Two or three how many central midfielders will Tottenham, Conte use?

Will Conte prefer Tottenham with two or three central midfielders?

We know whether Conte lines Spurs up in a 3-4-3, or a 3-5-2, or any variation of the two formations is that Tottenham will have two wing-backs. Given we know there will always be two wide players in the midfield for Conte, the real question is, will we have two or three in the centre.

The case for three Tottenham midfielders

Tottenham had one of their best attacking days against Liverpool using a three-person central midfield. In that system, two of the three of Hojbjerg, Skipp, or Bentancur would be playing in a more advanced midfield role in front of the sitting Winks. The idea is Tottenham could dominate possession and work to pressure and press the opposition.

This formation gives Spurs fewer attackers, but more players can win possession in the middle of the park, making the team potentially more dangerous on the counter-attack and in transition. We have seen both Skipp and Hojbjerg win the ball in the attacking third this season, and it causes lots of problems for opposing defences, which is an advantage of playing three central midfielders.

Why Spurs will probably only use two central midfielders

The problem with playing three central midfielders is that it comes at the loss of another forward. With Heung-Min Son out for most of January and Steven Bergwijn much of it, it made sense for Spurs to only play with two forwards for a lot of the month.

Now that the transfer window is over and both Son and Bergwijn are healthy again, Tottenham has more options for the attacking line. Tottenham can make up for the lack of additional midfield support with the pressure from the front three, which is now a deeper unit. Adding Dejan Kulusevski to a healthy attacking unit does make Spurs’ forward line one of the deepest units on the team.

Given Conte seemed to prefer the 3-4-3 initially, it leads one to think he will continue to lean on that formation. However, with his tools in the midfield, he can play three central midfielders and get what he wants from them.

Whether he plays three in the middle or two, Conte now has flexibility. With that flexibility comes some balance in the midfield at Tottenham, which is a step toward a better team.