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Tottenham can’t risk Davinson Sanchez at right-back against Crystal Palace

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Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has time to reflect during the current international break, as his side have made a mixed start to the campaign.

Spurs threw away a two-goal lead to draw away at rivals Arsenal at the weekend and there were some mixed performances.

Davinson Sanchez was pushed out to right-back with Kyle Walker-Peters absent through injury and he endured a nightmare display.

Sanchez has proven he’s a quality option at centre-back in recent times, but he was poor in the full-back area and tormented at times at the Emirates Stadium.

The 23-year-old was preferred to Serge Aurier at right-back and the experiment from Pochettino backfired massively for his team.

He looked extremely uncomfortable out wide against Arsenal, as he appeared to be out of position on plenty of occasions and isn’t a natural going forward too.

(Photo by Visionhaus)

With Crystal Palace the next fixture after the international break, Pochettino has to abandon the Sanchez experiment at full-back and restore him to a central role.

Spurs host Palace on 14 September and they will need to be wary of their opponents on the counter attack, who have already beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford this season.

Palace have plenty of pace and creativity in wide areas, with the likes of Jeffrey Schlupp, Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha all options.

Sanchez would once again be targeted if he was to play at full-back for Spurs and the lethal Zaha could have a field day against him, so playing a conventional right-back makes far more sense.