Antonio Conte has made six changes to his Tottenham team for this afternoon's Premier League clash against Bournemouth. Without a win in their last three games in all competitions, it is imperative that Spurs return to winning ways with others closing in on them in the top-four race.
Dubbing Tuesday's Champions League encounter against Marseille as a "final" with the Lilywhites needing a point to progress to the knockout phase, Spurs first of all have to do the business at the Vitality Stadium before attention can fully turn to the showdown in the south of France. With the European tie in mind, Conte has tweaked his team and given some of his regulars a breather at Bournemouth.
Cristian Romero misses out on the squad altogether as Davinson Sanchez comes into the side in his place. Clement Lenglet also returns in the backline and swaps with Eric Dier as the England international is given a rare breather., while Emerson Royal and Ryan Sessegnon replace Matt Doherty and Ivan Perisic in the wing-back positions.
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In midfield, Oliver Skipp, who impressed on his return to the starting XI last Sunday against Newcastle, also comes back into the team after playing no part in midweek vs Sporting CP and so does Yves Bissouma. That means a rest for Rodrigo Bentancur as the aforementioned duo partner Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the middle.
Parting with Scott Parker early in the season, the Cherries have fared well under interim head coach Gary O'Neil so far. While Spurs may be expected to leave the Vitality with all three points, Conte knows his side are going to be in for a tough match.
"If we can take the result and the difference, it is a big difference," he explained on the difference at Bournemouth following the managerial change. "Sometimes you don't know what happen because the last manager is a really good manager and they got promotion, they had a really fantastic path last season and in this season in the moment they change the manager they started to get points, points and points. For this reason it will be a difficult game tomorrow."
Here is the Tottenham team Conte has named to face Bournemouth:
Tottenham XI: Lloris; Sanchez, Lenglet, Davies; Emerson, Hojbjerg, Bissouma, Skipp, Sessegnon; Kane, Son
Subs: Forster, Doherty, Tanganga, Spence, Dier, Perisic, Bentancur, Bryan, Lucas
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