Christian Stellini reviews Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur
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Antonio Conte will be forced to line up with an unusual midfield duo of Oliver Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr for their Champions League clash later this week. Tottenham will travel to Italy on Tuesday to face AC Milan in their Round of 16 tie.
Spurs are currently fifth in the Premier League and are just two points outside of the top four, with their lack of consistency costing them plenty of points. Conte’s struggles to string together a flurry of positive results were shown over the past two matches, with Tottenham securing an eye-catching 1-0 victory over Manchester City earlier this month.
However, they were then unable to build on that success last weekend, losing 4-1 to Leicester City in a humiliating display. Spurs will need to improve markedly on that display on Wednesday if they are to secure a result against AC Milan.
Conte will be relying on an out-of-favour midfield duo for the tie though, with his three first-choice options ruled out for the tie. Skipp and Sarr have hardly featured for Spurs so far this season, playing a total of 335 minutes of Premier League football between them.
Rodrigo Bentancur has been one of Tottenham’s most influential players so far this season, scoring five goals in 18 league appearances. However, it was announced by Spurs that the 25-year-old will not be seen until next season after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Tottenham released a short statement confirming the news, which read: “We can confirm that Rodrigo Bentancur has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be out of action for the remainder of the campaign. He will undergo surgery before beginning his rehabilitation with our medical staff. We’re all behind you, Rodrigo.”
Bentancur has predominantly played alongside Emile-Pierre Hjojberg this season, though the Denmark international is not available for the first leg of the Champions League clash as he is ruled out through suspension.
Summer signing Yves Bissouma would usually slot into Conte’s midfield in place of Hojbjerg but he too is ruled out with injury. The Mali international underwent surgery on his ankle prior to Bentancur’s injury which will rule him out of action for at least six weeks.
Conte has sung the praises of Skipp and Sarr individually previously, though one can’t imagine that the former Chelsea boss will have envisioned both starting in such an important match this season. The manager has complained about his squad’s depth in transfer windows previously, and the match against Milan will truly show whether Conte’s pleas were rash.
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