Richarlison has dropped a hint ahead of the North London derby over who may be starting for Tottenham in a major boost for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Spurs take on Arsenal on Sunday afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and much has been made of the Gunners’ selection concerns.
Declan Rice’s suspension and injuries to Martin Odegaard and new signing Mikel Merino have left them light in midfield, though Tottenham have injury problems of their own, with doubts over the fitness of Yves Bissouma, Richarlison and Dominic Solanke.
Solanke – signed for £65m from Bournemouth in the summer – has missed the last two games with an ankle injury that also meant he wasn’t considered for Lee Carsley’s first England squad.
Postecoglou was hopeful their marquee signing may feature in the North London Derby in his pre-match press conference, saying: “It’s fairly positive [news]. Micky [van de Ven]’s good, he’s trained all the way through the international break and it was good for him to stay with us to build him back up so he’s ready to go.
“[Dominic Solanke] improved as well and trained the back half of this week. We still have two days to go with those guys so hopefully they get through training ok and are available.
We had the last of the boys in late yesterday so we’ll have a look at them today and everyone’s reporting all well except for [Yves Bissouma]. He’s got a bit of an issue, but we’ll have a look at him over the next couple of days and see how it settles.
“[Richarlison]’s still got a bit of work to do, alongside Will Lankshear who is still in rehab.”
Solanke took to Instagram on Saturday, his birthday, to post a thank you message to well-wishers: ‘Thank you Lord for another year. Thank you all for the love and messages.’
Richarlison commented on the post, indicating that Solanke had come through that training session and is in line to play his part on Sunday. The Brazilian wrote: ‘Sonny [Son Heung-min) will give you a gift tomorrow bro.’
Postecoglou warned his players ahead of the game of falling into the “trap” of thinking the absences of Rice and Odegaard have handed Spurs a significant advantage.
“God, that’s a hell of a trap to fall into, if you think they [Arsenal] are reliant on two players,” Postecoglou said.
“Two important players, but we were missing key players last year as well and we still managed to give significant performances
A team like Arsenal have been very, very consistent over the last two years and can fill whatever gaps they have. They have quality in their squad. The key for us is to focus on our performance.
When we’ve played well, and we certainly have played well in the first three games, if we are] a little more clear-headed in both boxes, we’re a match for any team. That’s what we’ve got to think about at the weekend.
If we go in there thinking they’re somehow weakened, we’re going to get punished.
“If we go into it thinking they’re going to be very strong, which I think they will be, then we’ve got to be at our best. We know, at our best and playing the football that we can, we can match them.”
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