The Antonio Conte reign begins on Thursday for Tottenham Hotspur, who welcome Vitesse to North London in the Europa Conference League.
The Lilywhites went down 1-0 to the Dutch outfit when Nuno Espirito Santo was in charge, but the doom and gloom surrounding the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is no more, at least for now.
Match preview
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The news of Santo's sacking evoked a wide range of emotions from Spurs fans - pity, amusement and anger alike - but the Lilywhites fanbase collectively cheered when the revered Conte was confirmed as the new man in control of the reins.
The Premier League and Serie A-winning coach may not have ever envisaged managing a game in the third tier of European football, but together with Fabio Paratici, Conte is being tipped to mould this Spurs squad into his own Italian vision as they bid to return to the continent's top table.
Santo's final game in charge saw Spurs simply capitulate against Manchester United as they were handed a 3-0 defeat, and the Portuguese left the club after losing three of his last four games in charge across all competitions - overseeing a mere 17 in total.
Under Santo, Spurs amassed a measly four points from their first three Conference League games and find themselves third in Group G as things stand - two points behind Vitesse and three behind group leaders Rennes - but they are the highest goalscorers in the group with seven strikes.
Santo came under fire for leaving his strongest XI at home for the first meeting with Vitesse before going on to lose to West Ham United in the top flight, and while Conte is unlikely to field many big-hitters here, the ex-Chelsea boss can nevertheless expect a magnificent reception from the home crowd.
Travelling to hostile away territory to face a Conte-marshalled side does not exactly spell optimism for Vitesse, but the Dutch outfit certainly ought to take confidence from their shock win over the Lilywhites two weeks ago.
Maximilian Wittek's 78th-minute strike was all that it took for Vitesse to claim all three points on home soil, with that result seeing them cement their second-placed position in Group G, and another memorable success this week would all but end Tottenham's hopes of progression.
Thomas Letsch's side have also started to produce the goods on a more consistent basis in the Eredivisie - winning four of their last six, including a 2-1 success over Heerenveen on Saturday thanks to Lois Openda's brace - and they have now scored in 11 consecutive games across all tournaments.
Furthermore, Vitesse travel to North London on a five-game winning streak away from home - conceding a mere two goals in that run - but facing a Spurs side with a serious case of new manager bounce is a whole different kettle of fish.
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Team News
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With Conte expected to be granted his work permit in time to take charge of Thursday's game, the Italian could already get to work on utilising his effective 3-5-2 system in North London.
There is no real way of telling how Conte will set Spurs up for his first game in charge, but Bryan Gil and Ryan Sessegnon are unlikely to be involved due to hamstring injuries.
Joe Rodon, Matt Doherty and Dele Alli will all be vying for midweek opportunities under the new manager, who could elect to partner Harry Kane with Lucas Moura up top.
As for Vitesse, Wittek - the match-winner against Spurs on matchday three - is set to miss the contest with an injury he sustained in that triumph, while fellow left-back Million Manhoef's knee problem is likely to keep him out as well.
As a result, Yann Gboho could feature on the left after playing in the middle at the weekend, with regular lynchpin Matus Bero back from a domestic suspension this week.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Gollini; Tanganga, Romero, Rodon; Doherty, Alli, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Reguilon; Kane, Lucas
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Schubert; Doekhi, Rasmussen, Bazoer; Dasa, Bero, Tronstad, Gboho; Frederiksen, Openda; Darfalou
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Vitesse
It will take Spurs some time to adopt Conte's methods, but with the roar of a full crowd of optimistic Spurs fans behind them, the Italian's reign should get off to the perfect start this week.
Vitesse are not to be taken lightly given their record on their travels, but we do not expect the visitors to spoil the party in North London this week.
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Tottenham Hotspur win with a probability of 52.55%. A win for Vitesse had a probability of 26.31% and a draw had a probability of 21.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Tottenham Hotspur win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (6.46%) and 3-1 (6.41%). The likeliest Vitesse win was 1-2 (6.36%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (8.89%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 4.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Tottenham Hotspur would win this match.
