Projecting Conte’s first Tottenham Hotspur EPL XI vs Everton

Tottenham Hotspur travels to Merseyside to face Everton in Antonio Conte‘s first Premier League match as Spurs boss, so what XI will he start, we project.

Antonio Conte has not had much time with Tottenham being hired on Tuesday and managing Spurs two days later in the Conference League against Vitesse. Now just a couple of days after that, the team is back in action at Goodison Park, taking on Everton before another international break. With one more match before a hiatus, the question is does Conte stick or pivot from his team on Thursday night?

Tottenham projected forwards

Spurs’ attack was vibrant and flowing for the first 30 minutes of the match. Son had multiple chances – scoring one – and Harry Kane was again getting the ball in some dangerous positions; even if Kane did not score. The scoring dried up after those 30 minutes as did many of the chances but much of that was impacted by the red card. Expect a similar set-up on Sunday with two players underneath Harry Kane leading the line.

Striker – Harry Kane

There was little doubt that Harry Kane was excited about the arrival of Antonio Conte. Kane was both more lively in the press and stronger in his hold-up play than we have seen most of the season. For Tottenham to really compete Kane must be scoring or creating goals and he almost did both on Thursday, although review called his call – the winner – an own goal instead. Kane will want to get in the scoring column under Conte and earn his trust.

Second striker – Son Heung-Min

Son Heung-Min was one of the main catalysts for Spurs’ lively start and the South Korean superstar probably should have had a half-hour hat-trick. Instead, Sonny only had one and Vitesse crawled back into the match. Son was pulled when Spurs were down a man, presumably saving him for Sunday.

Second striker – Lucas Moura

Lucas Moura had his moments in the win over Vitesse. The good moment was the timing of his run and the composure of his finish on Spurs’ second goal. The bad moments came with his giveaway that led to Vitesse’s second goal and missing Kane on what should have been an easy through ball. Moura is the most likely to get another crack at the underneath attacking role as he can get behind and drive with the ball from deeper positions, now if he can get that final pass down.