Tottenham are aiming to continue their bright start to the season when they face Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Lilywhites are flying high in the early-season Premier League table, and could even climb to the top of the league if they win their game and other results go their way.
Tottenham face a difficult task against an Aston Villa side who are on the rise after failing to score in their opening four league games of the campaign.
Thomas Frank’s men will be desperate to get back into action, and the boss looks set to have a new weapon at his disposal for the clash.
Thomas Frank delivers ‘positive’ Randal Kolo Muani update
Tottenham have had several players go away on international duty over the last two weeks, but aside from Yves Bissouma, there appears to have been no major concerns in terms of fitness that have developed during that period.
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The Lilywhites are seemingly on the verge of several first-team players returning to the fold, with the likes of Radu Dragusin and Dejan Kulusevski finally nearing the end of their lengthy injury lay-offs.
That duo are still unavailable for this weekend’s clash with Villa, although Spurs seem destined to receive a boost in the form of Randal Kolo Muani.
The Frenchman has hardly played since his loan move from PSG on deadline day, but Frank has now hinted that he is ready to return for Sunday’s encounter.
“Kolo Muani has trained now with the team for two weeks. That looks positive,” the Dane said during his pre-match press conference.
Given that the striker also featured in a friendly behind closed doors during the international break, he is surely likely to at least be fit enough to make the bench this Sunday.
The PSG loanee was excellent during a stint with Juventus last season, in which he recorded an eye-catching conversion rate of 31 per cent in front of goal, which was significantly stronger than that of both Richarlison and Dominic Solanke.
Kolo Muani averaged a goal every 146 minutes during his time in Serie A, and that ability to capitalise on opportunities in front of goal will be invaluable for Spurs moving forward.
Kolo Muani return is bad timing for Mathys Tel
Mathys Tel scored his first goal of the season for Tottenham in the win over Leeds United last time out, and he will undoubtedly have taken great confidence from that, especially considering that he followed it up with a productive international break.
However, the 21-year-old will surely be cursing his luck with Kolo Muani returning to full fitness just as he has begun to impress Frank.
Given the strength of Sunday’s opponents, it is likely to be Richarlison who starts up front, but Kolo Muani will now surely become Frank’s option to change the game from the bench, a role that Tel has held previously.
Tel has had to battle plenty of adversity since he joined permanently at the start of the summer, and he must now find a way to prove himself to the boss once again.