Tottenham Hotspur will be without four players when they host Newcastle United at White Hart Lane on Sunday, December 13 at 4:oo PM (GMT).
Heading into Sunday’s afternoon clash at White Hart Lane, Tottenham Hotspur will be without four players, two of which are out indefinitely (Ryan Mason and Alex Pritchard). Although for Mousa Dembélé and Clinton N’Jie, it’s unclear how, or rather, when both of them got hurt. Possibly during training? Anyways here’s Tottenham’s official Twitter account sending out these two tweets from today.
RELATED: Predicting Spurs’ Lineup: Newcastle
.@ericdier is available for selection though after coming off against Monaco. Full story - https://t.co/2xbjezHzei pic.twitter.com/iVf0q4LQP3
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 12, 2015
In any case, Dembélé as everyone may recall didn’t play against AS Monaco due to a stomach bug which is understandable. But picking up a foot injury suddenly is not perfect timing for Tottenham. To lose that destroyer presence at central midfield will make tomorrow’s match that much more difficult to contain.
Obviously Eric Dier and Dele Alli are fine as the starting double pivot, but having Dembélé roaming the pitch whether he’s starting or coming off of the bench would have been helpful. Opposing teams have trouble dispossessing Mousa Dembélé away from the ball; even keeping the ball is hard for opponents when Dembélé’s around.
More from Hotspur HQ
- Storybook ending after difficult period for Tottenahm’s Richarlison
- Tottenham comeback showcased invaluable intangible Ange has cultivated
- Tottenham player ratings in 2-1 comeback win over Sheffield United
- Tottenham projected starting 11 for Sheffield United
- Tottenham’s Richarlison says he’s going to seek psychological help
It can’t be stated enough, how much Mousa Dembélé has meant to Tottenham this season after receiving a starting role earlier in the year. So here’s hoping that his foot injury isn’t serious at all.
As for Clinton N’Jie, suffering a knee injury is a setback for him, but the winger is coming along nicely — albeit slowly. The slow development is attributed to substitution appearances that typically last under 30 minutes, when given a chance. This isn’t a lost season by any means for N’Jie, just a transitional one.
Although on Thursday night, the Cameroon international showed a great work rate to help with the team’s high-pressing, had good touches and passes with teammates. N’Jie has plenty of potential and will eventually get that breakthrough performance sooner or later that he and supporters alike are looking forward to.
So now with two surprising injuries happening, who could fill out Dembélé and N’Jie’s spots at central midfield and wide midfield, respectively? Well there’s a few options. Nacer Chadli is available, not to mention Josh Onomah who continuously made runs down both flanks. Both Chadli and Onomah can help lessen the blow of losing Clinton N’Jie’s pace for a couple of games.
As for finding a replacement for Dembélé’s spot, it may be a bit harder to do but Nabil Bentaleb and Tom Carroll should do fine. Defensively, Dier would maintain his holding mid role while Bentaleb and Carroll can move higher up the pitch and help with passing. Something that both players did well on Thursday night.
Next: Tottenham Key Battles: Home vs Newcastle
Depending on how the starting eleven will line up against Newcastle tomorrow afternoon, it will be interesting to see the players who will fill out the substitutes bench. After Josh Onomah and Tom Carroll’s performances, there’s a good chance they get added to the 18-man matchday squad as well as Nacer Chadli.
If Mousa Dembélé, Ryan Mason and Clinton N’Jie are out with injuries for a while (Alex Pritchard is out indefinitely), then Tottenham’s depth will be tested once again for the rest of December with four more fixtures needing to be played. There’s a real good chance that Tottenham could claim maximum points and get all 12, but it may be a bit difficult now with Dembélé and N’Jie’s latest injury setbacks.