Richarlison has spoken this week of how he believes Antonio Conte will turn him into an even better player with time - yet few could argue he’s already made quite a sizeable impact in North London.
He’s netted two goals and registered two assists for Tottenham since his summer switch from Everton and has made Conte’s starting XI in each of their last four matches. His fine form has continued on the international stage too, scoring three goals in two matches for Brazil against Ghana and Tunisia.
In this form, he’d be a shoo-in to start for most sides across Europe this weekend, yet there’ll be no guarantees for Saturday's North London derby. Spurs will make the trip to the home of their rivals protecting an unbeaten start to the season and with the opportunity to leapfrog Arsenal into top spot.
They don’t have a great record at the Emirates though, not winning in the Premier League there since 2010. Conte has assembled a squad with the firepower to buck that trend, however he faces a selection dilemma in terms of who he chooses to lead his attack.
Conte has made no secret of his admiration for Richarlison, who scored against Arsenal in a 2-1 victory for Everton last December. That goal threat plus an unrelenting work ethic makes him well suited to this ferocious fixture.
Yet how can Conte realistically overlook his other attacking options, namely Son Heung-min, who not only came off the bench to score a hat-trick in Spurs’ last match against Leicester, but also followed that up with two goals for South Korea in the international break.
He capped off the scoring in Spurs’ dominant 3-0 between the sides back in May, taking his tally to five goals and five assists against the Gunners across his career so far. Harry Kane scored the other two goals in that clash and it’s unthinkable that he’d be dropped for the contest.
If Conte is to stick with his favoured 3-4-3, Richarlison could well land that third attacking option, however, Dejan Kulusevski is also lurking. Only Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg have made more open-play passes leading to a shot on goal than the Swedish international (17) this season, and he reaffirmed his creative prowess with another assist for his country last week. With Kane and Son on the pitch, Conte could well prioritise Kulusevski’s capacity to create rather than Richarlison’s own goalscoring threat.
It would feel hugely unfortunate for Richarlison to miss out on Saturday given the form he’s in. However, the very fact he could is a testament to the attacking riches Conte now has at his disposal and Spurs’ depth in that area of the pitch is sure to be crucial to whatever success they manage this season.
