Antonio’s preview and team news ahead of AS Roma clash

Antonio Conte sees similarities between ourselves and Roma as we face off with the Italians in our final pre-season match on Saturday.

We take on Jose Mourinho’s men in the I-Tech Cup at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa on Saturday (7.15pm UK) - available exclusively on SPURSPLAY.

It’s our fourth summer encounter after beating Team K League (6-3) and drawing against Sevilla (1-1) in Korea, followed by last weekend’s impressive 2-1 win against Rangers at Ibrox.

The big kick-off is just over a week away as we count down to the return of the Premier League and our opener against Southampton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday week, 6 August (3pm).

Roma finished sixth in Italy last term, won the UEFA Europa Conference League - their first major trophy since the Coppa Italia in 2008 - and have completed one of the signings of the summer, striker Paulo Dybala on a free transfer from Juventus, where he won Serie A five times and scored 115 goals in 293 appearances, 2015-2022.

“It’s a pleasure to play a game against an important team like Roma,” said Antonio at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning. “We’re all looking forward to a very good game.

“I’m seeing a similar situation between Roma and Tottenham, because both clubs want to build step by step to fight against teams in Italy like Juventus, Inter and Milan and, for us, City, Liverpool, Chelsea, United, I think we can have a good comparison because we have the same target.”

In terms of team news, it’s good news... Ben Davies is back in the squad after missing last week’s trip to Glasgow having picked up a slight ankle injury late in our second pre-season match against Sevilla in Suwon.