Why Richarlison missed Tottenham vs Burnley amid injury claim and Brazil squad decision

Richarlison has missed out on Tottenham Hotspur's penultimate home match of the Premier League season against Burnley due to a calf injury.

The forward has suffered from small fitness issues throughout the current campaign, most recently missing back-to-back fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. He returned afterwards, and last weekend recorded a goal and assist in the 4-2 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Those contributions came in a 30-minute substitute cameo so Richarlison would have no doubt been hoping to work his way into Ange Postecoglou's starting line-up, however the boss has been forced to stick with a forward line of Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-Min for the visit of Burnley.

"Yeah, he [Richarlison] picked up, in the last action of training yesterday, a calf injury and we're not too sure," the boss quickly explained prior to kick-off. "He's gone for a scan so we'll wait and see what the outcome is, but not available for today."

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Spurs are hoping to bring a four-game losing streak to an end in North London with a lot at stake for both teams involved. On the one hand they must win to remain in the hunt for Champions League qualification, whilst Burnley must do the same in order to keep their hopes of survival alive.

Somewhat surprisingly, Richarlison had also been left out of Brazil's provisional squad for next month's Copa America tournament. As a striker he has been dependable for his nation, scoring 20 goals in 48 caps, but new coach Dorival Jr has favoured other talent at European clubs such as Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Gabriel Martinelli, plus Palmeiras' teenage sensation Endrick.