Tottenham are still waiting for confirmation on whether Harry Kane will be ruled out of Sunday’s Premier League match against Arsenal.
The striker is a doubt after missing the 3-3 draw with LASK. Dane Scarlett, the 16-year-old who recently made his debut in the Europa League win over Ludogorets, flew out to Austria to make up the squad numbers, but the league-leaders are still hoping Kane will be ready for the north London derby.
Before Thursday night’s Europa League game, in which Spurs twice threw away their lead and conceded a 93rd minute equaliser, Jose Mourinho had refused to divulge the nature of his vice-captain’s problem.
“I’m not going to tell you the nature of his injury,” he said. “I think there’s a good chance [for Arsenal], I don’t want to lie, I don’t want to hide anything in relation to ‘Oh is he going to play or not’. I think he’s going to play, that’s my feeling.”
However, the Portuguese later told a post-match press conference that he “believes [Kane] is going to be fit”.
Will Kane play on Sunday?
“I’m not sure. He’s having treatment, but I could be doing some bluff and pretend he’s in trouble, but he’s not and I think he’ll play.”
There was less positive news on Erik Lamela, who has now missed the last six games with a calf injury. “I don’t believe [Lamela] has a chance for the weekend,” Mourinho said. Carlos Vinicius and Sergio Reguilon also missed the trip to Austria but will be assessed before Sunday.
Matt Doherty, who recently returned after testing positive for coronavirus, appeared to suffer a knock in the build-up to LASK’s opening goal, but the Irishman should be in the squad – though he may lose his starting role to Serge Aurier.
The news that Kane is still a minor doubt will be particularly alarming in the Lilywhite half of north London given his superb record against the old enemy. The 27-year-old has scored 10 goals in 11 appearances since the start of the 2014-15 season and he is in the midst of one of his best campaigns so far, scoring 13 goals and assisting a further 11 in his 16 games this term.
Without him, Tottenham qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League, but did so with a sub-par performance. Arsenal, meanwhile, eased to a comprehensive 4-1 win over Rapid Vienna in front of their returning fans at the Emirates, but Mikel Arteta’s side continue to falter in the Premier League. If results go against them, the Gunners could finish the weekend as low as 16th in the table.
Their fortunes in domestic football could not be starker and Mourinho’s men go into Sunday’s game as clear favourites, regardless of Kane’s fitness.
In one of his most memorable derbies in 2016, the masked England captain overcame a broken nose to score a stunning goal at White Hart Lane which put Tottenham top of the league for 13 minutes.
Now, they have been top for almost two weeks. How long that continues may depend on whether Mourinho is right about the speed of his talisman’s return.
Harry Kane’s injury history
- 2020-21 – Unspecified – 1 game missed
- 2019-20 – Fitness – 1 game missed
- 2019-20 – Thigh muscle rupture – 14 games missed
- 2019-20 – Illness – 1 game missed
- 2018-19 – Ankle ligament injury – 9 games missed
- 2018-19 – Torn ankle ligament – 8 games missed
- 2017-18 – Ankle injury – 2 games missed
- 2017-18 – Hamstring injury – 2 games missed
- 2016-17 – Ankle injury – 3 games missed
- 2016-17 – Ankle injury – 11 games missed
- 2013-14 – Back injury – 11 games missed
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