Antonio Conte will make changes to his Tottenham team against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon with such an important Champions League game on the horizon. Missing the opportunity to seal a place in the knockout phase following a 1-1 draw vs Sporting CP in midweek, Spurs will head to the south of France knowing a point will be enough to qualify.
Dubbed a "final" by Conte when speaking to the media at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon, the Italian made it clear that he will tweak his XI in order to keep players fit to face Marseille. As important as Tuesday's game is to their Champions League aspirations, Tottenham also need to get back to winning ways in the Premier League after back-to-back defeats.
So who will Conte name in his team to face the Cherries?
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Changes are likely to take place at the back, notably Cristian Romero's place as Conte told football.london in his press conference that he took a "big, big risk" playing him vs Sporting after he missed out a few days earlier vs Newcastle United through injury. That will open the door for Davinson Sanchez to come back in, with Clement Lenglet taking Ben Davies' place on the left of the back three.
Emerson Royal and Ryan Sessegnon are two other possible alterations in place of Matt Doherty and Ivan Perisic. A formation switch could be in order as it's unlikely Bryan Gil will be given the nod in attack and Lucas Moura has only just returned from injury and two starts in quick succession may be too much for him.
That means a return to 3-5-2, with Oliver Skipp and Yves Bissouma getting the nod alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as Rodrigo Bentancur is rested with midweek in mind. Harry Kane and Son Heung-min then complete the XI, with Lucas and Bryan options from the bench.
Here is the Tottenham team we believe Conte will select against Bournemouth:
Predicted Tottenham XI: Lloris; Sanchez, Dier, Lenglet; Emerson, Hojbjerg, Bissouma, Skipp, Sessegnon; Kane, Son
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