Tottenham face West Ham United in a heated London derby on Wednesday evening, and if results go their way, Spurs could go to the top of the Premier League.
Of course, it’s unlikely that both Manchester City and Arsenal will drop points in a pair of winnable games against Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa respectively, but there is the outside chance that Spurs will top the table come Wednesday night.
However, in order to reach the Premier League’s summit, Tottenham will have to get past one of their great rivals in the shape of West Ham United.
This has been a tricky fixture for Spurs in recent years, but West Ham’s poor start to the season should give the north Londoners confidence that they can win this one.
With that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting Tottenham’s starting XI for this London derby.
For the first time in a long time, Tottenham have the squad depth necessary to rotate in some key areas for these midweek games, and that’s exactly what we expect Antonio Conte to do here.
There’s just one change to the backline as Ryan Sessegnon comes in for Ivan Perisic, with Emerson Royal retaining his place after an impressive showing against Nottingham Forest at the weekend.
Yves Bissouma comes in for his first league start as Rodrigo Bentancur is given a well-deserved rest, while headline-making Richarlison starts after his somewhat scandalous showboating against Forest at the weekend.
Heung-Min Son has started the season way below-par, so he is dropped in favour of the Brazilian for this clash, as a derby atmosphere is likely to suit Richarlison’s fiery style of play to an absolute tee.
This should be a fantastic game, and there should be an element of excitement around Spurs as a few new signings could get their chances to shine here.
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