Wanyama, Kane could feature for Tottenham vs. Swansea

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Victor Wanyama play for Tottenham Hotspur. Injured in preseason, he played eight minutes in Spurs’ season opening win over Newcastle and went the full 90 in a loss vs. Chelsea. He’s been out with a knee injury ever since.

Wanyama’s been in full training for a little while now, and Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has now confirmed that Victor is back in the frame to feature for Spurs in their first match of 2018 against Swansea at Wembley on Tuesday. In a video posted to Spurs’ twitter account, Pochettino mentioned that Toby Alderweireld is the only remaining injured player for Spurs. This implies that we can see Big Vic rotated back into the squad, possibly as soon as tomorrow’s game vs. the Swans.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Victor will START vs. Swansea — Pochettino usually takes his time bringing players back in to the fold, as evident by how he handled Lamela’s return — but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if he comes on as a second half substitute for someone like Mousa Dembele or Harry Winks. Having Wanyama back will give Spurs a lot more options in midfield, and will also ensure that they are more easily able to rotate without Dembele’s legs falling off.

The other thing we can imply from that video is that Kane is also probably recovered from his holiday illness. There was some thought that he could be rested vs. Swansea as he was sick with a virus, but Pochettino doesn’t mention him. There’s still that possibility (and if you have to miss a league match, the Swansea home match would be the one to miss), but I kind of suspect that the only way Kane misses a game due to illness is if he’s flat on his back with a respirator. My guess is he plays (and scores a hat trick).