Maurico Pochettino is giving thought to handing a first Premier League start to Lucas Moura on Sunday after his impressive full debut for Tottenham.
Pochettino initially played down the chances of Lucas making a big impact during the second half of this season, following his £24.5million move from Paris St Germain last month.
But the Brazilian’s sparkling performance, crowned with a goal, in the 2-2 draw at Rochdale in the FA Cup last Sunday has got Pochettino thinking, as Tottenham returned to work today to prepare for Sunday’s Premier League derby at Crystal Palace. All players and staff had been granted two days off as they prepare for a run of five games in 15 days across three competitions.
Pochettino has regained trust in the 4-2-3-1 system, with Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane automatic starters in attack. That leaves Heung-min Son, Erik Lamela, Moussa Sissoko and Lucas fighting for the remaining spot.
The likeliest outcome would still be for Lucas to be on the bench, as Son has eight goals and four assists in the league this season while Lamela played well in the 2-2 draw with Juventus last week and looked lively when he came on at Rochdale.
Yet Lucas has so far surpassed the expectations of the coaching staff with his condition – even though Rochdale was the 25-year-old’s first competitive start of the season after being cast aside at PSG, he looked particularly sharp. He can now expect to be involved against both Palace and Rochdale, as well as in the return match against Juventus at Wembley on March 7.
