Tottenham Hotspur head into the 2019/20 campaign full of optimism, after reaching the Uefa Champions League final last year, and with all their key assets in tact, including the addition of a very exciting prospect in Tanguy Ndombele.

This will be their first full season in their new impressive home and with all of the above, and a fresh looking Harry Kane with a proper pre-season under his belt, Spurs look set to have another strong campaign under Mauricio Pochettino.

I fully expect Spurs to compete well in the Champions League again and reach the Quarter Finals at least and I can see a 3rd place finish in the Premier League for the North London based side.

Expected Line-ups and Formations

Probable GW1 line-up based on information from season ticket holder James (Spurs fan and host of FPL Planet Podcast):

The other formation Spurs have been using in pre-season is a 4312 which would look like this:

It is likely that Spurs will set up in the 4312 and play direct and on the counter against opposition who press high and keep the ball very well like Man City, Ajax and Dortmund in the Champions League for example last year, where they had great success with Son and Moura on the counter attack causing havoc in the 2 up front.

The 4231 reserved for when they feel they can control the game and dominate possession, so the 4231 will likely be the most-used tactic again, as we saw last year.

Lucas Moura will start the season with Son out suspended until the 25th, but Moura likely to drop out when Son returns.

Full backs Walker-Peters and Danny Rose will likely rotate with Serge Aurier and Ben Davies now that Trippier has left.

Set-Piece Takers

Corners: Eriksen, Lamela, Rose, Davies

Free-kicks: Eriksen, Kane, Lamela, Davies

Penalties: Kane, Alli

First 10 Fixtures

Aston Villa (H), Man City (A), Newcastle (H), Arsenal (A), Palace (H), Leicester (A), Southampton (H), Brighton (A), Watford (H), Liverpool (A)

Spurs have a mixed start, but with a mouth watering opening home fixture against newly promoted Aston Villa who only kept 12 clean sheets in 46 games, conceding 61 goals, Harry Kane is a player in demand.

They do face Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool all away from home in the first 10, but in-between, are some very enticing fixtures, especially the games at home.

Analysing the FPL Prospects

Harry Kane £11m

Of course, the first man I have to mention is Harry Kane.

Coming down from the steep price of £12.5m, the powers that be over at FPL headquarters have made the decision to decrease this powerful asset by £1.5m to £11.0m, making him a very enticing option from the off.

With a proper pre-season under his belt, 2 goals and 1 assist, including a wonder goal from the half way line against Juventus (6:48 minutes in), Harry Kane looks ready to hit the ground running against a leaky Aston Villa side – if last season is anything to go by.

Of course, adding to his much better value at £11.0m, is VAR being a part of the Premier League this season.

We saw this evidenced in the 2018 World Cup where Harry Kane ran out as top goalscorer for the competition with 6 goals, 4 of them being from the penalty spot.

So with all this in mind, I see Harry Kane as a fantastic option as your premium forward from the off.

Lucas Moura £7.5m

Perhaps more as an opening day punt, Lucas Moura could be an explosive differential that could catapult you ahead of your rivals, with the suspended Son Heung-Min out for the first 2 GWs.

It would be more enticing if he had a decent second fixture (Man City at the Etihad) but even so, Spurs had a lot of chances playing direct and on the counter attack against Man City last season and Lucas is probably nailed on to play up front along side Harry Kane in this fixture with Son out.

This combined with the potential that a home game to Aston Villa provides, could make for an exciting 2 GW punt on the Brazilian direct forward, who very much shone toward the end of last season but of course, it’s always a risk planning to use a precious free transfer in this way – a risk worth taking? You decide.

Christian Eriksen £9.0m

Eriksen is a wonderful footballer, but can be a frustrating FPL asset.

Often a very patchy player that will go through phases of excellent back to back scores only to blank for 5-6 GWs.

He’s the type of asset that you just have to stick with and ride the poor phases as overall, at the end of the season, he will likely attain between 180-200 points and prove good value.

If you’re a patient player and believe Spurs will do well this year, he’s definitely worth consideration, if however, you aren’t that patient a player, this might not be the asset for you – not for the feint hearted!

The Defence

In terms of defensive options, Kyle Walker-Peters could be worth some consideration at £5.0m with 3 decent home fixtures in their first 5 games, but it is likely that the full backs will see rotation, as they always do under Pochettino.

Aside from that, I think the value firmly lies with Man City and Liverpool defensive assets if you’re considering a more nailed on Spurs DEF.