Tottenham Hotspur have been hit by several injuries in recent months, and things aren’t calming down.
The club confirmed on Thursday that Jam Vertonghen could make a speedy return to action against Chelsea this Saturday (Watch live, 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC and online via NBCSports.com), but Danny Rose remains out, Kieran Trippier will be out for another few weeks and Davinson Sanchez is out until the end of the year.
Add in Mousa Dembele getting treatment on his ankle injury in Qatar, and that means Spurs will be without at least four starters this weekend.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have no doubt been impacted by players from England, Belgium and France all reaching the final week of the 2018 World Cup.
Out of the 11 Spurs players who went to the World Cup, only Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld and Heung-min Son haven’t gone down with an injury so far this season.
Juan Foyth, Serge Aurier, Kyle Walker-Peters and Ben Davies will help out Alderweireld and Vertonghen at the back, and it will be intriguing to see if Pochettino lines them up with three or four in defense.
Tottenham have had a fine start to the season and although they’ve yet to hit top form they are only 5 points off the top of the table. Keeping players fit will be Spurs’ biggest challenge this season, especially after not adding a single player in the transfer window over the summer.