Takeaways: Spurs 1-1 Nice

Tottenham Hotspur’s midweek 1-1 draw with Nice raised several interesting issues ahead of Monday’s trip to Brentford.

Although it would have been nice to win our last match before competitive action resumes, the result of such matches is always a bonus and in general, insignificant. It’s performances you look for, and in this case, some stood out more than others.

In the absence of Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon, both of whom are unlikely to come into the side against Brentford (see team news here), it was Matt Doherty who stepped on Wednesday night with his fourth goal in three midseason matches as a makeshift left wing-back.

The Irishman could have had more goals on the night too, looking ever-dangerous cutting inside on his right foot, but his final touch let him down on a few occasions. He has certainly made a compelling case to start on Monday, and offers a goal threat from the left that we have been missing so far this season. If Conte is happy with his fitness levels – which seems to be the case based on what he told reporters after the match – then he will likely come in on the left against Brentford.

Other impressive performers on the night were Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr. Bissouma sprayed the ball about rather neatly and got up and down the pitch in an effortless manner that highlighted his improved fitness levels, and Sarr – who came on at half-time for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – won the ball high up the pitch on several occasions and thwarted multiple Nice attacks in the second-half.

However, a decent second-half showing against Ligue 1 opposition does not count as sufficient evidence for starting Sarr against Brentford, and it is likely that Bissouma will start in the absence of Rodrigo Bentancur with Hojbjerg on Monday.

Finally, and this is perhaps the last surprising of the lot, Dejan Kulusevski looks fitter than ever since returning from injury, and was the standout attacker on the night, coming close with a few decent efforts that were smothered by Kasper Schmeichel in the Nice goal.

Although Harvey White received praise aplenty from Conte, I was generally underwhelmed with the amount of times he lost the ball up top and ran into blind alleys. Although this sentiment can be equally applied to Bryan Gil, mitigating circumstances ought to be applied to White for playing the unfamiliar position of a number nine when he is actually a midfielder.

Having Kulusevski in peak condition for Monday alongside Harry Kane and Heung-min Son should give our attack an edge it has lacked for so long – the last time the trio started together was the 1-1 draw at West Ham on August 31st, so it will be fascinating to see how our attack fares on Monday.