Richarlison and Ben Davies have become the fourth and fifth Tottenham Hotspur players to be ruled out of the north London derby, still more than a month before the game.
Last week, we covered reports that Tottenham Hotspur had suffered three injuries to key players, with two almost immediately ruled out of the next north London derby.
First, Mohammed Kudus suffered a thigh injury, with Thomas Frank confirming it’s a tendon injury that will rule the player out until after the March international break.
Then, Rodrigo Bentancur tore his hamstring, with Sami Mokbel reporting for the BBC that the midfielder will need surgery and at least three months on the sidelines.
Richarlison then suffered an apparent hamstring injury as Spurs were eliminated from the FA Cup by Aston Villa, and further assessment has confirmed the forward is also facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
“Richy, unfortunately, got a hamstring injury which will keep him out for up to seven weeks,” Frank confirmed ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.
A seven-week absence from the date of Frank’s comments would mean a return on March 5th, but even just six weeks out would mean missing the north London derby against Arsenal on February 22nd.
Then Ben Davies has also been ruled out after Spurs confirmed he’s having surgery on an ankle fracture, and James Maddison remains out with his ACL injury, meaning at least five Spurs players are expected to miss the game.
Most of Spurs’ other injured players should be back by that point in mid-February, but there’s some uncertainty over exactly when Dejan Kulusevski will be fit again.