According to the Evening Standard, Antonio Conte is likely to rest Matt Doherty when Tottenham returns to Premier League action on Sunday.
WHY IS MATT DOHERTY SET TO LOSE HIS TOTTENHAM START?
Emerson Royal was given a three-game ban for his red card in the north London derby, so the £74,000-a-week man was given a chance to shine.
Doherty is set to make way for the Brazilian after Wednesday’s nightmare against Manchester United at Old Trafford, despite an impressive performance in the 2-0 win over Everton.
The Evening Standard believes Conte may also replace Ivan Perisic with Ryan Sessegnon when Newcastle comes to visit N17 on Sunday, whereas Clement Lenglet could come back in for Ben Davies.
Doherty has only made three Premier League starts this season as Emerson is preferred by the Italian, while Tottenham’s third choice in the right wing-back department, Djed Spence, has been given just three minutes of Premier League action.
MATT DOHERTY DESERVES MORE STARTS AT TOTTENHAM
If Conte really is about to drop Doherty for Emerson, we feel that would be a very harsh decision.
The Republic of Ireland international was statistically one of the better players for Spurs in Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.
As WhoScored shows, Doherty embarked on two successful dribbles, while also recording two key passes.
Furthermore, the Tottenham No.2 made three successful tackles, more than any other Tottenham defender.
The 30-year-old has done well to regain full fitness and become match-fit once again, so it would be quite cruel of Conte to hamper his progress by putting him back on the bench for no good reason.
Emerson has had countless chances to prove himself, and almost always delivers an underwhelming display.
Therefore, we feel Doherty deserves to stay in the starting XI for the clash against Newcastle on Sunday.
