Tottenham face injury crisis as Alli ruled out until March

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a further blow to their chances of picking up any silverware this season, with the news that star midfielder Dele Alli will not be able to return to training until early March.

The 22-year-old picked up a hamstring injury in Tottenham’s recent 2-1 win over Fulham in the Premier League. Spurs were able to pick up a dramatic late win, thanks to an injury time winner from Harry Winks. Ironically, the assist for the goal came from forgotten man Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, who came on in place of the limping Alli.

Tottenham’s growing injury list

If things weren’t already bad enough for Spurs, Alli will join striker Harry Kane on the touchline. The pair have been an essential part of Tottenham’s push for silverware this year, scoring a combined 19 Premier League goals between them. And now, Spurs go into a run of potentially season-defining games without two of their most pivotal players.

In addition to Kane, Tottenham are also currently without South Korean Son Heung-min, who is currently on International duty in the 2019 Asian Cup. Without the trio, Tottenham’s attacking options are looking very limited. In the victory over Fulham, Fernando Llorente was handed a rare starting birth, but couldn’t have blown his opportunity anymore. After scoring a calamitous own goal, the Spaniard missed several good moments to bring Spurs back into the game, and was widely criticised for a below-par performance. No one really knows if Vincent Janssen is still alive, and Tottenham are looking down to bare bones in the goal scoring department

A daunting fixture list

The first game that all three will miss, and what could be considered Tottenham’s most viable route to their first trophy since 2008, is the League Cup semi-final second-leg against rivals Chelsea. Tottenham hold a slender 1-0 advantage going into the Thursday evening clash, but with their fire power severely depleted, the Blues will be feeling confident of turning the tie around.

Aside from key Premier League fixtures, including the small matter of the North London derby, Kane and Alli look set to miss both legs of Tottenham’s Champions League last-16 against German giants Borussia Dortmund. Tottenham scraped through the group stage of the Champions League thanks to a dramatic draw against Barcelona in the Nou Camp. However, their campaign in Europe’s elite competition is now hanging by a thread.

Whilst Son may return sooner than expected depending on how South Korea perform in the Asia Cup, Spurs will face a pivotal run of fixtures without two of their most dependable and key players. Their squad depth has often been criticised, especially after failing to strengthen last summer, and now their season could be completely derailed in a mere couple of weeks.

Featured Image Credit: “Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Arsenal” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by bellefox rendezvous