Antonio Conte has a number of decisions to make before his Tottenham team take on Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex on Saturday evening. Opting against switching things up against Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek, the boss has to make at least one change with Emerson Royal suspended.
Stating prior to the international break that he would have to rotate his team due to the amount of games on the calendar in October and November, Conte needs to do so sooner rather than later or his main group of Spurs starters will start to burn out. So what changes could we see the 53-year-old make on the south coast? football.london takes a look.
The wing-back positions
Emerson's suspension following his North London Derby dismissal means that Conte has to find another option on the right flank in the next three league games. As the head coach's comments do seem to indicate that Djed Spence is not in his plans for a starting spot just yet, Matt Doherty could be the player to come into the XI for his first start this season.
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However, one potential option on the right would be Ivan Perisic moving across from the left as he did in last month's win over Leicester City. It could be the ideal opportunity to rest the Croat prior to Wednesday's Champions League showdown vs Eintracht Frankfurt, though, and that would allow Ryan Sessegnon to come in on the left.
The ex-Fulham man does appear to be one of Conte's favourites as he often turns to him first off the bench if he's not in the starting XI. As a few changes here and there need to happen, Sessegnon will be one of the favourites to come in.
Centre-back call
The boss also has a call to make when it comes to his centre-backs as he may feel that he can make a change in the backline on the south coast. Ben Davies, who returned to the squad in midweek following his recent injury, may come into the team in order to give Clement Lenglet a breather.
While Davinson Sanchez didn't have the best of games last time he started in the league at home to Leicester, he could possibly come in for Cristian Romero.
Bissouma decision
Tottenham fans are desperate to see more of Yves Bissouma following his summer switch from Saturday's opponents. Playing a bit-part role for Tottenham so far and having to settle for limited minutes from the bench, Bissouma will be an option to come in for either Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg or Rodrigo Bentancur.
However, if there is to be a midfield change then Conte could choose to simply opt for Oliver Skipp over Bissouma as the academy graduate has experience of playing under him from last season. That may surprise some fans if it is to happen but the Spurs head coach rates Skipp, who played in both of England U21s matches during the international break, extremely highly and he was previously a regular in his side up until his injury issues.
Front three or front two
Conte's midfield selection could possibly have a big impact on how his frontline lines up against Brighton. Working so well in a 3-5-2 formation in the final 20 minutes of September's 6-2 triumph over Leicester City, fans have since called for Tottenham to line up that way rather than in the usual 3-4-3.
Putting an extra midfielder into the side would more than likely impact Richarlison as a result, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min the favourites to operate in the front two if that is the way Conte goes. As attacking options are limited at present with Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Moura absent recently through injury, tinkering with the formation would allow Richarlison to recharge ahead of the Frankfurt showdown on Wednesday evening.
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