Mauricio Pochettino has a selection headache ahead of Sunday’s north London derby with Tottenham missing FOUR players for the match.
Defenders Kyle Walker-Peters and Juan Foyth have both been confirmed to miss the Emirates Stadium clash, which means Pochettino may be forced to play Moussa Sissoko as a makeshift right-back given his lack of faith in Serge Aurier.
Jamie O’Hara thinks Mauricio Pochettino will leave Spurs this season
Aurier, a natural right-back, has not played competitive football for Spurs since February, and is reportedly close to sealing a transfer away from north London.
Sissoko dropping into the back-line creates further issues, however, with Spurs‘ record signing, Tanguy Ndombele, also ruled out of the trip to Arsenal.
Pochettino would surely want to keep Sissoko in midfield with Ndombele missing, but he may have no choice except to play him at right-back.
This issue could be solved if Eric Dier is passed fit for Sunday’s match, as he can provide cover in defence. The England international is currently being assessed due to a hip problem and is considered a doubt.
Pochettino said of his problems at right-back: “It’s not a worry, only an issue we need to fix. I am trying to find another solution.
“I am very optimistic that we will find the best way to perform. There’s no excuses. Always when one option disappears there is another option that appears and we will play with 11 players.”
Ndombele’s fellow summer signing Ryan Sessegnon, who was brought in from Fulham, also remains absent following his move to White Hart Lane.
He has not yet debuted for Spurs and is definitely ruled out the derby as he finishes conditioning work before returning to training.
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Pochettino also confirmed Dele Alli, who has missed all of the season so far, will be assessed on Saturday before a decision is made on whether he will play against Arsenal.
“Dele got injured in the Audi Cup and we need to assess tomorrow,” said Pochettino. “Maybe he will be involved in the squad. It’s not sure. We need to assess.
“He’s got one training session more. He’s doing well but still we need to assess him. I don’t know.
“For different players we need to assess, we have other issues to assess tomorrow. I cannot say today if he’s 50-50, 80-20, 20-80… I don’t know. We need to see tomorrow and make the decision.”
