Antonio Conte could well run the risk of continuing another unwanted pattern if he breaks another one with Tottenham in their Premier League match at Brighton on Wednesday evening. The main question for Conte is whether he feels that fresh legs are required in the middle of three games in eight days, culminating with a big derby against West Ham on Sunday.
Conte needs to bring stability to his team in order to end the win-loss-win-loss record that has been prevalent for much of 2022 for his team. To do so he is likely to stick with the starting XI that impressed for much of Sunday's defeat at Manchester United.
However, another pattern has emerged in recent weeks that when the Italian names an unchanged line-up so Tottenham go on to lose the match with a poor performance. Those defeats did however come after victories so Conte will be hoping that the trip to the Amex Stadium brings something different.
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Conte will be without the injured Oliver Skipp (groin), Japhet Tanganga (knee) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring). If he does decide to make some changes they could come in various positions across the pitch.
A switch in the back three would likely see Davinson Sanchez chosen over the often overlooked Joe Rodon to come in for one of the main trio Conte has been using. Harry Winks is the only fresh option in midfield while Emerson Royal may be hoping to get a chance at right wing-back, if the head coach decides that Matt Doherty needs a rest.
Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn will also be trying to show in training that they deserve a chance in one of the attacking slots. The problem for all of those players above is that Conte was happy with much of the performance at Old Trafford and if everyone fit in the squad is ready to start again then he could name an unchanged starting XI.
Here's the team we reckon Conte will select on Wednesday night.
3-4-3: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Doherty, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Reguilon; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
