The Defensive Midfield
Some Tottenham fans wanted to see Eric Dier in the starting XI against Manchester United, but Pochettino made the right call by leaving him on the bench. His play this season just hasn’t been good enough to push either Victor Wanyama or Mousa Dembele out of the starting lineup.
Unfortunately, Dembele’s injury means Dier will need to rejoin the starting XI. Frankly, I wanted to see Dier in the lineup even if the Belgian midfielder hadn’t suffered an injury at Old Trafford. The English international isn’t going to regain his form by sitting on the bench. He needs some playing time to shake off the cobwebs.
Dier will get that opportunity against Hull. They are a perfect opponent for him to find some confidence. Expect him to get a full 90 minutes against the Tigers.
The other spot in the starting XI should come down to a choice between Victor Wanyama and Harry Winks. The safe play would be to partner Wanyama with Dier. Again, Pochettino is going to make the bold choice here. He’ll go with Winks to partner with Dier in order to form a well-balanced midfield. Starting Wanyama and Dier would be to negative and besides, the talented Kenyan deserves a rest.