Oliver Skipp may have just put himself in contention to start Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League opener against Brentford this weekend.
The 22-year-old was given the nod against Barcelona last night as Spurs fell to a 4-2 defeat to the La Liga champions.
Ange Postecoglou named a completely different side from the one that thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 on Sunday.
The likes of Harry Kane, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Cristian Romero were left behind as Postecoglou decided to take a closer look at some of his squad players.
And one player that caught the eye was Oliver Skipp.
Spurs fell behind inside the opening three minutes of the game through Robert Lewandowski. But after a concerning start, Postecoglou’s men began to take control of the game.
Tottenham created plenty of openings in the first half, but it was Skipp who popped up with a surprise brace to hand them a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.
Postecoglou encourages his midfielders to join the attack by making late runs into the opposition penalty area. Skipp did exactly this on two occasions in the first-half and was rewarded with two goals.
The Englishman pounced on Giovani Lo Celso’s effort after it had bounced back off the post to get Spurs level midway through the opening period.
He then guided a brilliant header past Marc-Andre ter Stegen just 10 minutes later after a superb delivery from Ivan Perisic.
And in our view, he may well have just played himself into the side for Tottenham’s clash against Brentford on Sunday.
Skipp could start against Brentford
Postecoglou favoured a midfield three of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Pape Matar Sarr and Maddison in the win over Shakhtar on Sunday.
Bissouma also starred for Spurs last night and he could well replace Hojbjerg at the base of midfield.
But while Sarr has also impressed in pre-season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Skipp take his place on Sunday.
The Englishman provided a real threat going forward for Spurs against Barca and his tireless pressing enabled them to pin Xavi’s side back.
His performance certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Postecoglou either, with the Aussie boss labelling him a ‘super player’.
Whether or not Skipp gets the nod on Sunday remains to be seen, but Spurs certainly have a wealth of exciting options in midfield at the moment. With Lo Celso also impressing on his return to the club, Postecoglou faces something of a selection headache ahead of his first competitive game in English football.
