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Double Tottenham team news hint dropped for Sheffield United amid Micky van de Ven dilemma

Micky van de Ven of Tottenham Hotspur (L) celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammates Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristian Romero during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 07, 2024 in London, England.
Ange Postecoglou is facing a Micky van de Ven dilemma for the clash against Sheffield United -Credit:(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)


Tottenham will be looking to end the 2023/24 season on a high after a disappointing last few weeks. Spurs have lost five of their last six games all while being hit regularly by fresh injury blows and yet they have still managed to cling onto fifth spot.

Chelsea are just three points behind Ange Postecoglou's side in sixth but a win or draw against Sheffield United will hand them a spot in next season's Europa League. If that finish is achieved, given how Spurs have performed in recent seasons, it will certainly be a success with Postecoglou offering his verdict on his first year in charge.

"You start that process towards the end of the season," he said in a press conference. "There's various meetings I'm having this week. We've still got a game to go, which is really important for us. I'll try to get as much information as I can before I start reflecting because to get a real accurate picture of where we're at, you've got to go right back to the start and some of that is a bit hazy.

"You've got to get all the right information, talk to the people who have been there since the beginning: coaches, staff, players and collate all that and when the season's done, take my time to go through it methodically and give myself an accurate picture of where we're at so when we come back from pre-season we're in a space where we can hit the ground running."

For the final clash of the season, a number of decisions are facing Postecoglou however two of those may have already been made. On Instagram both Guglielmo Vicario and Rodrigo Bentancur have posted pre-match graphics which suggests they will be involved at Brammall Lane.

Guglielmo Vicario on Instagram
Guglielmo Vicario on Instagram -Credit:Instagram/ guglielmovicario
Rodrigo Bentancur on Instagram
Rodrigo Bentancur on Instagram -Credit:Instagram / rodrigo_bentancur

Players posting such graphics have tended to end up in the matchday squad in the past. Injury problems throughout the pitch make the starting XI somewhat easy to predict however there is a big Micky van de Ven dilemma. The Netherlands international started at left-back earlier this week against Manchester City and while both he and Radu Dragusin, who started at centre-back played well, Postecoglou may opt to move Van de Ven back centrally.

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The reason the Tottenham boss gave for not trialling Van de Ven sooner was because he was concerned about his injury problems this season being affected by the explosiveness of needing to play full-back in a Postecoglou system. However, it is certainly worth taking that risk again with European football on the line and given how it went against Man City with Sunday's opponents not at the level of the Premier League champions.

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