Pochettino could rest Harry Kane for Spurs' Europa tie against Anderlecht

Mauricio Pochettino may opt to rest Harry Kane for tomorrow's match against Anderlecht in Brussels after he apparently picked up a small knock against Liverpool. With the injury of Nacer Chadli and Son Heung Min, Spurs are once again thin at striker, and while the manager doesn't have any concerns about Kane's fitness, he might opt to sit him out in preparation for Sunday's league match against Bournemouth.

"Yes, maybe [I may sit Kane]. We need to assess it because at the end of the game against Liverpool, Harry had a small problem. It was a knock, not an injury.

It is possible he will start on the bench. As usual we need to manage the situation in a good way and analyse every detail. The player always wants to play. Afterwards I decide whether he will."

Anderlecht are third in the Jupiler League at present with one loss in 10 matches, and are one point behind league leaders Oostende. More importantly for Spurs, they're bottom of the Europa Group J table with one point, after drawing at home against Monaco and losing at Qarabag.

Spurs have landed in Belgium and are training at Anderlecht's stadium. There has of yet not been any official communication from Tottenham as to the makeup of the traveling squad, but thankfully Spurs' social media team has come through with an important Twitter video!

The lads head out for training in purple gear which is fitting given @rscanderlecht's club colours! #COYS pic.twitter.com/yFjx7pSZFY

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 21, 2015

So, in rough order, that's Josh Onomah, Andros Townsend, Michel Vorm, Harry Winks, Luke McGee, Hugo Lloris, Kieran Trippier, Ben Davies, Kevin Wimmer, Clinton N'Jie, Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld, Erik Lamela, Ryan Mason (!!), Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Danny Rose, Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembele, and what looks like half of Eric Dier's head.

That's a healthy mix of young and experienced players, first eleven, and backups. Just as interesting are the players who apparently have NOT made the trip: while the video stops before everyone has disembarked, it appears Kyle Walker and Federico Fazio have been left home, as well as (naturally) the injured Nabil Bentaleb, Son Heung-Min, Alex Pritchard, and Nacer Chadli. There's also no pictorial evidence of Tom Carroll, but there were rumors he picked up a knock before the Liverpool game so he might be sitting this one out.

So what does this mean for Tottenham's lineup against Anderlecht? In short, no clue. Most of the times we've tried to do this we've been hilariously wrong. As we saw against Monaco, Pochettino is likely to put a few starters into the lineup for this away match, as he'd probably like to wrap up progression out of the group as soon as possible.

That said, the possibility of resting Kane could lead to a moderate shake-up in the lineup. With Son and Chadli both out, that would leave Clinton N'Jie as the most likely to lead the line if Poche opts not to play Kane. If Clinton moves up, that opens a spot on the wing for someone like Josh Onomah.

I'd expect Ben Davies and Kieran Tripper to get starts at fullback tomorrow night alongside Kevin Wimmer and one of either Alderwiereld or Vertonghen. While I don't expect Ryan Mason to start, I bet he'll be a second half substitute. Apart from that, I really have no idea, and Poche has a way of making all of my Europa predictions look dumb. But let's go ahead and take a wild guess.

Predicted lineup: