Conte must drop Spurs’ £192k-per-week “beast” tonight; he’s been “very quiet.”

Tottenham Hotspur is back in action a week after their last match, traveling to Portugal to face Sporting CP in the Champions League.

Both teams will be looking to keep their hot start to the 2022/23 season going, and Spurs, who are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season, can make it two wins from two with a victory at the Estádio José Alvalade.

Last time out, the Lilywhites defeated Ligue 1 side Marseille in a somewhat dull encounter in north London, where summer signing Richarlison stole the show with a headed brace to secure all three points.

It was also another bad night for Heung-min Son, who must now be on the verge of being dropped, especially given his Brazilian teammate’s form; he has effectively played himself into being undroppable in this current run.

There was also an eye-catching cameo off the bench from Dejan Kulusevski, so it could well be time for manager Antonio Conte to make the bold and ruthless decision to axe the South Korean from his starting lineup.

The 30-year-old attacker has started all seven of Tottenham’s matches this term but has failed to deliver more than the one goal contribution, with his solitary assist coming on an opening day in a 4-1 rout of Southampton, leading to ex-goalkeeper Paul Robinson describing the winger as “very quiet” earlier this month.

When you compare that to last season, it’s a glaring worry as the Gangwon native was averaging a goal or assist every 104 minutes across all competitions as he scored 24 goals and laid on a further ten assists from 45 outings, as per Transfermarkt.

Against Les Olympiens, he was pretty much rendered anonymous and was ineffective for large parts before being hooked four minutes from time. Even shot-stopper Hugo Lloris (25) had more accurate passes than Son (22) and he had attempted as many as nine long balls from his own net.

Elsewhere, the £192k-per-week star – who was described as an “absolute beast” by AJ Tracey last season – couldn’t manage a single shot on target, while he lost possession 17 times from his 47 touches. He won just three of his nine duels against the opposition, via SofaScore.

Whether his poor form comes down to fitness or not remains to be seen but given the fact that he’s started 100% of matches in 2022/23, he could be due a rest if his performances weren’t already a sign of why he should be sat on the bench this evening.

As such, Conte must remove him from the XI tonight as his side looks to continue their impressive start to the new campaign.

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