How short-handed will Tottenham Hotspur be Saturday at Palace?

Tottenham Hotspur knew they would be short-handed coming back from the international break, now injuries have presented a whole new challenge.

With the fiasco that is CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying, Tottenham Hotspur knew they would start the return from the international break down a few players. However, a number of new injuries picked up during the international action may force Nuno Espirito Santo’s hand in terms of who he uses where. So who is out and who might be out for Tottenham?

South Americans were always going to miss time

Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Romero, and Davinson Sanchez are all now in Croatia. The three men are working to run down the clock on Covid restrictions and simultaneously keeping up their fitness to ideally re-integrate into the squad as soon as possible, with the run Tottenham is facing.

There have been some reports from The Athletic that the club is going to levy a fine on the players for going but no official source was quoted. With the World Cup coming this is going to be a problem all season and everyone is going to have to figure out how to deal with it best.

Tottenham is a bit short at center-back

With both Romero and Sanchez out and Cameron Carter-Vickers now out on loan at Celtic, it means Japhet Tanganga is going to have to shift into center-half or we might finally see Joe Rodon. The extent of his injury was never made clear but Rodon has only played 17 minutes since going 90 for Wales in their 0-4 loss to Denmark in Euro 2020.

As we get closer to the game we will get a better sense of how available Rodon is, which is important because we know Sanchez and Romero are out at a minimum through the Conference League game next Thursday.

We knew going in that the Spurs were going to be short-handed at center-half, however, as the international break has continued, Tottenham players have come up a bit worse for wear.