Sheffield United vs. Tottenham: Tactical Preview of Capital One Cup Game
Tottenham Hotspur hold a slender 1-0 aggregate lead heading into the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening. Mauricio Pochettino is within touching distance of his first final as Spurs boss but knows the Blades will provide a stern test.
Sheffield United Setup
Nigel Clough rested a host of stars during the FA Cup weekend action, with every outfield player who took on Spurs last week rested against Preston North End. Only goalkeeper Mark Howard started both games.
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They have no suspensions or notable to injuries to deal with, so it seems likely that a return to the same 4-2-3-1 and XI that lost narrowly at White Hart Lane is in order. There are a few conundrums to mull over, though.
John Brayford is cup-tied. The aesthetically striking full-back has joined the Blades for £1.5 million, per The Yorkshire Post, and while that's a lot of money for a League One club to spend, Clough can't throw him in at the deep end here even if he wants to.
Diego De Girolamo's goal against Preston could tempt the manager into starting him over Jamie Murphy on the left, while introducing Harrison McGahey could push Chris Basham into midfield in place of Louis Reed.
Tottenham Hotspur Setup
Pochettino also rotated his side pretty heavily this weekend, starting the likes of Mousa Dembele, Paulinho, Vlad Chiriches and Younes Kaboul. A disappointing 2-1 loss to Leicester City, despite taking the lead in the game, paves the way for the preferred crop to re-enter the XI.
That could see Emmanuel Adebayor lead the line again with Harry Kane just behind, though Kane could play a central striker's role with Christian Eriksen switching inside to the No. 10 role.
Nacer Chadli (family bereavement) and Nabil Bentaleb (African Cup of Nations) are the only absentees for Spurs to contend with, and the most hotly contested spot in the side will be left-back: Danny Rose and Ben Davies will fight for it again, with the latter likely winning out.
Key Point 1: Pragmatic Sheffield United
It took Tottenham 75 minutes to break down Sheffield United in the first leg, and for a while it seemed as though the Blades were destined for a clean sheet and point.
Despite Spurs' dominant possession figure (60 percent, per WhoScored.com), large number of completed passes (465) and an impressive pass-completion percentage (84 percent), they struggled to carve out chances.
Why? because the Blades are not only an underrated and underestimated side, but also a very pragmatic and efficient outfit who swarm to the ball, fill gaps quickly and leave few spaces in behind.
Clough played a pretty bold high line at White Hart Lane—an absolutely massive pitch compared to regular League One standards—and allowed one of his midfield holding duo (Michael Doyle or Louis Reed) to steam forward and chance a high-percentage interception high up.
Kane lacked space to play in and switch-balls to Andros Townsend were either cut out, under-hit due to pressure or completed but stood up quickly on the other side. Benjamin Stambouli and Ryan Mason were a little limited in terms of chance creation.
Despite being a goal down on aggregate, this won't change. It'll be the same setup, only this time they'll hope for a little more luck at the other end.
Key Point 2: Spurs Stamina
If there's one thing we can near guarantee, it's that the Blades will keep this one close—within reaching distance—throughout the match. If there's another thing we can guarantee, it's that Spurs, who have a penchant for late goals, will grow more and more deadly as time goes on.
With just a one-goal deficit, this will be another carefully approached game by Sheffield United and they won't stretch themselves for an early lead. Feasibly, this will leave them hunting for one late on to level matters on aggregate, and that's where Tottenham's supreme fitness and stamina can hurt you.
Countless times, they've done it in the Premier League; Hull City, Aston Villa and Sunderland have all fallen victim to the inspired, determined spirit—in addition to the machine-like legs—that Tottenham have founded their successes on so far this season.
Eriksen, in particular, is shining in this respect. Per the January 17 BBC Match of the Day broadcast, no player has scored more points-winning or match-defining goals than he has.
Beware the late counter-attack which yields a goal—it would hardly be a surprise to see a close, hard-fought game end 2-0 to Spurs on aggregate courtesy of a late second-leg winner.
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