Tottenham Hotspur begin 2023 with the visit of Aston Villa and Antonio Conte has plenty of selection decisions to make with returning players and out of form stars.
Spurs returned to action after the World Cup break with a 2-2 draw at Brentford on Boxing Day and in doing so extended their unwanted record of conceding the first goal during a game to nine matches in a row. Conte will be hoping to end that streak and grab all three points against Unai Emery's side on New Year's Day.
We asked our Spurs reporters Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest to name the team they reckon Conte will select to face Villa to begin the new year.
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Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent
Conte has key men and World Cup finalists Hugo Lloris and Cristian Romero back in contention and both should start the game for Spurs.
The Tottenham boss may also decide to change up his backline further and made it clear on Friday that he would not think twice about rotating anyone who was out in form and he included Eric Dier in that. Dier has been out of form for Tottenham either side of the World Cup, looking shaky against Brentford with one sliced clearance leading to the corner Ivan Toney scored the hosts' second goal from.
If Conte decided to give Dier an afternoon out of the spotlight he could move Clement Lenglet into the centre with Ben Davies coming in on the left and Romero replacing Japhet Tanganga on the right.
With Rodrigo Bentancur out of action for longer than Conte had hoped with his adductor muscle tear, Yves Bissouma is likely to start again in the centre of the pitch with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Up front there's little reason to change the attacking trio of Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, particularly without any senior replacements to come in.
Gold's team: Lloris; Romero, Lenglet, Davies; Doherty, Bissouma, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
Rob Guest - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent
Conte will recall Hugo Lloris and Cristian Romero to his starting XI against Aston Villa following their return from the World Cup in Qatar. The Argentina World Cup winner will come in for Japhet Tanganga, with Eric Dier and Clement Lenglet starting at the back once again.
Rodrigo Bentancur’s absence is a big blow but it does hand Yves Bissouma a glorious opportunity to show why he was brought to the club back in the summer. In terms of the wing-backs, Matt Doherty and Ivan Perisic should get the nod on either flank.
Naming the same front three as last time, Conte has Bryan Gil to use from the bench if Tottenham are in desperate need of an attacking spark.
Guest's team: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Doherty, Bissouma, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
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