Tottenham Hotspur hit by injuries to Harry Kane and Mousa Dembélé ahead of busy week
On Saturday week Arsenal are at White Hart Lane for the most important north London derby since the 1991 FA Cup semi-final
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Your support makes all the difference.Tottenham Hotspur will be without the injured Harry Kane and Mousa Dembélé for tonight’s Europa League last-32 second leg at home against Fiorentina, with Dembélé a serious doubt for the next three Premier League games.
The Belgian limped off at half-time against Crystal Palace on Sunday and manager Mauricio Pochettino said that the midfielder’s groin injury would rule him out for up to two weeks. As important as the Europa League is to Spurs, who drew the first leg 1-1 in Florence last week, the Premier League title race is their main focus.
Spurs host Swansea City on Sunday before travelling to face West Ham on Wednesday. On Saturday week Arsenal are at White Hart Lane for the most important north London derby since the 1991 FA Cup semi-final.
Dembélé is in the form of his Spurs career, and Pochettino admitted that the Belgian’s injury has come at an inconvenient time. “Maybe 10 days, maybe two weeks,” he said of Dembélé’s absence. “It is not a big issue. A small injury but in this period we have a lot of games ahead so it arrives in a bad moment.”
Kane’s broken nose is less serious. He will be back against Swansea, although either Son Heung-min or Nacer Chadli will play the No 9 role tonight. Kane has started 32 of Spurs’ 38 competitive games this season, and only Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld have played more. Erik Lamela will be back in the squad tonight after missing Sunday’s defeat to Crystal Palace with illness.
A 0-0 draw tonight would be enough to send Spurs through, but Pochettino said: “You have to try to score and win the game from the beginning, not play in your head with the result.”
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