Ange Postecoglou hands a first EVER Tottenham start to forgotten £20m signing as Spurs eye much-needed win at rock-bottom Southampton

Ange Postecoglou named Djed Spence in Tottenham‘s starting XI for the first time, in their clash with Southampton on Sunday night.

The full back joined Spurs from Middlesbrough in 2022 for £20million but made just eight appearances since and, after 884 days, has now earned his first start.

He has endured three loan spells in his time with the club, at Rennes, Leeds United and Genoa.

The North London side have not won in five games. However, Postecoglou’s hand was forced in defence, in light of their injury crisis; Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies are all out.

Tottenham lie a woeful 13th place in the table, eight points behind Nottingham Forest, who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot. With 20 points, Spurs are as close to Ipswich in the relegation zone (12 points) as they are to Forest.

Along with Spence, 18-year-old Swedish star Lucas Bergvall is another young talent who earned his first start against Southampton, starting in defensive midfield. 

Ange Postecoglou made multiple changes to his injury-ridden side, especially in the back line

Timo Werner was dropped after Postecoglou called out his’unacceptable’ first-half performance against Rangers on Thursday in the Europa League

On August 19 2024, Spence made his first appearance for Tottenham since January 2023. He replaced Pedro Porro in their opening Premier League game of the season – a 1–1 draw with Leicester.

Postecoglou’s side have kept just one clean sheet in their last nine league games and have a perfect opportunity to regain confidence against relegation strugglers Southampton.

The Saints lie dead last in the table with five points, winning only one of their opening 15 games.