Next Sunday’s NLD is one of the most eagerly anticipated derbies of recent times, with the Lilywhites desperate to put a dint in there rivals title hopes. Spurs head into the game 11 points behind Mikel Arteta’s men and will likely need a full strength team, if they are to go toe-to-toe with arguably the best team in the league this season.
Spurs are of course suffering from a mini-injury crisis at current with Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma and Richarlison all currently on the treatment table. This injury list has left Spurs fans worried at the fact they may have to go into the NLD with some of there best players missing.
Thankfully though, Alasdair Gold from Football London has provided us Spurs fans with some good news ahead of the game.
The report states that Dejan Kulusevski is the player most likely to return, having missed the last two games with a muscle injury. Antonio Conte will be over the moon with this news, as Spurs often struggle when the Swede is not in the side (read here).
Some more good news, is that Spurs stalwart Rodrigo Bentancur is also expected to return having not played since the World Cup, but it is not known whether he will be fit enough to start.
Bentancur is not the only Spurs midfielder fighting to be be fit for NLD, with Yves Bissouma dealing with injury problems of his own . The Malian was set to start alongside Pape Matar Sarr in midfield yesterday but had to replaced right before kick-off, due to the midfielder suffering from an ankle problem in the warm up.
Bissouma, who was replaced by Oliver Skipp, had reportedly been carrying the ankle injury from the Aston Villa game and soon realised in the warm-up he was not fit enough to play. The 26-year-old will now face a race against time to be ready for next Sunday’s NLD.
Cristian Stellini on Bissouma’s injury (via Football London):
“Yves had an ankle problem, in the last two or three days he wasn’t good, but he tried to push himself to play,” explained Stellini. “It’s important for the players to tell us if they are not ready to play a tough game like this, and Bissouma said to us ‘I’m not 100 per cent, it’s better to play to Skippy and Pape together’.”
The last player on Tottenham’s injury list is Richarlison. The forward has been struggling with a hamstring injury which he suffered in Brazil’s World Cup quarter final loss to Croatia (read here). Football London understands that the Brazlian is likely not going to be fully fit for the game, stating that if he was to return it would be ‘ahead of schedule’.
Have your say on Tottenham’s injury woes by visiting the VitalSpurs fan forum here