The wait for Premier League football to return is almost over. Beating Leeds United 4-3 in a topsy-turvy match in early November, Tottenham return to the pitch on Boxing Day when they travel across the capital to face Thomas Frank's Brentford.
In preparation for the encounter in west London, Spurs have beaten Motherwell and Peterborough United Under-21s over the past week and will take on French side Nice next Wednesday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A chance for those currently at Hotspur Way to give Antonio Conte something to think about, the boss will certainly have a few decisions to make between now and Boxing Day.
So what exactly does he need to decide on prior to the game at Brentford Community Stadium? football.london takes a look.
READ MORE: Tottenham vs Peterborough U21 highlights: Matt Doherty, Harvey White and Bryan Gil all score
Assess injured players
Conte and his coaching staff will need to assess a number of players in the lead up to the Brentford game with a few first-team stars carrying injuries. football.london reported last week that Ben Davies is a potential doubt for the match after suffering a painful injury to his oblique muscle, which is located in the abdominal area, during Wales' defeat against England.
As the recovery period for the damaged muscle is expected to be up to four weeks, that means he could be missing for the Boxing Day clash. Richarlison is another Tottenham player who has returned from the World Cup with an injury after suffering a hamstring issue in the warm-up ahead of Brazil's quarter-final clash vs Croatia.
The attacker did manage to play 84 minutes of the contest but Spurs are currently awaiting his scan results to find out how long he will be out of action for. Rodrigo Bentancur is also in the same boat as the duo having suffered a small tear to his adductor muscle in his right leg when playing for Uruguay.
The midfielder is in fact suspended for the Brentford game anyway, thus giving him a bit of extra time to recover for Tottenham's matches in early 2023. Ryan Sessegnon will be hoping he is back in a position to feature at Brentford having not played in Tottenham's two friendlies over the past week.
Suffering what looked to be a hamstring injury in the Carabao Cup game at Nottingham Forest, the left wing-back was back in outdoor training on the grass away from the group last week but was not able to feature in the matches. Fraser Forster, Emerson Royal and Lucas Moura will also need to be checked as they have also missed out in both games having picked up minor knocks in training ahead of the Motherwell fixture.
Their absence from the matchday squad was deemed as simply precautionary at the time but the head coach will be hoping that it doesn't result in the trio having to spend a bit more time on the sidelines.
Lloris and Romero availability
One Tottenham player will be returning to Hotspur Way with a World Cup winners' medal prior to Christmas. Having seen Hugo Lloris lift the trophy with France in 2018, the shot-stopper and club teammate Cristian Romero will go head-to-head for the famous trophy on Sunday afternoon.
Tottenham players competing at the World Cup have all returned to Hotspur Way at different times having had a mini-break immediately after their elimination from the tournament, with Lloris and Romero set to be the last to return.
As Sunday's World Cup final is eight days before the Brentford game, Conte will need to decide on whether his two players competing in the showpiece finale are in a position to start the game in west London.
Wing-back choice
Conte is going to have a choice to make over his wing-backs at Brentford due to a combination of injury and form. It remains to be seen if Emerson and Sessegnon will be in a position to play on Boxing Day as they didn't feature in the two behind-closed-doors games, with their final chance to play in a friendly coming next Wednesday when they host Nice in N17.
Matt Doherty has done his chances of starting no harm at all after hitting three goals in the games against Motherwell and Peterborough United Under-21s. Djed Spence also caught the eye in the first game and had a part to play in Doherty's strike against Peterborough's youngsters.
Both will be doing all they can over the next week or so to start the game at Brentford. Conte and his staff may also need to cast their eye over Ivan Perisic as he will be returning in the run up to the Boxing Day clash following his World Cup exploits.
Hojbjerg's midfield partner
Bentancur's suspension for the Brentford match means that a place is up for grabs next to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the middle of the park. Yves Bissouma and Oliver Skipp will be vying for the position, with the former likely to be leading the way after getting game time in all but one Premier League game this season.
Bissouma has started to look more like the player that wowed at Brighton & Hove Albion and he did look sharp in the 4-0 win against Motherwell. Skipp, on the other hand, more than put himself about in the win over the Scottish side and will be intent on getting in ahead of his teammate after playing a bit-part role this campaign.
As Conte has been a little too reliant on Bentancur so far this term, it gives one of Bissouma or Skipp the perfect chance to impress the head coach and give him something to think about in midfield.
READ NEXT:
Giovani Lo Celso rejoins Argentina squad as Lionel Messi hails Tottenham man and Sergio Aguero
Dejan Kulusevski hints at new Conte Tottenham changes as Djed Spence passes first audition
The Harry Kane hypocrisy that makes no sense in England's World Cup run to baffle Tottenham fans
- Djed Spence and the five things Antonio Conte will have learned from Tottenham's Motherwell game
Tottenham contract talks with 'happy' Antonio Conte amid Pedro Porro links and academy concern
