Tottenham, later tonight, will face Colchester United in the Carabao Cup 3rd round as they kick off their domestic cup campaign for the 2019/20 season. However, it’s more than a 3rd round cup clash with an EFL minnow, it’s a come that couldn’t have come at a better time for Spurs.
The Lilywhites are in shambolic form, and that’s impressive given that the season is only seven games old. However, now they have a chance to rotate, hopefully, get a win on the road, and integrate some of their returning players into the starting eleven, as well as give a few players their first starts of the season.
Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Juan Foyth, Troy Parrott and Oliver Skipp could all be set to get some much needed minutes under their belts for the reason, and if they can help deliver a result for the Lilywhites and take themselves into the 4th round of the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2015.
In that 2015/16 season, it was Arsenal who came to White Hart Lane and knocked Spurs out of the competition, but this time around, Colchester are much less likely to be advancing into the next round than Arsenal were four years ago, and Pochettino will likely be relishing the change of scenery.
Last season saw the Lilywhites make it all the way to the semi-final of the competition before Chelsea dumped them out across two legs to set up a Wembley final against Manchester City. The chance to go one, or even two, better than last season starts now, though.
Colchester are by no means an easy side to get past, though, the League Two side have won their last two games 3-0 and 2-1, and their previous clash in the Carabao Cup saw them hold Crystal Palace to a 0-0 draw before beating them on penalties, hopefully, the Lilywhites will be able to avoid an upset though.
It won’t be easy to predict who will start the clash and who Mauricio Pochettino will opt to give minutes to, but if they can come away from the tie at the Colchester Community Stadium with a clean sheet and a win then it’ll be a lovely change of mood from recent disappointments.