Tottenham Hotspur welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to their slice of north London on Saturday lunchtime.
Last February it was Wolves’ players that were ‘dreaming big’ after earning a 2-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Six months of Antonio Conte’s tortuous tutelage later Spurs have their sights set on the stars.
Here’s the XI Conte may send out to exact some revenge this weekend.
GK: Hugo Lloris – The Spurs skipper is yet to earn a shutout this season but kept a career-high 16 Premier League clean sheets last term.
CB: Cristian Romero – Robert Huth was retroactively suspended for pulling Marouane Fellaini’s hair in 2016 but the presence of an inactive VAR should spare Romero that punishment after he got a fistful of Marc Cucurella’s locks on the weekend.
CB: Eric Dier – Wolves have already used six Portuguese players this season (and are buying another one) but Dier will be able to understand the conversations they have in their mother tongue after coming through Sporting CP’s academy.
CB: Ben Davies – The Wales international is winless in his last four Premier League appearances against Wolves, losing three.
RWB: Emerson Royal – The Tottenham boss that brought Emerson to north London in 2021, Nuno Espirito Santo, reportedly turned down the chance to sign the Brazilian when was in charge of Wolves.
CM: Yves Bissouma – After a niggle at the end of preseason prevented Bissouma from bursting straight into Tottenham’s starting XI, Conte may call upon his £25m recruit from the off.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – The former Juventus midfielder made his first Premier League start in a home defeat to Wolves last season.
LWB: Ryan Sessegnon – In a sequence which began at the end of the previous campaign, Sessegnon has started Tottenham’s last eight Premier League games – his longest run since joining Spurs in 2019.
RW: Dejan Kulusevski – ‘Changes’ may be Kulusevski’s favourite TuPac song but there is little evidence to suggest Conte will employ any alterations regarding the slippery Swede this weekend.
ST: Harry Kane – Tottenham’s second-highest scorer ever is one goal shy of bringing up his club tally to 250 as he chases down Jimmy Greaves on 266.
LW: Son Heung-min – Wolves are the Premier League team Son has played most often without ever scoring against (seven goalless appearances).