With a big clash against Wolves on the horizon, I’ll be trying to predict Conte’s team for Saturday.
Tottenham have found it tough facing Wolves at home, exemplified by their 2-0 loss in the same fixture last season. Despite this, Tottenham have begun their season by righting their wrongs.
Losses against Southampton at home and Chelsea away last season were turned into 4 points this season. Conte will be hoping his side can continue this redemption trend.
GK: Hugo Lloris
Hugo is the team’s captain and therefore plays a vital leadership role. Despite his age, he is still one of the best shot-stoppers in the league. When fit, he starts every Premier League game.
RCB: Davinson Sanchez
With Cristian Romero out with an injury, Davinson Sanchez looks like the obvious choice to step in on the right of Conte’s back three.
Some have doubted the Colombian’s ability on the ball and calmness in defence, but his impressive performances at the end of last season showed that he’s more than capable of stepping up in Romero’s absence.
CCB: Eric Dier
Dier is the leader of Tottenham’s defence. He may not dazzle, but he’s reliable and brings vital communication and leadership to the team. With little competition at central-centre-back, Dier is a must-start.
MORE SPURS STORIES
LCB: Ben Davies
Davies has improved massively under Conte, earning his trust as a steady hand in defence. Lenglet is back in contention after missing last week’s clash against Chelsea through injury, but will likely need time to get up to full speed before he can displace Davies (Tottenham Hotspur).
RWB: Emerson Royal
Despite his downfalls, Emerson has started this season off well and clearly has Conte’s trust. Doherty may be better in attack, but Emerson is typically more reliable defensively.
Ultimately, I think Conte will feel that there’s no need to change things on the right flank while it’s working there.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Another leader in this Spurs side, Hojbjerg showed his importance again with a vital equalizer last week against Chelsea.
He has shown creativity from the middle that some of our other midfielders often lack. With Wolves proving themselves as a tough nut to crack, I think Conte will keep the Dane in the starting lineup.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur
Against a stubborn defence, Spurs often struggle to move the ball quick enough to create space. Bentancur will be key to this with his impressive switches of play and quick balls around the corner or between the lines.
He also boasts an impressive ability to track down the opposition and win the ball back which will help defend transitions and win the midfield battles.
LWB: Ivan Perisic
The one change I’m predicting Conte to make is to bring Perisic in on the left. Sessegnon struggled last week against Chelsea’s press, but Perisic is much more refined technically so I think he will be more equipped to deal with that.
Perisic also has very impressive skills in attack as he displayed with a beautiful corner for Harry Kane’s late equalizer against Chelsea. Tottenham will need this against Wolves’ tight defence.
RW: Dejan Kulusevski
Kulusevski played poorly against Chelsea, giving the ball away for their second goal and failing to bring much of an attacking threat. Richarlison played well after coming off the bench, bringing his energy and passion to help Tottenham earn a point.
Despite this, the Swede has proved himself as an important player for Spurs so I expect Conte to stick with the young man.
ST: Harry Kane
Harry proved on Saturday why he should never be doubted. Despite having a quiet game, Kane popped up with a goal in the dying embers of the game to snatch a point. Time and time again he steps up when we need him.
LW: Heung Min Son
In contrast to the end of last season, Son has started this season poorly by his standards. The South Korean has short periods every once in a while where he fails to take his chances, but he always bounces back so I expect Conte to keep the faith in him.
Bench: Forster, Lenglet, Tanganga, Doherty, Sessegnon, Bissouma, Lucas, Bryan, Richarlison
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
