The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium prepares to welcome fans back en masse for Wednesday's friendly contest with Ligue 1 outfit Nice.
The Lilywhites have already put four past Motherwell in this period of winter friendlies, while Lucien Favre's outfit lost 3-0 to Atalanta BC on Friday.
Match preview
© Reuters
The expression topsy-turvy comes to mind when analysing Tottenham Hotspur's first half of the 2022-23 season, with Antonio Conte's side conjuring up goal-laden performances and surprise defeats in equal measure domestically and continentally.
Prior to the World Cup, Conte witnessed his Tottenham side win just three of their last eight competitive fixtures, but one of those successes confirmed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League, and a return to San Siro to face AC Milan now awaits for Conte.
The Lilywhites also ran out 4-3 victors over Leeds United in their most recent Premier League showdown to enter Christmas fourth in the table, albeit eight points adrift of bitter rivals Arsenal having played a game more than the runaway leaders.
Injury after injury to a wealth of attacking players have not done Spurs any favours, but they eased past Motherwell 4-0 in a training ground friendly two Fridays ago, with Matt Doherty netting twice alongside strikes from Dejan Kulusevski and Bryan Gil.
Owing to their early EFL Cup elimination at the hands of Nottingham Forest, Tottenham do not return to competitive duties until their trip to Brentford in the Boxing Day set of Premier League fixtures, and they welcome Nice to North London aiming to score four goals for the third game in a row.
© Reuters
Speaking of four goals, Lucien Favre's steadily-improving Nice side made the net ripple that exact number of times in a dominant friendly win over Standard Liege earlier this month, but subsequent fixtures with Girona and Atalanta BC ended in dismay.
After succumbing to a pair of injury-time goals in a 2-1 defeat to Girona, Les Aiglons were put to the sword in convincing fashion by Atalanta, who struck through Rasmus Hojlund, Duvan Zapata and Jeremie Boga in a dominant three-goal success on Friday.
Results in winter friendlies should not go down as blots on the notebook of Favre, whose side went through their last seven competitive games unbeaten to rise to ninth in the Ligue 1 table, having posted an identical set of five wins, five draws and five losses so far.
A consistent ability to breach their opponents' defence has not always made up for Les Aiglons' defensive deficiencies this term, though, but Favre's side - who are a far cry from the defensive masters they were under Christophe Galtier - did manage to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League.
Tottenham and Nice have only ever locked horns once in the past, with the Lilywhites running out 1-0 victors in a 2006 friendly, and a surprise win would be the perfect tonic for the visitors before they resume Ligue 1 duties against a high-flying Lens later this month.
Team News
© Reuters
The World Cup period has not been a kind one to Tottenham in terms of injuries, as Rodrigo Bentancur (adductor), Ben Davies (abdominal) and Richarlison (thigh) all occupy beds in the Hotspur Way treatment room and are unlikely to play any part on Wednesday.
None of the trio is likely to spend a significant amount of time on the sidelines, but Ryan Sessegnon is yet to overcome the knock he picked up at Nottingham Forest, and the quartet of Emerson Royal, Lucas Moura, Clement Lenglet and Fraser Forster are also said to have sustained small issues that prevented them from playing against Motherwell.
In terms of Tottenham's Qatar crop, Cristian Romero continues to celebrate his winners' medal as Hugo Lloris drowns his sorrows, but Pape Sarr, Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg should be nearing returns. Ivan Perisic will also take a little more time off after finishing third with Croatia.
Meanwhile, Nice's Denmark representative Kasper Schmeichel was involved against Atalanta following his early World Cup exit, but ex-Arsenal man Aaron Ramsey did not play a part following Wales' group-stage exit.
Ramsey may not be risked here either amid his perennial injury woes, but one Gunners loanee in Nicolas Pepe could start on hostile territory, potentially alongside Gaetan Laborde in the final third.
Only goalkeeper Marcin Bulka (shoulder) should be absent for Faivre, who should pair 39-year-old Dante with Jean-Clair Todibo - a man 17 years his junior - at the back.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Austin; Tanganga, Sanchez, Lenglet; Spence, Skipp, White, Bissouma, Doherty; Kulusevski, Gil
Nice possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Atal, Todibo, Dante, Bard; Boudaoui, Thuram, Rosario, Brahimi; Pepe, Laborde
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Nice
Whether the likes of Kane, Son and Richarlison will be able to play a part on Wednesday remains to be seen, but a weakened Tottenham attack may struggle to break down a full-strength Nice side if the trio remain absent.
Neither Conte nor Favre will read too much into the result of this friendly as they prepare their contingent for the return of competitive action, and we can see the spoils being shared in this showdown.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
