Tottenham Hotspur’s courageous defeat in Sunday’s North London Derby has made a huge impact on the Premier League, in more ways than one. Not only are Spurs now struggling behind London rivals Aston Villa in the race for top four; Arsenal are now in top spot on the Premier League ladder, with renewed impetus in the title race with Manchester City following the Gunners’ win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
But wait, there’s more!
In today’s press conference ahead of another London Derby on Thursday (this time against Chelsea), Ange Postecoglou announced both Ben Davies and Timo Werner picked up injuries against Arsenal that will likely rule them out of the squad for the rest of the season. Great.
Werner’s injury wasn’t too much of a surprise, with the German winger hobbling off early in the match with what has now been confirmed to be a hamstring injury; but the hope would have been that it was just a twinge, and the sub mostly precautionary. That unfortunately has not eventuated, with the strain severe enough to keep him out of the remaining league fixtures. Werner has been mostly very good with Spurs, so losing him as an option out wide does hurt, but with Richarlison coming back into fitness there are some decent replacement options available for Postecoglou.
Not so for Ben Davies.
It wasn’t clear when the Welshman came from the field of play in the derby that he was also struggling for fitness; but Ange has now confirmed that Davies injured his calf, also ruling him out for the rest of the season – and that poses a problem for Spurs. The squad’s other left back options, Destiny Udogie and Ryan Sessegnon, are also both out for the season, providing Postecoglou with a bit of a selection conundrum at the position. It’s possible Mickey van de Ven shifts over, with January signing Radu Dragusin coming into the side, but it’s more probable that right back Emerson Royal gets another chance in the starting XI.
This is a big blow in the final weeks of the season; Tottenham really did not need any further setbacks as they look to secure European football, and on the eve of a tough away match at Stamford Bridge an injury crisis is the last thing Ange Postecoglou will want to be dealing with. Here’s hoping both recover well, and can be back to full fitness in time for preseason football (provided they both stick around!).