Tottenham Hotspur handed major injury blow with Newcastle United looking over their shoulders.
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Newcastle United are looking over their shoulders with four games of the Premier League season remaining.
The Magpies are in relegation form - losing five on the bounce and nine of their last 12 in the Premier League to leave them 14th in the table.
Only a few weeks ago was European qualification the aim but Eddie Howe’s side are just as close to the bottom three as they are to the top six.
The gap was cut to eight points on Saturday after Tottenham Hotspur won late on at already-relegated Wolves before the Magpies lost 1-0 to title-chasing Arsenal.
Realistically, Newcastle probably only need one more win to officially secure their top-flight status and even if they lost all their remaining games, Tottenham would need to win three of their last four.
Tottenham Hotspur dealt huge blow as NUFC look over their shoulders
And Spurs have been handed a huge blow in that respect as one of their star players, £51million summer signing Xavi Simons, has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign with an ACL injury.
The Dutchman, who will also miss this summer’s World Cup, sustained the injury in the 63rd minute at Molineux before leaving the field on a stretcher. An official statement on Monday revealed the severity.
“We can confirm that Xavi Simons has ruptured the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his right knee,” Spurs confirmed. “The 23-year-old suffered the injury during the second half of our Premier League fixture at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
“Xavi will undergo surgery in the coming weeks and, following that, will then begin his rehabilitation with our medical team. Everyone at Tottenham Hotspur sends Xavi our love and support - we will be with him every step of the way.”
Spurs are already without several players until next season, including Wilson Odobert, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and Cristian Romero, while they are also sweating on the fitness of Dominic Solanke after he was forced off at the weekend with a muscle issue.