Tottenham in 10-player injury crisis ahead of Leicester City clash
Tottenham’s crisis in fitness and form should give Leicester City hope they can end their losing run in North London this weekend.
While City have lost seven in a row in the Premier League, Spurs haven’t fared much better. They’ve taken just one point from their past six league outings, a run that has seen them fall to 15th in the table.
Their latest fixture saw them lose 3-2 at struggling Everton, a result that increases the pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou. It was also a match in which more Spurs players were ruled out with injury.
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With Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and Yves Bissouma all added to the list of unavailable players prior to kick-off at Goodison Park, Spurs had 10 first-team players absent. It’s possible that only a couple will return in time to face City.
Bissouma does look set to be back, while fellow midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur could also return. He’s been following a concussion protocol after receiving medical attention during Spurs’ Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool, and two-week rest period will be up by the time City travel to North London.
Centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven could be pushing to return, with both originally slated for late January comebacks. But Solanke and Johnson will be out again, joining Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert on the sidelines.
“It's a pretty extreme situation, we've lost three players, significant players, since the last game and we've already got seven or eight out,” Postecoglou said after the loss to Everton on Sunday. “Obviously we lost Dom really late yesterday in training, something innocuous.
“It's just the run we're on at the moment, the situation we're in. At some point that will change, we'll get some players back, but right now it's just the situation we're dealt and the responsibility lies squarely with me to try to get us out of it.
“It was just one of these things, he (Solanke) just went to shoot on his own and twisted it. So we don't think it's serious, but it’s probably a few weeks at this stage, from what I've heard.
“(For Johnson), it's probably three or four weeks, he did it in the second half against Arsenal the other night. Biss was a knock, we're hoping that he should be right by next weekend.”
Before they face City, Spurs also have another game to come through. They travel to German side Hoffenheim on Thursday night for their penultimate Europa League group fixture.
Spurs currently sit ninth in the 36-team table, with the top eight heading straight through to the knockout stages, and those in ninth to 24th first facing a play-off. A win at Hoffenheim would guarantee that Spurs at least finish in the top 24.
