Tottenham full 20-man squad for Arsenal revealed amid Ivan Perisic replacement dilemma
As Spurs prepare for the North London Derby, they’ve lost one of their key players to the Socceroos, leaving them without a key player for the game against Arsenal. This raises the question of who will be in the final squad.
Spurs take on fierce North London rivals Arsenal in what promises to be a thrilling derby on Sunday, with the hosts looking to avenge their first league victory at the Emirates in 12 years.
Like Arsenal, Spurs have been unbeaten so far this season, with 13 points to their name, and it’s been their free-flowing style of football that’s caught the attention of many.
Last year’s meeting between the two sides was a one-sided affair, with Arteta’s men almost completely dominating, but this season promises to be a more evenly matched affair.
“If I didn’t think we could be successful, I wouldn’t be playing this kind of football,” said Australian manager Ange Postecoglou, “but there’s no other reason why we play this kind of football.”
“From my perspective, I have often said I don’t set up my teams to play football that is nice to watch. I set up my team to play football that will win. You have to believe in that against all oppositions, in all kinds of circumstances.
“There are always tweaks that happen because the opposition will force you to adjust certain parts of your game, but the underlying principles of the kind of team we want to be, no I will not shy away from it now because we’re facing a good team. We have to go out there and challenge ourselves to play the football we have so far against one of the teams that will be challenging for the title.”
The head coach will be assured of a near-perfect availability for the match. Spurs have not been significantly affected by injury this season, as opposed to some of their opponents, and this is largely due to the team’s physical condition and the pre-season preparation that has been put in place under the leadership of coach Bert Van Marwijk.
The long-term problems of Spurs were largely a result of issues that had already been present prior to Van Marwijk’s appointment, and since then, there has been a great deal of positive news regarding the return of players, with Rodrigo Bentancur nearing a return to training with the team after a one-month absence and Bryan Gil, Ryan Sessegenon and others also progressing towards a return.
“In terms of the longer term ones, we’ve still got two or three weeks away Bryan Gil, Lo Celso, Bentancur, those kind of guys,” Postecoglou said. “Hopefully over the next few weeks they will slowly get involved in training.”
Perisic will be out for the rest of the season after sustaining a serious ACL injury in non-contact training. The Croatian has scored in each of his five league starts this season, and his consistency and reliability are highly valued within the squad. Replacing him, with his experience, is proving to be a difficult task, and there is no clear answer as to who will replace him.
Ashley Phillips could replace Perisic at centre-back, but he is more of a wing-back and not a full-back. The closest profile to him is Sessegnon, but he is unavailable. Brennan Johnson is likely to be in the squad, but he will have a more prominent role now, and Jude Soomesup-Bell may be able to step into the breach as an attacking option off the bench. Alejo Veliz has not yet been sharp enough to start, but he will be available soon. The rest is picking themselves up, and it is unlikely that wholesale changes will be made.
Goalkeepers: Guglielmo Vicario, Fraser Forster
Defenders: Pedro Porro, Micky van der Ven, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Emerson Royal, Ashley Phillips
Midfielders: Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Pape Matar Sarr, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp
Attackers: Richarlison, Son Heung-Min, Manor Solomon, Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson
