Antonio Conte has had to name a very different Tottenham Hotspur team for their return to action on Sunday against Liverpool in the Premier League.
Spurs have not played since their victory against Norwich City on December 5, after a Covid outbreak swept through their camp and resulted in nine first team players, seven members of the coaching staff and a large number of U23 players testing positive.
With three matches called off and the first team area of their Hotspur Way training complex shut down for three days, the north London club have not had the best preparation for the match against Jurgen Klopp's side, who have a trio of Covid cases of their own to contend with.
Antonio Conte's team selection on Sunday has been dictated by the varying levels of fitness of those who have returned from their Covid isolations, with five changes from the team that won against Norwich a fortnight ago.
The Spurs boss told football.london on Friday that Sergio Reguilon was expected to return to full training on Saturday and this match has come too soon for the Spaniard, who starts on the bench with Ryan Sessegnon playing at left wing-back.
In the midfielder, Tanguy Ndombele and Harry Winks have been handed rare starts in the centre of the pitch along with Dele Alli in what could be midfield three or at least a 3-4-1-2 formation.
Giovani Lo Celso has also been back in training this week and he returns to the bench after a period out with his knee injury.
The team is a mix between those Conte has worked with on the Hotspur Way pitches throughout the past fortnight and those one or two the sports science staff believe are able to return to the starting XI.
Here's the Spurs starting XI Conte has chosen to face Liverpool:
Lloris; Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Winks, Ndombele, Sessegnon; Dele; Son, Kane.
Subs: Austin; Doherty, Reguilon, Tanganga, Rodon, Skipp, Lo Celso, Bergwijn, Lucas.
