Ven are to resume their partnership in the middle of defence, it could be one of Emerson Royal or Oliver Skipp who come in at left-back in South Yorkshire.

Dejan Kulusevski for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Dejan Kulusevski dropped down to the bench to face Man City but he did make an impact on proceedings when he was introduced early in the second half. Swinging in a delightful ball that unfortunately resulted in Ederson eventually going off the pitch after Romero tried to convert at the back post, the Swede also went close with a couple of efforts on goal.

Having operated with what appeared to be a false nine in the City defeat with Pape Matar Sarr and James Maddison interchanging at times, Postecoglou may believe the time is right to bring Kulusevski into the XI and go with Son Heung-min through the middle once again. The head coach did tweak his formation at home to Man City and he may well choose to revert to his previous set-up and bring in an extra attacker against Sheffield United.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who performed well in midweek, could be the player to drop out of the team if that is the case, thus seeing Spurs start with Rodrigo Bentancur, Sarr and Maddison in midfield.

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