Tottenham Hotspur’s injury woes continue to pile up, with Lucas Bergvall the sixth player to be ruled out of next month’s north London derby against Arsenal.
Just days after Richarlison and Ben Davies became the fourth and fifth Tottenham Hotspur players to be ruled out of February’s north London derby against Arsenal, Lucas Bergvall has joined the long list of absentees.
David Ornstein broke the news for The Athletic earlier this week that Bergvall had suffered a high ankle sprain, with Spurs conducting assessments to determine the player’s recovery timescale.
But Fotbollskanalen back in Bergvall’s native Sweden claim their sources have already ruled him out for two-to-three months. Given Arsenal travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium less than one month from now, a return before then appears practically impossible.
James Maddison, Mohammed Kudus, and Rodrigo Bentancur were the first three players to be ruled out of the derby, with Maddison out for the season with an ACL injury, Kudus out until March with a tendon injury, and Bentancur out for three months after hamstring surgery.
Richarlison then also suffered a hamstring setback, with Thomas Frank confirming he’ll be out for “up to seven weeks”. The striker would need to be back in five to have any chance of facing Arsenal.
After that, news broke that Davies would require surgery on an ankle fracture, effectively confirming he’ll spend multiple months out as well.
Add Bergvall as well, and even though there’s still over four weeks until the Arsenal match, six Spurs players are already set to miss out.
It’s worth mentioning that Spurs also face Manchester City in February, playing Arsenal’s title rivals at the start of the month.
So if the Gunners are getting a bit lucky with the six players already ruled out of the north London derby, it’s likely City will have an even easier ride on February 1st.
That’s because Dejan Kulusevski is also currently injured, but the expectation is that he’ll be back against Arsenal.
As it stands, Spurs’ only other injured player, Joao Palhinha, should be available to face both title contenders.