Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a huge surprise boost ahead of the North London derby, with a key player potentially in line to make a shock return.
Tottenham have a bloated injury list at the moment, and the North Londoners suffered another potential blow a couple of days ago after Pape Sarr picked up an injury while playing for Senegal.
While Spurs fans are still sweating over the 23-year-old’s fitness ahead of the big showdown on Sunday, the Lilywhites may now have been handed a huge boost.
Randal Kolo Muani was expected to spend a lengthy spell on the treatment table after fracturing his jaw against Man United two weeks ago, but it has now been suggested that the Frenchman could return much sooner than expected.
Randal Kolo Muani has been training wearing a face mask
The Telegraph have revealed that Randal Kolo Muani has trained in a specially fitted mask during the sessions at Hotspur Wayn in a bid to protect his jaw.
Initial assessment showed last week that Muani does not require surgery on his jaw, which came as a big boost to Spurs, and the fact that the forward has been training means that he could return much sooner than expected.
In fact, The Telegraph add that ‘it remains to be seen’ if Tottenham believe that he could play against Arsenal with a face mask, which suggests that he has not been ruled out of the North London derby entirely as of yet.
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Spurs fans have pleasant memories of strikers with a face mask against Arsenal
Tottenham fans will have pleasant memories of the last time that one of their strikers wore a face mask in the North London derby.
Harry Kane famously scored a brilliant goal with a face mask in 2016 in the penultimate North London derby played at White Hart Lane before celebrating by taking off his mask and running to the corner flag.
Heung-min Son also played in a mask for Tottenham in 2022 after suffering a fractured eye socket.