Antonio Conte claimed he has never been worried about the form of the attacking duo Son Heung-min and Harry Kane as Tottenham prepare to host Everton on Saturday.
Son made a disappointing start to the 2022-23 campaign, failing to score in Spurs’ first six Premier League games before scoring a hat-trick in a 6-2 thrashing of Leicester City last month.
While those goals remain Son’s only domestic goals of the season, he scored a brace, including a left-footed volley, as Tottenham won 3-2 in the Champions League over Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday.
Speaking ahead of Tottenham’s meeting with the Toffees, Conte said Son’s quality prevents him from worrying about a lack of goals, adding that he would feel the same if Kane endured a drought.
“I wasn’t really worried about Sonny, or maybe last season, if Harry didn’t score goals,” Conte said Friday. “We are talking about two important players for us, they work very well.
“It can happen during the season that you have a period where you can’t score or you have a bit of bad luck, but I repeat, we are talking about two important strikers.
“Of course, at the end of the season, I know they are going to score more goals to help us give our best.”
Kane’s tally of eight Premier League goals this season is second only to Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (15), and the England captain has scored 13 goals in 14 league appearances against Everton.
That comeback includes six braces – only Alan Shearer has scored multiple goals against a specific opponent more often in the competition (seven times against Leeds United; six braces, one hat-trick).
Kane’s form has helped Tottenham cope with the absence of fellow striker Dejan Kulusevski, who has been ruled out since last month after suffering a hamstring injury.
Conte vowed not to take “stupid” risks with Kulusevski’s fitness when he ruled the Sweden international out for Saturday’s game, adding: “We have the same players from the last game.
“Deki is still not available for the Everton game. The rest of the players are fine.
“We have to have a little patience with him and not take stupid risks because we will play a lot of games between now and November.
“It is important that he recovers very well and at this moment he is not one hundred percent in perfect physical condition. That is why it is good to respect the opinion of the doctors”.
Conte has seen his teams keep a clean sheet in all six Premier League meetings with Everton. If Tottenham shut out Frank Lampard’s men this week, the Spurs manager will equal Roberto Mancini (seven against Wigan Athletic) for the most games against a single team without conceding in the competition as manager.