Tottenham have another injury victim on their hands. Giovani Lo Celso (27), who was already filling in for James Maddison, who is out long-term with an injury. This could mean that Heung-min Son (31) and Rosselso, who will miss the Asian Cup in January, will not share the field for around two months.
Tottenham will host Nottingham Forest in the 17th round of the 2023-2024 English Premier League (EPL) season at the Nottingham City Ground in England on April 16 at 5:00 a.m. (ET). Midfielder Lo Celso will not be available for the match.
On Thursday, Tottenham announced on the club’s website that “Lo Celso will miss the trip to Nottingham. Head coach Enzi Postecoglou has confirmed”.
Currently, Tottenham are in 5th place with 9 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses (30 points) and Nottingham are in 16th place with 3 wins, 5 draws and 8 losses (14 points). Ahead of a must-win match to move up the table, Spurs have lost key players.
Recently, Spurs have escaped a torturous five-match winless streak (one draw and four losses) and tasted victory for the first time in six games. They defeated Newcastle 4-1 on November 11th. At a time when they needed to keep this momentum going, their squad was thinning. It also puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of leading scorer Son Heung-min.
“Lo Celso has been in excellent form for Tottenham over the past month, scoring several goals, but he picked up a problem in training and will not be available for the game against Nottingham. However, Postecoglou believes his injury is not serious. There is hope that he will return to training soon.”
Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Friday against Nottingham, Postecoglou said: “We still have quite a few injuries. We have eight players who are undergoing treatment. Unfortunately, we also have Lo Celso. He will miss this week and hopefully it’s not too bad.”
Lo Celso has been given regular opportunities since Maddison injured his ankle against Chelsea last month. His sharp kicks and movement have added attacking firepower to the Tottenham midfield, and he even found the back of the net against Aston Villa and Manchester City. Postecoglou has also praised Lo Celso, saying he is doing his part and is a creative player.
Maddison won’t be back until mid-January at the earliest. Until then, Lo Celso’s role as Tottenham’s new playmaker has been crucial, but with his injury setback, Spurs will need to find a replacement.
Fortunately, it’s not a serious injury. “It’s a minor injury that happened in training,” said Postecoglou. It’s nothing major. We have one less player than last week, but the rest of the squad is fine.” For now, it’s likely that Dejan Kulusebski will play in attacking midfield in place of Lo Celso against Nottingham.
Tottenham have been plagued by injuries to key players this season. Rodrigo Bentancur went down again on his return after nearly eight months on the sidelines, while Maddison, Manor Solomon, Micky van der Vaart, Ivan Perisic, Ryan Sessegnon and Ashley Phillips are also out with injuries.
Meanwhile, Tottenham could lose their “captain” Son Heung-min. He’s set to be sent to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup next January. Spurs have a lot of injuries and now they have to think about the absence of Son Heung-min.
Postecoglou is very worried.
“The captain has a responsibility to lead,” he said at the press conference against Nottingham, “and if he is sent to the Asian Cup next January, it could be a big loss for Tottenham,” he sighed.
The Asian Cup kicks off in Qatar on Jan. 13 and concludes with the final on Feb. 11. With South Korea looking to win the tournament for the first time in 64 years, since the 1960 edition, it’s a safe bet that national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann will take ‘captain’ Son Heung-min with him. 99%.
His absence would be devastating for the Postecoglou boss, who has to send Son to the national team at a time when the Premier League title race is in full swing. That’s why we’re worried about Son’s absence a month before the Asian Cup kicks off.