Tottenham Hotspur: Antonio Conte must unleash Tanguy Ndombele today | OneFootball

With Antonio Conte’s career as Tottenham Hotspur manager having got off to an impressive start – picking up seven points from a possible nine in his first three Premier League fixtures – the 52-year-old will undoubtedly be hoping for yet another three points when Norwich City visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

However, while it has undoubtedly been less of a problem since the Italian’s arrival in North London, Spurs’ inability to put the ball in the back of the net has been a rather worrying issue for the club so far this season – with their 13 league goals scored ranking them as the joint third-worst attack in the league.

And, while it is has been well documented that Tottenham are in the market for a new centre-forward in the January transfer window, perhaps Conte already possesses a player whose introduction to the side could change Spurs’ fortunes in front of goal – in the shape of Tanguy Ndombele.

Conte must unleash Ndombele

While a performance against the lowest-ranked side in the UEFA Europa Conference League may not be the best barometer of a player’s creative and attacking capacity, particularly as it was a fixture that Tottenham ultimately lost, there was nevertheless clear evidence in the 2-1 defeat to NS Mura that the 24-year-old could well be the missing link between Spurs’ midfield and attack.

Indeed, over his 76 minutes on the pitch, Ndombele enjoyed 81 touches of the ball, made one key pass and completed five of his seven attempted dribbles, very much appearing to be the player who was most likely to make something happen for his side on the night.

The £40.5m-rated man also made one tackle, two interceptions, blocked one shot and won six of his nine attempted duels, proving that he is also not afraid to do the dirty work in the middle of the park.

1 of 10

Can you remember these Spurs kits? We'll start with an easy one, which season is this famous strip from?

2017-2018 2019-2020 2016-2017 2018-2019

His efforts saw the player who Jose Mourinho dubbed both “magnificent” and “phenomenal” earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.0, ranking him Tottenham’s second-best player to start the fixture.

As such, with bottom of the table Norwich City up next, now would very much appear to be the time to unleash the France international in the middle of the park, as the 24-year-old could well prove to help light the spark that is needed in front of goal for Spurs.