Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank has confirmed several injury doubts, including Randal Kolo Muani, Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarr, are “ready and available” for Sunday’s fixture against Arsenal.
Kolo Muani was replaced at half-time in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United on November 8, having sustained damage to his jaw. The injury prevented him from joining up with France over the international break, but, having been fitted with a mask, he is available for the north London derby.
Bergvall is available after training on Friday, having been sent home from international duty with Sweden. The midfielder was replaced early in the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea this month, having sustained a concussion after being hit in the head with a pass.
He may be joined in midfield by Sarr, who is fit after going off injured in the 49th minute of Senegal’s 2-0 defeat to Brazil.
“Pape (Matar Sarr) trained today and is ready and available,” Frank said in his pre-match press conference on Friday. “Lucas (Bergvall) trained today, available. Kolo Muani trained today. Available, of course he has a mask he needs to play with.”
Kolo Muani is yet to score his first goal for Spurs but will be hoping to repeat the heroics of Tottenham’s all-time top scorer Harry Kane who, wearing a protective mask after breaking his nose, ripped it off in celebration after scoring against Arsenal in a 2-2 draw in 2015-16.
Archie Gray, who has missed three matches with a calf injury, trained on Friday, as did Mohammed Kudus, Radu Dragusin and Kota Takai.
Dominic Solanke is “not ready yet” with “no timeframe” on his return. He has not played since Tottenham’s 2-0 away win against Manchester City in August.
“(We’re) very aware that when we put him out there, we want to be absolutely sure that, as sure as we can be, that (there will be) no setback going forward,” said Frank. “So I’m comfortable he will (return) soon. But I’ll not put a timeframe on it.”
Frank added he is “super excited” for his first competitive match against Arsenal as Spurs coach. The Dane got the better of Mikel Arteta in the first North London Derby played overseas, with Spurs winning 1-0 in Hong Kong in pre-season.
“This is the real one,” said Frank. “Super excited, of course. Before I stepped into the club, of course, I knew about the North London Derby. But it’s when you are in it, you sense it and feel that this is important. You feel from the fans, feel from the staff members, the players, the people that have been working here for years that this is the big one.
“I always say the next game is the most important game, and we’ll always have that, but I’m very, very, very aware there’s two games in a year that’s even more important, and this is the first of them.”
Arsenal are the league’s most dominant side from set-pieces, but are set to be without centre-back Gabriel following his injury on international duty.
“It’s a big challenge,” said Frank. “I think we hold a record of the fewest goals conceded from set pieces. So that’s not a bad stat either. But there’s no doubt that one of the battles we need to win in this game, to win the game, is a set piece battle.
“So if we can win that battle then we’re halfway there. Because they are strong, we are strong — that will be a battle in itself. And then there’s a lot of other battles, the high pressure, the defending, the building up and all that. But the set pieces will be a battle.”