Mousa Dembele a doubt for Tottenham in North London Derby

North London Derby team news is out and there’s a little bit of trepidation in the Tottenham Hotspur camp. Spurs released information about their injured players, and the biggest question mark is midfielder Mousa Dembele.

Tottenham stated in a release on the official club website that Dembele will be “assessed” prior to Sunday’s huge match against Arsenal, the last ever North London Derby at White Hart Lane. Moose had picked up a knock in the first half of Spurs’ 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, and was subbed off at halftime, along with Victor Wanyama.

If Moose isn’t ready to go, that presents a bit of a tactical quandary, as Joe Patrick noted earlier today. Dembele’s natural replacement in the side is Harry Winks, but Winksy is himself out for the season. Spurs could go in a couple of different direction if Dembele sits, either pushing Eric Dier into midfield beside Wanyama in a 4-2-3-1, or dropping Christian Eriksen into midfield and bringing in Son Heung-Min in a back-three formation. Obviously, the best solution is a Moose who’s healthy and raring to go against the Gooners.

Otherwise, the injury news is mostly as expected. Michel Vorm has returned to training and could be on the bench for the NLD. Danny Rose is training with the full team, but it’s slow going and he’s unlikely to feature on Sunday. Cameron Carter-Vickers picked up a knee injury on international duty and is likely done for the season. Harry Winks and Erik Lamela both had surgery and are done for the year.

Spurs aren’t the only team sweating on a player, though. Laurent Koscielny is a doubt for Arsenal after he injured his knee against Leicester City midweek, while Shkodran Mustafi and Santi Cazorla are also both out for the Derby.