3 Questions for Tottenham Hotspur heading into friendly with OGC Nice

Conte’s approach and the availability of certain players will influence the answer to this question, but with the January transfer window coming, some key positional battles should be watched

Question 3 – Who plays, and what happens at some key positions?

There are several critical positional battles to keep an eye on as Spurs fans. First is what happens at the wing-back positions.

Who starts at wing-back?

The right-wing-back position is especially interesting to Tottenham fans. If we again see Djed Spence starting on the right and do not see Royal, who is back at practice, it could be a sign moving forward.

Spence played well in the last friendly and will be looking to build on that performance, whether to impress Conte or another coach to go out on loan.

The left wing-back is really about whether or not Ryan Sessegnon is available. If Sessegnon is available, we should expect to see him play if not, then Matt Doherty will get the call-up. Doherty is a real luxury for Conte and may be the best at the position on the team.

Although the wing-back question is probably the most intriguing, there are questions behind and in front of Spurs’ midfield, with question marks around the defense and striker.

How does Conte cover for defensive absences?

Neither Cristian Romero nor Eric Dier is available for Tottenham right now, meaning Conte has to replace two-thirds of his starting backline. While Japhet Tanganga was decent enough against Motherwell, Davinson Sanchez failed to impress, and now Davies should be back. Playing Davies on the left with Clement Lenglet in the middle would mean one of Tanganga and Sanchez would be the odd man out.

Who plays and who does not could be a telling time for all the players’ futures, so we should keep an eye on it.

How is the Tottenham man up-top?

Finally, we all have to wonder who will play striker for Tottenham. Richarlison is the natural replacement for Harry Kane, but he is injured, just as Kane is unavailable from World Cup duty. This means Tottenham is down to their third-choice striker.

With Son back, it is conceivable he plays in the middle, and Bryan Gil plays on the left or vice-versa. We may also see another helping of Harvey White, who played up top against Motherwell.

Without a clear third striker on the team right now, it will be most interesting to see who plays against Nice because that same person will likely get the call against Brentford a few days later. It is a position to keep an eye on ahead of Brentford.