Tuchel is no mug, and he’s made a habit of out-thinking us. We attack predominantly on the break; we don’t tend to do the “scramble a goal” thing through a well-packed defence, and we have little success from long range. I’d guess that Tuchel will sit back, organise a solid defence and hope to catch us on the break. The contest may be to see if our Light Brigade approach of last week will stand up to the scrutiny of a much stronger and more well-disciplined side.
I’d guess their first line of defence will be in the middle of the park, slowing our advance and allowing their defenders to organise for anything that comes through. As such, Bentancur and Hojbjerg will be key to our tempo going forward and holding steady defensively until our wing backs can get back to cover our flanks. I suspect that if Conte expects this too, we could be using the full complement of subs to switch it around to, as Harry says, find the right key to open the lock.
I agree we need to at least get a point here and Conte will go for a win if it’s on, but will not do so at the risk of losing a minimum of a point. It’s a long season and whilst an enthusiastic driving force, Conte is also an experienced campaigner and pragmatist.