Tottenham can up the pressure on their top-four rivals this weekend by securing victory against Brighton & Hove Albion in the early kick-off. Now three points ahead of Arsenal after Antonio Conte's side capitalised on their defeat last Saturday, Spurs can extend their lead to six points before the Gunners take on Southampton.
The head coach will have to make one change to his team that won at Aston Villa, however, following Matt Doherty's season-ending knee injury. Sergio Reguilon was the man to replace the Republic of Ireland international at Villa Park and he may get the nod to start against Brighton.
Ryan Sessegnon will have his eye on the starting spot as well having started in six successive games for the Lilywhites before the hamstring issue he sustained against Everton. Reguilon may have played more football over the past month but Conte could quite easily restore the ex-Fulham man going on his selections in February and the start of March.
READ MORE: Tottenham's nine attackers' summer transfer fates revealed as Paratici looks to secure £25m deal
The game between the two teams at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be the second in the space of a month after Spurs' 2-0 victory at the Amex in March. Tottenham may have won seven of their last nine Premier League games but Conte knows that his side cannot take the Seagulls lightly.
"For us, Saturday it will be a really important game because we are going to play against a really strong team," said the Italian in his pre-match press conference. "We played in the last period twice against them and in both games we struggled a lot because they were organised, have good players, a good manager.
"The last game they won against Arsenal. I watched the game and they deserved to win. They weren’t lucky, they deserved to win. For this reason, in this moment it will be very important not to make big mistakes, try to get three points also if you know very well the game will be very difficult against Brighton.
"But we are working very well, the players and my staff are working very well, I have seen great focus in this week and hopefully we try to get three points in this race on Saturday it will be very important to put pressure on the others."
Here is the Tottenham team we reckon Conte will select to face the Seagulls:
Predicted Tottenham team: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Reguilon; Kulusevski, Kane, Son
