Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has hinted at a potential formation change ahead of the North London Derby against Arsenal this weekend.
The Gunners currently sit top of the Premier League table by a single point after a strong start to the season in which they have lost just one game. Spurs have also enjoyed an impressive start to the new campaign and are currently level on points with reigning champions Manchester City, though a win against their north London rivals could see them leapfrog Mikel Arteta's side in the table.
Arsenal remain hopeful that Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu could all be available for the game, football.london understands. Gunners' captain Martin Odegaard has been identified as a 'key player' that could be crucial to Arteta's side coming out on top against Spurs in what is shaping up to be a crucial North London Derby for both sides on Saturday.
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Arteta has already been told how Conte's side could line-up for the clash at the Emirates Stadium after the Spurs boss hinted at a potential formation change. During in his press conference on Thursday, Conte was asked if he would consider playing with three central midfielders. He said: "For sure it can be a good option [three in midfield] because we have midfields who can play as a three.
"Bissouma when he came in against Leicester he played well and he is really well integrated with Pierre and Bentancur. Yeah this could be an option, not only for tomorrow but for the future because if we need to give rest to other players, especially when you have this type of situation that happened with Kulusevski having a problem."
The Arsenal boss may deem Conte's comments as a bluff, or he may take them seriously and look to deploy a tactic that can counteract Spurs' three-man midfield with a new formation of his own. The Gunners have set up with Odegaard alongside Partey and Granit Xhaka in a 4-3-3 system so far this season but could revert back to a 4-2-3-1 formation which they had success with last term in the same fixture.
Emile Smith Rowe, who scored the opening goal against the Lilywhites in the North London Derby at the Emirates Stadium last term, will be absent for the clash on Saturday and foreseeable future after undergoing surgery to repair a damaged tendon in his groin. Conte remained coy when asked about Spurs' injury troubles, but hinted that some key players could miss out.
The Tottenham boss said: "Honestly I don't want to speak about the injury because I don't want to give advantage to Arsenal, yeah? But for sure we have to face some problems, some physical problems and we have to know also we have just started to play the first game in a run that we have to play 13 games in 43 days."
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