CM: Mousa Dembele
Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason are Pochettino’s first choice midfield pairing, but both players are unavailable – Bentaleb is on international duty, while Mason has hamstring issues. Dembele is next in the pecking order.
CM: Benjamin Stambouli
Paulinho, who played the full 90 at Burnley, is one option to partner Dembele, but the Brazilian has yet to start a league game under Pochettino. Stambouli started against Manchester United and he also replaced Mason when the tenacious Englishman picked up an early injury against Chelsea.