Tottenham Hotspur fans can expect to see one of their newest stars fit and firing – potentially even starting – when they welcome rivals Arsenal to N17 next Sunday.
Tottenham vs Arsenal – team news
Ange Postecoglou and Spurs fans will be watching the dreaded international break from behind the sofa in the hope all their stars return free of injury, with a host of Lilywhites jetting off around the globe just three weeks into the new season.
All eyes will of course be firmly on the north London derby when domestic action returns, in what is no doubt the biggest fixture of the weekend and Premier League season thus far, with Ange looking to bounce back from his frustration at the wasted chances in the defeat at Newcastle before the break.
“It’s another sore one unfortunately, where we haven’t got the rewards for our play. But it’s three strong performances from our first three games. The results don’t reflect that,” the Aussie said on the 2-1 defeat on Tyneside.
“The positives are that our football is good and has been in the past three games. We just need to get our rewards. If we continue to play like that, I know we will get them.”
And he’ll hope to capitalise on an injury-hit Arsenal squad to get those rewards, with the Gunners set to be missing Declan Rice through suspension and several players through injury. New signing Mikel Merino faces weeks on the sidelines with shoulder damage, while the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu are also likely to miss out.
On the Spurs side, the boss can boast a mostly full bill of health outside of Richarlison, and Alasdair Gold has revealed in his latest fan Q&A that there is a big boost on the way as well.
Van de Ven and Solanke set to return from injury
After both Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke missed the clash with Newcastle due to injury, Gold expects both to be fit to take part against the Gunners, with Solanke’s return to action a particularly big boost given the wastefulness on display at St James’ Park.
“We can only go on Ange Postecoglou’s words and he said Dominic Solanke will be ready to face Arsenal. He said last Friday that he was close for Newcastle but they wanted to ‘err on the side of caution’ and had previously dispelled any suggestion he would miss the North London Derby,” Gold told Football.London.
“It sounded the same with Micky van de Ven as he said he was ‘close in training this week but with the international break he’s not quite 100%’. With a further two weeks of recovery and work under their belts you would imagine both will be in a position to face Arsenal, but we’ll get the final word on Postecoglou on Friday.”
Spurs fans have barely got to see their new goalscorer in action since his £65m move from Bournemouth in the summer, but he looked sharp in his debut at Leicester, firing three shots at goal, completing three dribbles and creating one chance.
If the Lilywhites are going to punish an Arsenal side who haven’t quite got off to the rip-roaring start many in the media predicted this summer, then having Solanke – labelled a “phenomenon” by none other than Ian Wright – leading the line and taking some of the goalscoring burden off Son Heung-min will be a massive help.
