As Tottenham Hotspur get ready for the Mohammed Kudus Derby against London rivals West Ham this Saturday, the focus will be on an attack that looked quite limp two weeks ago in a 1-0 shutout loss to Bournemouth.
Guglielmo Vicario was the only thing keeping it from being a huge blowout for Tottenham, as they struggled to move the ball up the pitch in the first concerning game of an otherwise promising start to the Thomas Frank era.
Tottenham have brought in Randal Kolo Muani to join the brigade of Richarlison and Dominic Solanke in attack. But while Richarlison has been favored by Frank and was brilliant through the first two weeks of the season, the Brazilian star showed the ugly side to his game by completely ghosting on Matchday 3.
Solanke is a well-rounded option and a big anchoring point for Spurs, but he's now been claimed by a foot injury. And per Frank, Solanke still isn't ready to return yet, though he did nestle that news with a more positive injury update on the No. 2 striker's status, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold:
âI get the feeling he is not too far away, but heâs just fallen short for this week.â
Tottenham are missing a big-game player
Solanke had a solid first season at Tottenham, even if he didn't put the ball in the back of the net 15 times, which was what Spurs were hoping for out of the 65 million pound signing from Bournemouth. But Solanke brings much more to the game than goals, which Tottenham did benefit from significantly in the Europa League knockout stages.
Big Dom is a big game player, and his aerial presence can be a game-changer in tight matches. West Ham are rivals, but they are so poor that missing Solanke isn't a huge deal. But after this matchup, Tottenham start their Champions League return campaign at mid-week with a battle against a fiery and well-coached Villarreal side.
Thereafter, Tottenham will face Brighton in the Premier League, Doncaster in the League Cup, and the Wolves in the Premier League return. Having Solanke back as an option against Brighton would be nice, but given how vague Frank was, the positive injury update still doesn't mean Solanke will be back next week either.
But Spurs have more options with Kolo Muani now, and it will additionally be worth tracking how many minutes Kolo Muani gets on the left side of the attack - or if Frank tries to go with two strikers to accommodate the three men once Solanke returns.