Tottenham Hotspur will still be without a number of first-team players this Wednesday when they host Liverpool in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.
Constant and devastating injuries have been the theme of Tottenham’s grueling campaign so far and Ange Postecoglou’s options remain extremely limited ahead of Liverpool’s visit. The defense has been further decimated by fitness issues in recent months, but there are absentees across the squad.
Spurs desperately need to end their 17-year trophy drought this term and Wednesday serves as an excellent opportunity to set foot in the Carabao Cup final. However, they will need to overcome injuries and an excellent Liverpool team to make it to the main event.
Here are the Tottenham players missing from Wednesday’s duel with Liverpool.
Tottenham will have just one member of their first-choice full-back on Wednesday evening, with Pedro Porro the last man on the right-hand side. In another place, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven i Ben Davies all are absent in the center, while Destiny Udogie is out long-term after recently picking up a hamstring injury.
To make matters worse, Spurs are currently without their main goalkeeper. Guillem Vicari has been missing since the end of November and his replacement Fraser Forster he is also struggling with the disease. Third choice Brandon Austin made his debut in the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United at the weekend.
However, Spurs have signed a new goalkeeper in the first week of the January transfer window, signing Slavia Prague youngster Antonin Kinsky. He is available and fit to play against Liverpool.
Fortunately for Postecoglou, Tottenham have no injury problems in midfield, but he will be without James Maddison i Pope Matar Sarr on Wednesday evening. Both are serving one-match bans after picking up two yellow cards in previous rounds of the Carabao Cup.
In better news, Rodrigo Bentancur has returned from the Premier League suspension that saw him miss Saturday’s clash with the Magpies. He is likely to partner Yves Bissouma in the center of the park, while teenager Lucas Bergvall could earn more minutes after starting at the weekend.
Tottenham may be keen to bring in more attacking depth in January, but they have seen previous absentees Richarlison return to training recently. The Brazilian is yet to start in the Premier League this season due to fitness issues and will be missing on Wednesday as he is yet to fully recover from a hamstring problem.
The same injury has sidelined the summer signing Wilson Odobert since October and the former Burnley striker will be missing for Liverpool’s visit. However, young Mikey Moore could feature in the squad having been missing since early November due to illness.
|
player |
status |
|---|---|
|
Guillem Vicari |
outside |
|
Fraser Forster |
Doubt |
|
Micky van de Ven |
outside |
|
Cristian Romero |
outside |
|
Ben Davies |
outside |
|
Destiny Udogie |
outside |
|
James Maddison |
suspended |
|
Pope Matar Sarr |
suspended |
|
Richarlison |
outside |
|
Wilson Odobert |
outside |
|
Mikey Moore |
Doubt |
