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Football is back after the international break, which is always good news because it gives fans like us something to talk about. With Watford coming to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, hopefully it will be GOOD things to talk about.
Spurs got an injury boost earlier this week when it was revealed that Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon had both returned to full training after recovering from their respective injuries. That was the good news. The bad news was that neither were expected to feature against the HornetMoose as neither of them are match fit.
Well, team news is out today, and it’s pretty much who you’d expect... plus Christian Eriksen who is a doubt and will be assessed.
Spurs injury news: Christian Eriksen (leg) suffered a dead leg on international duty and is being assessed. Hugo Lloris (elbow) continues to be monitored and assessed. Giovani Lo Celso (hip) & Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) have both returned to full training.
— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) October 17, 2019
Eriksen was subbed off at halftime of Denmark’s 4-0 win over Luxembourg after picking up a knock and now it appears he may not be in line to play at all for Spurs this weekend. Regardless of his level of play or his commitment to the squad, he’s still one of Spurs’ best players and it would be better to have him than not to have him.
Another name we should add to the list is probably Son Heung-Min. Sonny played in two international games, including a wild scoreless draw against North Korea in an empty Kim Il-Sung Stadium that was the first competitive match between the two Koreas in 30 years. It means a lot of travel for Sonny as he had to fly home to London through Beijing as there are no direct flights out of Pyongyang. It’s possible that Pochettino could rest him for that reason, especially with Red Star Belgrade coming to London on Tuesday. That could mean Lucas Moura slots in as his replacement.
And it sounds like it could be a while before we see Lo Celso and Sessegnon, too. Speaking to reporters, Mauricio Pochettino said that the two players are miles behind where he’d like them to be.
#thfc Poch on GLC and Sess, who are back in training: "They're far away from the level they need to be involved. There's a lot of players ahead of them."
— Dan Kilpatrick (@Dan_KP) October 17, 2019
That certainly makes sense considering neither have really had an offseason or any time to integrate with the existing squad, but it’s disappointing that we may not see them play any kind of key role for the team for a while yet.