Wednesday evening sees Antonio Conte's Tottenham side play their first game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in almost six weeks. Last in action in N17 in early November following a riveting 4-3 win over Leeds United, Spurs take on Ligue 1 side Nice in a friendly ahead of the Premier League restarting on Boxing Day.
Securing wins over Motherwell and Peterborough United Under-21s in their two friendlies so far during the mid-season break, Conte will have his fingers crossed that they can register a third win as they bid to warm up for Monday's trip to Brentford in the best way possible. This evening's fixture in the capital will hand the boss an opportunity to take another look at those players who have played in both friendlies and also those returning from World Cup action.
So who exactly could be in his starting XI against Lucien Favre's team at 7pm on Wednesday? football.london takes a look.
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The game against Nice may see Fraser Forster get his opportunity between the sticks as he has yet to feature in the friendlies after picking up a minor knock in training prior to the Motherwell match. Davinson Sanchez will start again in the back three, especially as there's a possibility Cristian Romero won't be in involved at Brentford following his World Cup success with Argentina, and he could be joined in there by Clement Lenglet as the Frenchman only featured in the Peterborough United game.
Japhet Tanganga or Ben Davies could complete the backline, with Conte facing a call over whether to start or ease the latter back in after his recovery from an oblique muscle injury. Eric Dier could also be an option to consider following England's World Cup exit, although the boss may be thinking ahead to the Boxing Day as his main centre-back has spent the past month in Qatar with the Three Lions.
The Italian also has a decision to make over his right wing-back as Emerson Royal was spotted back in training at Hotspur Way last week. As Matt Doherty could be set to get the nod again on the left, Conte must decide whether to give Emerson some minutes from the off or persist with Djed Spence after two good showings in the friendly matches.
In midfield, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg could make his return to the team following Denmark's shock World Cup group elimination. As Rodrigo Bentancur is suspended for the game at Brentford on Boxing Day, it represents a great chance for Conte to start either Yves Bissouma or Oliver Skipp with the Dane and get them to develop an understanding ahead of their first Premier League game back.
Dejan Kulusevski and Bryan Gil are likely to start in attack again, with Son Heung-min a candidate to join them and playing through the middle following his return to training. The game may come too soon for Kane to feature given all the minutes he played in Qatar and Conte will no doubt have one eye on the Brentford encounter anyway.
Predicted Tottenham team vs Nice: Forster; Sanchez, Lenglet, Davies; Spence, Hojbjerg, Bissouma, Doherty; Kulusevski, Son, Bryan.
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