Antonio Conte will have the opportunity to unleash one of his key Tottenham partnerships for the very first time this season when Everton visit the capital on Saturday evening. Already having some great combinations in his team including Harry Kane and Son Heung-min and the midfield pairing of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur, the return of Dejan Kulusevski could see him join forces with Matt Doherty again.
Absent since the international break through a hamstring injury, the Swede has missed the past four games but he is now in contention to return against Everton this weekend. Spotted in the first bit of Tottenham training ahead of the Eintracht Frankfurt Champions League match but not taking part in the full session, Conte provided some very good news on the injury front when speaking after their 3-2 win over the German side on Wednesday evening.
"We have to recover and prepare for the game against Everton well," he said. "Good news because Deki Kulusevski will probably be available and Lucas Moura came back today to play for 10 minutes. We have all the players available and that's good news for us."
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Kulusevski's absence has been felt and his importance to the team has been clear for all to see with Spurs just missing that extra bit of quality he brings to the front three. His return certainly comes as a boost, as does the possibility of him and Doherty carrying on from where they left off back in April.
Initially tending to opt for Emerson Royal at right wing-back in his first few months in the job, Conte turned to Doherty towards the end of February and that resulted in the Republic of Ireland international starting to recapture the form he showed at Wolves. His performance in the 4-0 drubbing of Leeds United was a particular highlight, notably getting on the scoresheet after ten minutes before teeing up Kulusevski five minutes later.
Linking up extremely well together and looking like they had played alongside each other for years because of their instant understanding and knowledge of each other's game, the pass-and-moves and little one-twos between the pair became a key feature of their game and caused their opponents major issues in the following weeks.
A week after their huge victory at Elland Road, both had a huge say in the 5-0 win against Everton with Kulusevski getting one assist and Doherty teeing up Kane twice. However, a month later with both on song and helping Spurs build some real momentum in their Champions League push, Doherty's season, and the partnership for that matter, was cut short after he sustained a knee injury from a Matty Cash challenge at Villa Park.
Since then the right wing-back has had to build his way back to fitness and also be very patient with Conte instead preferring to start with Emerson in the opening months of the 2022/23 campaign. The Brazilian's dismissal at Arsenal at the beginning of October opened up the door for Doherty once again and he took his opportunity with both hands at Brighton.
Albeit a tad rusty in some areas of his game given his lack of minutes since April, he showed his attacking nous across the 90 minutes and also contributed in a massive way with a superb tackle on Leandro Trossard with time running out. Doherty has certainly done enough to start once again this weekend and he should certainly be fresh and ready to go with Conte managing his minutes by dropping him back down to the bench against Eintracht Frankfurt and not bringing him on.
The head coach does have a decision to make when it comes to Kulusevski on Saturday evening, though, as it may be wise to ease him back in rather than starting him from the off against Everton following his recent injury. Even if the pair do not take to the pitch from the beginning this weekend, there are going to be plenty of opportunities for the partnership to resume with nine games to come ahead of the World Cup.
Doherty and Kulusevski just complemented each other so well when they were in the team together last season and Spurs benefitted as a result as they quickly formed a natural understanding. The Sweden star's tendency to cut in from the right and onto his left foot opened up plenty of space down the wing and that allowed his teammate to bomb forward and do what he does best in the final third.
A key part of Conte's masterplan in the remaining months of last term, all at Tottenham will be hoping the duo can continue from where they left off back in April. Everton, as well as Manchester United next Wednesday evening, will be in for an incredibly tough 90 minutes if that is very much the case.
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