Ange Postecoglou has admitted that Giovani Lo Celso and Ben Davies will miss this weekend’s Premier League away game at Manchester United. The duo were considered fringe players at the start of the season but have become very valuable to Postecoglou after the injury crisis that decimated the team.
Davies has not missed a minute of league action since the 2-1 defeat to Wolves, when Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie all missed out through injury and suspension.
Maddison is still absent due to an ankle problem he suffered against Chelsea in November, while Van de Ven returned to the squad for the FA Cup game against Burnley last Friday. Given the state of play, the Netherlands international remains an unused substitute, but with another full week of squad training under his belt, a start at Old Trafford is likely, especially given Postecoglou’s update on Davies.
“Ben Davies pulled out of the last game with a thigh muscle problem. He is probably looking at about a month out,” the Spurs boss revealed when asked for an update on the team on Friday. Meanwhile, Romero is determined to return this weekend after injuring his thigh muscle over the festive period when he returned to training this week.
Tottenham signed Genoa defender Radu Dragusin ahead of Bayern Munich this week, but the new signing’s appearance this Sunday seems unlikely as Postecoglou also clarified Dragusin’s availability due to work permit concerns. On Romero, he said: ‘He has just started training, so it’s fair to say that he might be a bit quick this weekend.
“From what I’ve been told, and it’s not my area, but from what I’ve been told, we’re pretty confident he’ll be available for Sunday.” In addition to Maddison’s injury, teammates Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are also unavailable, while club captain Son Heung-min is also out due to international duty.
With Rodrigo Bentancur yet to return, Lo Celso has had to play a lot of minutes in recent weeks and now it seems to have caught up with him. “Gio Lo Celso is similar [to Davies’ injury] – although it’s harder to diagnose where he is at the moment,” Postecoglou said of his fitness, after previously revealing that he felt some tightness in his thigh last week. “We will send him for further tests on Monday to find out exactly what the problem is. He will miss this weekend.”
Postecoglou later confirmed that Dane Scarlett will also miss the match, also due to a hamstring problem, and his name was added to the injured list, which already includes Ivan Perisic and Alejo Veliz. Manor Solomon is another who is close to a return, while new signing Timo Werner seems to be taking a long time to harden in the squad.