Tottenham will confirm their place in the Champions League knockout stage if they beat Sporting CP tonight and, in the circumstances, finishing the job with a game to spare would be a much-needed tonic for Antonio Conte and his weary players.
After back-to-back defeats over the past eight days, Conte claimed his stretched squad cannot be competitive in both the Premier League and Champions League during the gruelling pre-World Cup schedule.
Victory would ease the pressure on next Tuesday’s final group game in Marseille, particularly if the Ligue 1 side also lose at Eintracht Frankfurt, which would confirm Spurs as group winners and leave the visit to the south of France as a welcome dead rubber.
Conte has admitted his players are starting to feel the strain of playing every three to four days, but he effectively considers it impossible to rest the majority of his preferred XI, given the drop-off in quality to their replacements.
“I always said to you that when you play every three days, you must have a strong squad, be lucky and not have big injuries,” the Italian said yesterday.
Hugo Lloris, Eric Dier and Harry Kane have started every match this season, and the defensive pair showed signs of mental fatigue during the sloppy defeat by Newcastle on Sunday. Heung-min Son, who has featured in every match, has long looked like a player who would benefit from a proper rest, while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cristian Romero succumbed to muscle fatigue and missed the loss to Newcastle.
With a place in the knockout stage secured, especially as group winners, Conte could afford to leave Kane, Son, Dier, Hojbjerg and others at home for the tricky trip to the Stade Velodrome, which would be particularly welcome given that Liverpool are the visitors to north London a week on Sunday.
Spurs’ chances of earning a much-needed statement win over a big-six rival would be increased if they are fresh for Liverpool, with Conte also suggesting this week that his side’s drop-off from last season is down to lack of preparation and recovery time between games.
“If we played one game every six or seven days, I think we could fight for something important,” he said after Sunday’s defeat. “In this moment we have to face a difficult situation for us, because when you don’t have three or four players in the squad, then you are in trouble.
“We have to face and manage very well this situation and overcome it together. This squad doesn’t allow to lose four players.”
If qualification is secured tonight, Conte could afford to play his best team at Bournemouth again on Saturday and potentially use fringe players in France, which would have the double advantage of putting them in the shop window ahead of what is expected to be another busy January at Spurs.
Romero and Hojbjerg did not join the squad for open training in front of the cameras yesterday, despite being cleared by the medical team to feature. Conte said he would assess the pair this morning and hinted that tonight may be the time to take risks, given the significance of the fixture.
“If there is a possibility for them to recover we will try everything, because it is an important game for us,” said the Italian, who is also unsure about starting Lucas Moura after a long-term tendon injury. “Winning is vital, because then you avoid having to go to the last game in Marseille to play for qualification.
“Lucas Moura is a player who is recovering from a long injury, but there are moments when you have to try to take some risks. We’ll see.”
