Tottenham Hotspur will be aiming to return to winning ways in the Premier League on Saturday when they travel to the Amex Stadium to take on Brighton.
Spurs suffered a chastening 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in the North London derby last weekend—their first loss of the season. Antonio Conte’s men then followed up that defeat with a 0-0 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, which has left them in second spot in Group D on four points.
Having won just one of their last four games in all competitions, Conte will fire up his boys to get a positive result against a well-drilled Brighton side.
Tottenham Team News
Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Moura and Japhet Tanganga will all be unavailable for the trip to Brighton through injury. Emerson Royal is suspended due to his red card in the North London derby following a nasty stamp on Gabriel Martinelli and starts his 3-match ban.
Predicted Tottenham Lineup vs Brighton (3-4-2-1)
Goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris will be desperate to leave behind his mistake in the North London derby and put in a solid display between the sticks against Brighton.
Defence
Antonio Conte is expected to stick to his 3-4-2-1 system, with a back three of Cristian Romero, Eric Dier and Clement Lenglet occupying the three-man backline in front of Lloris in the Tottenham lineup.
Fit-again Ben Davies is pushing for a start, but Lenglet could just keep his spot in defence after a couple of strong displays. The Spurs’ back three, along with the wing-backs, must defend very well to keep an in-form Brighton side at bay.
Midfield
Emerson Royal’s suspension following his red card in the North London derby should see Ivan Perisic move across to right wing-back in the Tottenham lineup, which will allow Ryan Sessegnon to start on the opposite side. Djed Spence and Matt Doherty are also options in that area of the pitch, but it seems likely that Perisic will keep his place in the starting XI.
Conte is likely to rely on the partnership of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur to combat Brighton in the middle of the park. Hojbjerg and Bentancur must deliver the goods in order to repay the manager’s faith in them. This means Yves Bissouma will again have to be content with a role on the bench.
Attack
Dejan Kulusevski’s likely injury absence should see the mercurial Richarlison continue starting games for Spurs. Richarlison will join Son Heung-min and Harry Kane in the final third in the Tottenham lineup, as the trio look to link up well and cause all kinds of problems to the Brighton backline.
The likes of Yves Bissouma, Bryan Gil, Matt Doherty and Oliver Skipp might get involved at some stage in the second half at the Amex Stadium.
