Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte insists he would be "crazy" to consider dropping Son Heung-min amid suggestions of fatigue and a drop in form.
Spurs sit eighth in the Premier League ahead of a clash at Brighton and Hove Albion, following a 3-2 defeat at fellow top-four contenders Manchester United that leaves them six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.
Conte's north London rivals have also played a game less, while Spurs have lost five of their last eight Premier League games (W3) – as many as they had in their previous 20 in the competition (W12 D3).
Son has been on target in his side's last two wins, a 5-0 thrashing of Everton coupled with a 4-0 hammering of Leeds United, yet there remain questions over the South Korea international's form.
Since a four-game scoring run in the league across December, Son has found the net three times in nine top-flight outings – taking his tally 11 goals in 24 games this season, along with five assists.
Those returns are far from underwhelming but Conte was forced to defend his forward at his pre-match news conference after being pressed on Son's fitness levels and performances.
"For me, Sonny is an important player that can change a result at the end of a game." Conte told reporters. "It can happen that a player's form goes from the best to a period that is not so well.
"I repeat, because we are talking about a player that plays in every game. He is playing well, it doesn't depend on if a player scores a goal or not, the performance is the total game.
"Sonny is a player that in my mind fits my ideas, and also with the commitment he shows, he has to start and I don't ever have any idea to drop him – it doesn't happen, I'm not crazy to do something like this."
Conte will be hoping his star duo Harry Kane and Son can combine to down Graham Potter's Brighton in Wednesday's Premier League contest.
The pair have linked up a Premier League record 37 times since Son arrived from Bayer Leverkusen in August 2015, with 20 of those combinations coming on the road in the English top flight.
Whether Son can get in on the act once more at Brighton remains to be seen, but Kane could become the Premier League's all-time leading scorer in away games with a strike at the Amex Stadium – currently sitting on 94 goals in 138 outings.
New England Revolution 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi at the double as Herons run riot
Lionel Messi scored twice and laid on a goal for Luis Suarez as Inter Miami retained their three-point lead at the Eastern Conference summit with a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution.
A franchise-record crowd of 65,612 people witnessed a flying start from the Revs as they took the lead within just 37 seconds at Gillette Stadium. Carles Gil pounced on some sloppy play from Miami to tee up Tomas Chancalay, who lobbed Drake Callender for the opener.
However, Miami roared back with Messi leading from the front. They had a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark, Messi slotting home after latching onto Robert Taylor's throughball.
Messi had his second after 67 minutes, producing another composed finish after former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets split the New England backline.
Messi was involved in another two goals as Miami added some gloss to the scoreline late on; his first-time shot was saved by Henrich Ravas but Benjamin Cremaschi was on hand to score on the rebound after 83 minutes, then the Argentine teed up Suarez for a curled finish five minutes later.
Miami stay three points clear of Supporters' Shield holders FC Cincinnati at the top of the East, with the Orange and Blue keeping pace by beating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Messi rolls back the years
Ahead of Saturday's game, some feared Miami boss Gerardo Martino would opt to rest Messi after speaking of the risks of fielding the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner on New England's artificial pitch.
However, Messi came through 90 minutes with another mesmerising performance. He has now recorded a goal involvement in 10 straight club matches for the seventh time in his glittering career, last doing so for Barcelona between September and December in 2018.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
‘Too many draws have cost us’ – De Zerbi
Roberto De Zerbi has highlighted too many draws as Brighton’s problem this season while looking ahead to their trip to Bournemouth on Sunday.
The Seagulls suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to title-hopefuls Manchester City on Thursday, extending their winless run to five games.
Despite sitting in 12th, Brighton still have an outside chance of getting a European place next season, though they would have to win all five of their remaining matches against teams above them in the table.
Asked how his side will approach a tough fixture list at the end of the season, De Zerbi said: “It’s not a good thing we’re playing teams above us. We should be better. Chelsea and Bournemouth are very close with us, and we have the chance to win the game and fight to reach the highest position we can.
“We’ve had too many draws. For sure we can lose 11 games in this moment, but we could win more games. Sometimes I think what I could do better to win more games, but it’s tough because we drew a lot, shooting a lot of times on goal without scoring, especially at home.”
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