Tottenham Injury News: Davies and Alli Out

Whatever buoyancy Tottenham might have felt following their surprising 1-1 draw in the North London Derby on Sunday might be weighed down by news of two fresh injuries.

Ben Davies was removed from the 1-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen last week with ankle knock. Reports released on Wednesday now suggest that the Wales international will likely miss Tottenham’s remaining November fixtures.

Over the weekend Mauricio Pochettino revealed that 20-year-old midfielder Dele Alli was held out of the clash against Arsenal due to soreness in his knee. That injury, like Davies’, is expected to sideline the reigning PFA Young Player of the Year through the end of the month.

These two injuries might at first seem merely nuisances for Spurs. Davies, after all, is the back-up left-back behind Danny Rose. Alli, for all his accomplishments last season, looked only a shadow of his former self so far this season. His absence from Sunday’s crucial match was hardly felt, and it might have even improved Tottenham’s chances on the day if we’re being entirely honest.

Those read like — and are — small solace however. The fact is that, even if Davies is a back-up option to Rose, his rotation into the squad is fairly crucial to the way Pochettino wants this team to play. A lot is asked of the full-backs in any given match, both this season and last, and to be reduced to only one option at left-back will present two problems.

One, Rose is at serious risk of being over-worked. England duty this weekend will be followed by matches against West Ham, Monaco and Chelsea. That’s four or five matches that Rose will be obliged to start. For a player whose game relies so much on kinetic running up and down his touchline, he will seriously run the risk of being exhausted just ahead of the busy winter period.

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Two, to mitigate the risk of overworking Rose, Pochettino might be forced to re-align parts of Tottenham’s defense. The most obvious move here would be to shift Jan Vertonghen into the left-back role. Such a switch wouldn’t be unprecedented; the Belgian played there for a decent chunk of his first season with the club.

A move like that would naturally mean that Tottenham’s centre-back duo would once again be forced through an upheaval. Even if Toby Alderweireld is close to full fitness,  he would come back into the lineup likely paired with Eric Dier — a combination Tottenham have only briefly experimented with before.

As for Alli’s absence, that will have its own implications higher up the pitch for Tottenham. Moussa Sissoko’s return from suspension will help matters, as will Érik Lamela returning to full fitness.

Pochettino will smart some from being deprived the chance to rekindle the flame between Alli and Harry Kane however. The pair combined for more goals than any other pair in the Premier League last term, and Tottenham will reap the rewards once they begin to share substantial minutes together on the pitch once again.

All such worries are amplified by the fact that Tottenham need meaningful results in all three of these upcoming matches. London derbies against West Ham and Chelsea are always matters of pride, but with Tottenham’s run of draws dropping them farther and farther away from title contention they need points more than ever.

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The trip to Monaco is, if anything, even more fraught. Tottenham’s loss to Leverkusen dropped them to third in Champions League Group E, and should they fail to win either of these last two matches they might spend another spring in the Europa League.

Injuries are never welcome, but Tottenham have suffered some poorly timed loses so far this season. Davies and Alli might pale in comparison to Alderweireld and Kane, but they can still have heavy repercussions all the same.