‘Don’t have it in them’ – Paul Merson makes claim about Conte’s Tottenham

Paul Merson has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur do not have the required quality in their squad to challenge the best teams in the Premier League, but backed the North Londoners to overcome Southampton on Wednesday. 

Tottenham’s performance in their 3-1 win over Brighton on Saturday was arguably one of their best all-round displays since Antonio Conte took over at the club at the start of November.

In many respects, it proved to be the perfect day for the Lilywhites, with Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero coming off unscathed after returning to the starting eleven.

Conte was also able to bring on Tottenham’s two new January signings Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur in the second half, with both players producing encouraging cameos to help the home side see out the win.

Merson admitted that he expects much of the same from Conte’s men when Southampton visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday.

The former Arsenal midfielder told SportsKeeda: “Brighton are a decent Premier League team, and I thought Tottenham played quite well against them the other day.

“They look fresh, and it looks like Antonio Conte is getting them to play the way he wants them to in the Premier League.

“They’ve brought two players in from Juventus, but it isn’t like they were playing for them every week.

“Tottenham don’t have it in them to mix in with the big boys at the moment, and we’ll have to wait and see. Conte knows his signings well, however, and that’s a big advantage.

“Southampton play good football but they haven’t been consistent enough in the Premier League this season. With Harry Kane looking good again, Tottenham should be able to win this game. Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Southampton.”

Spurs Web Opinion

We must pick up six points in our next two home games against Southampton and Wolves to put ourselves in the driving seat in the race for the top four. We have three back-to-back away clashes against Man City, Burnley and Leeds coming up after these two games, from which we cannot expect more than around 4 to 6 points.

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