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Ange Postecoglou has five big questions to answer with Tottenham North London Derby lineup

Dejan Kulusevski will be pushing to start for Tottenham Hotspur as they welcome Arsenal in the North London Derby in the Premier League on Sunday
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Ange Postecoglou will want to give Tottenham's Premier League season a kickstart with a positive performance against Arsenal this weekend.

The first North London Derby of the 2024/25 campaign arrives at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon as Mikel Arteta brings his side along Seven Sisters Road. The Gunners have started the season with two wins and a draw, while Postecoglou's men have begun proceedings with a victory, a draw and a defeat.

The Australian will know that a poor Spurs performance against Arsenal will cast a gloom over the start of his second season in charge while a win would kick it up a notch. A draw with a positive display would also provide a foundation for the weeks and months ahead.

Here are five things that we reckon Postecoglou will have to decide at Hotspur Way this week.

Use training in the best way

With the game coming on Sunday, it at least gives Postecoglou - and Arteta - an extra day to prepare his team as the bulk of his players return from international duty in stages.

Yves Bissouma, Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero will be among the last to return to Hotspur Way during the course of this week, potentially returning to training as late as Thursday depending on their flights back to the UK from around the world.

That gives Postecoglou three training sessions with the whole team ahead of the big derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and he's going to have to make every minute count.

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Make decisions on injured players

In an ideal world, Postecoglou would start both Dominic Solanke and Micky van de Ven in this North London Derby. The Spurs boss has previously suggested that both players were close to playing against Newcastle so by that logic, two weeks on, they should be in a position to face Arsenal.

Ultimately though, only Postecoglou and the sports science staff will know as this week progresses whether the two key players at either end of the pitch are ready. As good as they are, he doesn't want compromised versions of either of them on the pitch in such a high energy derby where any weakness will be magnified.

The problem for the Australian is that while he has another good defender in Radu Dragusin to cover Van de Ven, the Romanian does not possess the pace the Dutchman does and that means an adjustment to the high line or who tracks back. In Solanke's case, Son has done well against Arsenal in the central role, scoring twice at the Emirates Stadium last season, but Postecoglou would prefer to have his captain raiding down the left flank.

Richarlison is also out injured, but Postecoglou's comments on the Brazilian before the break appeared to suggest that his return date was unclear.

Pick the perfect midfield

Arsenal have some issues in the midfield department because they are missing England international Declan Rice through suspension as well as new signing Mikel Merino, who suffered a shoulder injury in training soon after joining the club. Martin Odegaard also picked up an ankle injury on international duty on Monday night and will have to be assessed in the days ahead.

That means Arteta will have to reshuffle his midfield with Jorginho potentially coming in alongside Thomas Partey and perhaps Kai Havertz playing in a deeper role.

Barring any injuries of his own on international duty, Postecoglou will have a full strength midfield to choose from and he needs to take advantage of any potential weakening of the visitors' engine room.

He's got Yves Bissouma in good form right now as he looks to make up for his pre-season indiscretion and James Maddison looking sharp again alongside him. The key will be who completes the trio and whether it's Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, perhaps a curveball in one of the young newcomers in Archie Gray or Lucas Bergvall thrown into the derby heat, or even another Swede who is pushing for that spot.

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The Kulusevski conundrum

Dejan Kulusevski has been one of Spurs' sharper players this season but where he plays has been a puzzle for Postecoglou. The Swede, who captained his country twice this fortnight, sees himself as a number 10 who just happened to find success as a right winger.

However, the 24-year-old does not fit the Postecoglou archetype of a winger staying high and wide up the pitch. Kulusevski likes to cut inside and operate in the middle.

In the second half of last season, the Tottenham boss began using the Sweden international as his Maddison alternative on the left of the midfield three. That preference for Kulusevski as a deeper player has spilled into this season and even though he was the best player in pre-season, he was left out of the starting line-up for the opening game because Postecoglou wanted traditional wingers and he had his midfield already in mind.

Then he used Kulusevski in the midfield trio on the right with Maddison and Bissouma against Everton and it worked perfectly. The Spurs boss switched to it again in the second half at Newcastle and it made an impact again.

The conundrum now for Postecoglou is whether to use it again or decide that midfield would be too attacking at home against Arsenal with the safer Sarr or Bentancur required.

Odobert or not Odobert

Wilson Odobert has excited Postecoglou with his abilities since arriving from Burnley last month in a £30million deal. He is a bundle of energy, pace, dribbling and technique all wrapped up into one, but the 19-year-old is also raw and so far without an end product in his first two Spurs appearances.

The Tottenham head coach must decide whether to unleash him again against Arsenal and much could depend on Solanke's fitness. If the striker is fit then Son will start on the left and Odobert will fight it out with Brennan Johnson and perhaps Kulusevski for the place on the right.

Johnson might just edge it after his strong display at Newcastle, but Postecoglou has a number of options and the chaos that Odobert creates will bring with it a compelling argument for the France U21 international's inclusion.

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