Tottenham Hotspur embark on their final Group J game in the Europa League later this evening.
Jose Mourinho and his side will be looking for revenge as the Royal Antwerp are the only team to have defeated Spurs in the competition so far this campaign, and now they come to north London for a second encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Indeed, a victory for Spurs would see them leapfrog the group-leaders too.
At the weekend, the Lilywhites continued their impressive run of form by defeating arch-rivals Arsenal 2-0 to go top of the Premier League, meaning they have lost just once in 19 outings in all competitions, that defeat coming against Antwerp.
Regardless of the result this evening, Spurs know that they are already in the knockout stages, so it does give Mourinho a chance to rotate although they already have the strength in depth to do so.
He will be inclined to hand starts to both Lucas Moura and Gareth Bale given neither started the north London derby, but perhaps it’s time to give young winger Jack Clarke an opportunity to impress.
According to ESPN during the summer, the 20-year-old is a player that the club “think very highly of” yet has only made two senior appearances, both from the bench in this very tournament.
Alasdair Gold at football.london revealed that Clarke had impressed Mourinho so much in training that the Portuguese boss rejected loan advances for him during the transfer window.
So now it would seem fitting to put that faith to the test.
The £10m arrival was once dubbed a “huge talent” by former Leeds United assistant Carlos Corberan whilst Marcelo Bielsa lauded him as a winger who has “the capacity to create a difference,” adding: “every time he plays he makes the difference.”
Forget Moura, Dele Alli or Giovani Lo Celso, it’s time to give the £25k-per-week young sensation the reins to prove his worth otherwise that decision to not loan him out will begin to look rather silly.
AND in other news, £31.5m-rated “god-send” would’ve been the perfect Christian Eriksen successor…
The post Mourinho must unleash rarely-seen Spurs prodigy Jack Clarke this evening first appeared on FootballFanCast.com.
