Lucas Moura could start for Tottenham Hotspur against Manchester United with Bryan Gil and Ivan Perisic also in contention for Antonio Conte’s side.
Tottenham picked up another win on Saturday evening as they beat Everton 2-0 in North London.
Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg were on the scoresheet for Spurs as they not only racked up another three points but also another clean sheet.
A big test now awaits Tottenham though as they head off to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United on Wednesday evening.
Lucas Moura could start for Tottenham
Such a big game has arguably come at a bad time to Tottenham.
Dejan Kulusevski is still working his way back from a hamstring injury whilst Richarlison was taken off with a calf problem against Everton.
That’s two dangerous attacking players down for Tottenham and boss Conte needs to figure out the best way to deal with the absences.
Conte could move back to a 3-5-2, the system he used in the 1-0 win at Brighton and Hove Albion as well as in the second half against Everton.
Yet Conte has told Football London that he would prefer to stick with the 3-4-3 he has been using for most of the season.
That means finding somebody to replace Richarlison and Conte highlighted three potential players to come in; Lucas Moura, Bryan Gil and Ivan Perisic.
“Lucas Moura can, yeah, be a possibility, Gil can be a possibility, Perisic like in a three like a striker is a possibility,” said Conte. “I have another training session to make the best decision. You know we like to play with a 3-4-3 with the three strikers and if we can’t change, I prefer to continue to play with the 3-4-3 otherwise we find a solution. I think we have the possibility to continue to play with the 3-4-3.”
“Yes [I would like to stick with 3-4-3], because in my idea we’ve worked a lot with this system. Lucas Moura is recovering from his injury, Gil is making progress and then I have Ivan Perisic who can play like a striker,” he added.
Brazilian Lucas Moura is only just back from injury himself and was only on the pitch against Everton for a matter of seconds having come on as a substitute.
Moura has played just 17 minutes this season and throwing him in to start against United may be a gamble.
Gil has technical ability but his lack of physicality is a huge problem, ultimately meaning that he hasn’t played a single minute of Premier League action under Conte this season.
Then there is Perisic, who has mostly played as a wing back but can still do a job in the final third if needed.
Using Perisic as a winger may then lead to Ryan Sessegnon playing as a left wing back and this may well be the best route for Tottenham.
There is though a chance that Conte is bluffing.
Conte very clearly says he wants to play 3-4-3 but he isn’t exactly opposed to playing 3-5-2 and slotting Yves Bissouma into the team seems a relatively simple move.
We would guess it’s either Perisic out wide or Bissouma coming into the team for Tottenham against United, with Lucas More and Gil the outsiders.
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