Four out for Tottenham ahead of Bournemouth clash

Team news is out for Tottenham Hotspur’s weekend match against Bournemouth, and it’s good news, such as it is. Spurs continue to have four players who will miss the match against the Cherries, but Erik Lamela is very close to returning to training after missing the past few weeks with a hamstring injury.

Of all the injuries, the one that’s perhaps the most concerning is the left back situation. With Davies out, Danny Rose is the only senior natural left back at the club, and at this stage of his career Spurs can no longer count on him to start every match, especially when there are multiple games in the week.

Mourinho actually addressed this in his press conference which is going on as this article is being written, saying that he expects he’ll have cover between Jan Vertonghen and Serge Aurier.

The youth player is definitely interesting — Denis Cirkin is a player who youth watchers has tipped to have big potential, but it’d be pretty shocking to imply that he’d have any chance of actually making his first team debut. Instead, it’s more likely that we’ll see Jan Vertonghen wide left playing as a more defensive left back and paired with Aurier as the more offensively-minded of the fullbacks. That omits Ryan Sessegnon, but while Mourinho praised the young Englishman it seems he doesn’t think he’s quite ready for the defensive responsibilities at the fullback position.

Spurs have the opportunity to do something that’s been unheard of since the start of 2019 — win three consecutive matches in all competitions. The match kicks off Saturday at 10 a.m. ET / 3 p.m. BST at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.