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Alasdair Gold & Rob Guest

Son problem and defence changes - The Tottenham team Conte and Stellini should pick vs Chelsea

Tottenham have the opportunity to open up a 14-point gap if they can beat Chelsea at home in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Spurs have often struggled against the Blues but find themselves in fourth place this season with Graham Potter's struggling and expensively assembled team lying in 10th place, 11 points behind Antonio Conte's side. The Italian is currently recovering in his Turin home after returning too early from emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder so will not be on the touchline on Sunday but he and his assistant boss Cristian Stellini will pick the side together to face Chelsea.

We asked our football.london Tottenham Hotspur reporters to named the side they believe Conte and Stellini will select.

READ MORE: Tottenham's Cristian Stellini explains what makes him angry and why he studied Graham Potter

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent

Cristian Stellini said on Friday that Spurs have no new injuries and he suggested that Son Heung-min being dropped for the win against West Ham - the South Korean came off the bench to score - was exactly what the player needed after suffering from a problem in recent weeks.

That goal and that rest means Son is likely to reclaim his spot in the team and then Conte and Stellini must decide whether Richarlison should get another start, this time over Dejan Kulusevski. However, the Swede's performance in the second half against the Hammers gave an indication of the creativity Spurs would miss without him in the side.

Elsewhere, Ivan Perisic is likely to come back in at left wing-back which means Ben Davies will compete with Clement Lenglet again for the left-sided centre-back slot.

Oliver Skipp's fine display alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg could well see him keep his spot ahead of Pape Matar Sarr in Spurs' injury-hit midfield.

Gold's team: Forster; Romero, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.

Rob Guest - Tottenham Hotspur reporter

Conte and Stellini may well tweak their Tottenham XI to face Chelsea despite last Sunday's 2-0 win over West Ham. One change that could take place is Son Heung-min coming back into the Tottenham team after coming off the bench to net against the Hammers.

That will unfortunately come at the expense of Richarlison, who is crying out for a regular run of games in the starting XI to help him get back to his very best. The other change may well come at left wing-back even though Ben Davies excelled in the position last time out and set Emerson Royal up for the opener.

As Ivan Perisic will be refreshed and raring to go after his breather, he could take Clement Lenglet's place in the side and that could in turn see Davies drop back into his usual role in the back three. Tottenham certainly don't need to make a number of changes to a winning team, with a few alterations here and there likely to come on Wednesday evening when they visit Sheffield United in the FA Cup.

Guest's team: Forster; Romero, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.

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