Tottenham Hotspur are facing the prospect of hosting Chelsea this weekend in the Premier League with a rather thinned-out squad.
Spurs welcome the Champions League holders on Sunday, well aware their starting XI might not be at its strongest.
Nuno Espirito Santo is sweating on the fitness and availability of several first-teamers, a handful of which would have featured against Chelsea in different circumstances.
His biggest loss could be that of Heung-min Son.
The South Korean suffered a calf strain during the international break.
He was not present for the 3-0 Crystal Palace defeat, nor will the forward face Rennes in the Europa Conference League fixture tonight.
Santo said in his press conference yesterday that it was premature to make a call on Son’s fitness for the Chelsea clash.
Son goes down, as does Dier
Eric Dier is another who is in a race with the clock to be fit enough for the London derby.
Dier sustained a dead leg in the Palace loss and, like Son, will not be part of the European matchday set-up this evening.
Both Spurs stars had made excellent starts to the season before their wounds, with the English defender earning a nomination for August’s Player of the Month.
Other absentees possibly on Santo’s plate are the trio of South American adventurers, who are currently training in Croatia.
Giovanni Lo Celso, Cristian Romero and Davinson Sanchez all went away with their respective countries last week, to Tottenham’s disgruntlement.
In order to avoid quarantining upon their return to England, the trio stopped off in Croatia to maintain fitness and work on the manager’s tactics.
Yet, the three won’t land in the capital until Saturday, giving them probably less than 24 hours to prepare with the group before facing Chelsea.
One man who is definitely going to miss out is Japhet Tanganga.
He received a red card against Palace.
Tanganga, Dier and Sanchez’s potential absence would leave Spurs very light in defence.
Romelu Lukaku’s ears have suddenly perked up.
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