Tottenham were made to wait when looking to respond to last week’s shock Uefa Europa Conference League loss after Sunday’s match at Burnley was postponed.
Antonio Conte went so far as naming his starting XI at Turf Moor before snow prompted match officials to call the game off 45 minutes before kick-off.
No date has been confirmed for when that match will now take place, but it will certainly not fall during a busy festive period which sees Spurs play nine times in December.
That run of a game every three days starts at home to Brentford on Thursday, which will be Spurs’ first league encounter with the west-London club since 1949.
The two sides have met seven times in the EFL Cup since, with Spurs winning six of those encounters – most recently beating Brentford 2-0 back in January in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Moussa Sissoko and Son Heung-Min were both on target that day, and eight starters from that match 11 months ago were in the XI to face Burnley on the weekend.
It highlights how Conte is very much working with the squad that led to Jose Mourinho’s sacking, a point the Italian raised after last week’s “embarrassing” 2-1 loss to Mura when admitting he has a big task on his hands.
There may be additions come January, but for now, Conte must put faith in these players, and against Brentford there is every reason to believe he will pick the same side that was going to start at Burnley.
That means a 3-4-3 formation with Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier and Ben Davies at the back, with Conte confirming in his pre-match press conference that Cristian Romero’s hamstring is “very serious” and will keep him out until January or February.
Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilon will be restored out wide after missing the Mura debacle while Oliver Skipp partners Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in midfield.
Hojbjerg made it 50 straight Premier League starts in the win over Leeds in November, and having only been substituted once in that run the midfielder will play a key role in Spurs’ push to climb up from seventh in the table.
He told Spurs’ website: “I’m not the most talented player that my team-mates will come across, but I am one who they can trust 100 per cent and know that even when it hurts, I will be there; even when it’s difficult, I will be there, because that’s how I grew up, that’s who I am, and that’s how I want my kids to grow up. It’s a bigger question than football. If life isn’t going your way, it doesn’t mean you turn your back on it, no.
“The last, and most important thing, is that I enjoy it a lot. I do it with a lot of passion and a lot of joy. I love coming in. I love seeing the people. I love working here. So, first of all, I do it all with a lot of joy.”
Meanwhile, up front Lucas Moura is likely to start with Harry Kane and Son, especially with Giovani Lo Celso ruled out until after Thursday’s game.
Predicted 3-4-3 vs Brentford: Lloris; Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Reguilon; Lucas, Kane, Son
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3DbxQc6
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