Alderweireld Might Be Doubtful for Tottenham’s Next Two Matches
Tottenham have been fortunate to not suffer long-term injuries this season, but Toby Alderweireld’s knee injury could potentially approach that mark if he continues to be sidelined.
Three days ago, Mauricio Pochettino spoke of Toby Alderweireld’s availability prior to their match against Leicester City and said that he would still be out.
Though, the Argentine manager hoped that he would be back in time for the return leg against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday in the Champions League. If not, then maybe on November 6th against Arsenal.
Worse case scenario, the Belgian center-back would be fit once the team returns from the international break. And according to Matt Law of The Telegraph it seems Tottenham will indeed have that worse case scenario come true at this current pace.
Alderweireld, per Law, suffered nerve damage to his knee on October 15 against West Bromwich Albion. This may not have been damaged knee ligaments, but the recovery time has been slower than initially expected.
The expectation back then, once it was diagnosed as a “bruised knee” was that Toby Alderweireld would be out for two weeks, missing only a handful of games.
After 16 days on the sidelines there’s reason to be concerned right about now.
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With the Champions League coming back on November 2nd for Spurs, tomorrow is the final day to see if Toby Alderweireld will be fit in time to play. Let alone start in the starting XI or come off of the bench.
Because the 27-year-old has yet to train at all last week — because of nerve damage — it’s to be expected that Spurs will continue to play without Alderweireld for at least one more game.
Should he not be fit in time for the North London derby, then resting through the international break is best for both Tottenham and Alderweireld.
By then, once he returns, Alerweireld will have been injured for more than a month with the first match back from international duty being against West Ham United on November 19.
Defensively, Spurs have not looked bad at all. Even if they did lose their best center-back in mid-October. With Eric Dier playing in the Belgian’s absence, what started out as a shaky partnership alongside Jan Vertonghen has gotten better as the season wears on.
Through three Premier League matches, the pair have only conceded one goal.
While having Toby Alderweireld back as soon as possible would be ideal — not only for his defense, but also his contributions on offense — Dier doing well gives Mauricio Pochettino the logical choice of slowly getting the Belgian defender back to 100 percent.
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The only real issue with Alderweireld’s absence, besides the obvious reason of losing their best center-back, is that Spurs’ depth at central defense is thin.
Cameron Carter-Vickers is a bright prospect but is only 18-years-old. He’s only had two starts this year, both in the League Cup. As for Kevin Wimmer, he played well last year but has dropped down in Pochettino’s depth chart. He too, has only played twice (both starts) in the League Cup.
Should Dier or Jan Vertonghen suffer an injury before Alderweireld returns, Tottenham’s defense will be put in a tough situation.