Tottenham's match against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon really could prove decisive in terms of who qualifies for Europe come the end of the campaign. Dropping out of the top four on Wednesday evening after Newcastle United and Manchester United moved three points ahead of the Lilywhites after winning one of their games in hand, Spurs must return to winning ways if they want to secure Champions League football for the second consecutive season.
Brighton are also very much in the mix for a top-four finish after an incredible run of form under Roberto De Zerbi. Win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the south coast club will move to within one point of Tottenham in the table, with De Zerbi's men crucially having two games in hand still to play in the run-in.
Given the need to come out with all three points this weekend, how exactly will Tottenham line up following their 1-1 draw at Everton on Monday evening? Our football.london Tottenham Hotspur reporters have named the teams they believe Stellini will opt for below.
READ MORE: Every word Cristian Stellini said on Danjuma, De Zerbi, Conte, Kane, Devine and Mundle
Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent
Cristian Stellini said it himself, it's difficult to really change this Tottenham line-up much because of the sheer number of injuries and now Lucas Moura's suspension.
The acting Spurs boss is missing Richarlison, Ben Davies, Ryan Sessegnon, Emerson Royal, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur and those missing full-backs makes it near impossible to switch to a back four unless Clement Lenglet was awkwardly shoved into a left-back role.
One option would be switching to a 3-5-2 and sacrificing one of Son Heung-min or Dejan Kulusevski. That could give Spurs more bodies in the midfield but it's one less attacking player and instead not particularly creative midfielders.
"Now for sure because we don’t have many players but Danjuma deserves to play probably early but we also have a squad and some leaders of our team and if you send them out of the team then you can lose the ability to score," he said. "We have three very good strikers and it’s not easy to change them. You have to find the right way and the right moment and also now tactically we don't have many solutions, and we don't have enough players."
Gold's team: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Porro, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
Rob Guest - Tottenham Hotspur reporter
Cristian Stellini really does need to switch his Tottenham team around after two bad results, but what he said in his pre-match press conference seems to indicate that won't actually be the case. Injuries are hitting Tottenham hard at present and it's not exactly helping the acting head coach out tactically as a result.
So, Stellini will persist with the back three of Cristian Romero, Eric Dier and Clement Lenglet in front of Hugo Lloris in goal. Pedro Porro and Ivan Perisic will be the wing-backs once again as there is no other alternatives due to injuries.
Pape Matar Sarr could be an option to come in but it's hard to see the boss breaking up the partnership of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp. In attack, Arnaut Danjuma will have to remain patient on the bench as Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min get the nod up front.
Guest's team: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Porro, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
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