Ange Postecoglou will have Richarlison to call upon for the first time since November when Tottenham travel to north London rivals Arsenal on Wednesday evening. Making his comeback on the training pitch at Hotspur Way recently after overcoming his hamstring injury, the Brazilian is now in a position to return to the matchday squad and has been "harassing" Postecoglou for the past 10 days to be involved again.

The 27-year-old's season to date has been extremely stop-start to say the least, with the attacker only managing seven appearances since the opening day of the campaign. After two separate injury issues already this term that has resulted in him missing 24 games in total, Spurs will be praying that Richarlison can finally get a sustained run of games under his belt at a time when the team are competing on four fronts.

Tottenham have dearly missed a Dominic Solanke alternative over the past couple of months and the summer signing has played a lot more than Postecoglou probably wanted him to in such a busy block of fixtures. Solanke couldn't even rest for the full match at National League side Tamworth on Sunday as he entered the fray on 69 minutes at a time when a cup upset looked a real possibility.

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Not only will Richarlison be able to provide cover for Solanke through the middle, he will also be a viable option down the left flank amid Son Heung-min's struggles this season. The Brazilian's last appearance for Tottenham was in fact as a left-winger in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa, with the assist he registered for Solanke's second of the game unfortunately resulting in him sustaining his long-term hamstring issue.

Now that he is back to fitness, Richarlison's return has come at exactly the right time with a North London Derby clash away at Arsenal on the agenda. As a player who likes fiery games, Tottenham's No.9 will be looking to make up for lost time and have a big impact on proceedings at the Emirates Stadium.

That's exactly what he did in his last appearance against Arsenal back in April 2024. Introduced from the bench for the final 26 minutes of the contest, Richarlison almost played his part in inspiring an unlikely comeback with Spurs initially trailing 3-0.

Pulling goals back through Cristian Romero and Son to give them some late hope, the Brazil international made life difficult for the Arsenal backline and proved to be a nuisance with his running, determination, physicality and never-say-die attitude. His fight for the cause could be seen from a moment involving international teammate Gabriel Magalhaes where he charged straight into the defender from kick-off and knocked him to the ground.

At a time when Tottenham need to get back on track in the Premier League as they cannot afford an 11th league defeat of the campaign, Richarlison could prove to be the ideal player to bring on in the second half as they look to earn the North London Derby bragging rights. In his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Postecoglou was asked by football.london about the importance of Richarlison's return given the player revels in fiery encounters.

"Just good to get him back, he has had obviously an unfortunate season for us," said the 59-year-old. "Last season he played, even this season when he played for us and did his hamstring [while providing an assist], it’s not just his fighting and scrapping, he has quality as well.

"Just having an extra attacking player – with him and Mikey available now – makes such a difference in what we can do during games, between games, in terms of the way we play. We have taken our time with him this time for sure.

"He has kind of been harassing me for the last 10 days to be involved but we have been disciplined with that and he has looked really good in training. He looks ready to go so really happy to get him back involved."

When it comes to Richarlison, the key is going to be to keep him fit following his injury woes ever since he made the move to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from Everton back in the summer of 2022. Somebody who can make a big impact in the final third and help ease the load on Solanke's shoulders, all connected with Spurs will be hoping that Richarlison's season finally gets up and running with a big moment in Wednesday's North London Derby at the Emirates Stadium.

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