Football.London

Ange Postecoglou has just three players currently on the Tottenham injury list ahead of the North London Derby but they are all important parts of his squad.

Spurs welcome Arsenal next Sunday afternoon in the first North London Derby of the season with Postecoglou's side looking to turn good performances this campaign so far into better results than the win, draw and loss they have recorded in their opening three Premier League games.

To beat Mikel Arteta's Gunners and kickstart Tottenham's campaign, Postecoglou will need as many of his key players fit and available as possible and he will be hoping that everyone returns from the international break in a good condition.

Here's what we know about Spurs' current injured players and their potential return dates.

Dominic Solanke

Postecoglou made it clear that Dominic Solanke was close to being able to play against Newcastle last weekend after a collision against Leicester a fortnight before meant his ankle swelled up in the days after and he subsequently missed the Everton win.

"Dom Solanke is close but we'll err on the side of caution, he won't play on the weekend with the international week, we've made a decision to wait until after that," he said last Friday before the trip to St James' Park.

The week before he was asked whether the new £65million signing could potentially miss the North London Derby as well and the Australian quickly shook his head.

"No, look it's not serious enough to keep him out for five weeks, no, so look he's still got a chance for the Newcastle game. That's the extent of it, it's just about how quickly he recovers," he said.

"Every story is written differently. They’re not all fairy tales where you come and make your debut and score a hat-trick. He was very good for us at Leicester and we’re disappointed because it was really exciting to see that he is going to fit in really well with what we’re doing.

"I've no doubt about that. It’s just a small hiccup. He misses a game or two, it's game one of 50-plus games. He'll have plenty of opportunities to recover from that. For me the exciting bit was just watching him in the team last week. I can just tell he's going to be a really good fit."

Potential return match: Tottenham vs Arsenal - September 15

Micky van de Ven

As with Solanke, Postecoglou made it clear that Micky van de Ven was close to being available to face Newcastle but wasn't quite there.

"Micky was close in training this week but with the international break he's not quite 100%," he said last Saturday. "It's nothing serious. We've got a heaped programme straight after the international break so we're going to need all our back four."

Van de Ven hyperextended his knee during the match against Everton but played on until the end of the game, setting up Son Heung-min for the fourth goal with a pitch-long run. Postecoglou's words about the young Dutch international, who withdrew from international duty, suggested the wait hopefully will not be too before we see him in action again.

Potential return match: Tottenham vs Arsenal - September 15

Richarlison

Richarlison had only just returned from a long-term calf injury when he suffered another problem in training last week that ruled him out of the Newcastle match.

"Richy pulled up sore, I think there's a muscle injury there, we're just getting more information but he'll be out as well," said Postecoglou.

When football.london asked how frustrating it was for the player and his manager to have constant injuries that interrupt his rhythm, the Spurs boss added: "Yeah, that's it and that's a challenge, I guess. It's something we've got to look at again. He's been in that cycle for quite a while and predating me, I guess. We've put a lot of thought [into it], we took a really sort of conservative approach with him. He didn't play in any of the preseason games, and he's really only played 20 minutes of first team football.

"But again, obviously he's had a setback. So it's something we just got to go back with Richy and work through the steps now of getting him back up and running, because you know, when he's fit, he's such a handful. Even last week that 20 minutes he played, you can see the options he gives us in that position. But like you said, it's frustrating probably for him as much as anyone else but frustrating for us, too.

"But that's the reason we brought Dom in, but obviously he picked up an injury in the first couple of games, but again it's something we'll work with Richy on."

It was when speaking about young striker Will Lankshear, also currently out with a hamstring injury but set to return soon, that Postecoglou appeared to admit that Richarlison could be out for a longer period.

"If Richy is out for an extended period of time, then Will will definitely be a part of it. Will and Mikey [Moore] have done really well in pre-season and we feel they'll benefit from being around the first-team," he said.

Potential return match: Unknown

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It might be the international break but there continues to be plenty of activity in and around Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs have started the season with a mixed bag of results, a resounding win and a frustrating draw and defeat, with the overall performance decent across the board but just hampered by errors in key moments at both ends of the pitch. Ange Postecoglou has also had a couple of early key injuries to contend with in new £65million striker Dominic Solanke, his fellow attacker Richarlison and centre-back Micky van de Ven and he will be hoping to have at least a couple of them back for next weekend's North London Derby against Arsenal.

There have been further transfer movement at Spurs after the English window closed with young midfielder Alfie Devine heading to Belgium for a season-long loan at Westerlo. There could be one more transfer for Tottenham with the future of Sergio Reguilon remaining open, as the left-back is not part of Postecoglou's plans and there are a couple of transfer windows still open across Europe, including the Turkish one.

The Tottenham boss has already named his Europa League squad for the group stages, leaving out Reguilon and also full-back Djed Spence, who had impressed him and the coaching staff this summer with his efforts and performances in training and pre-season games. The decision to leave out the 24-year-old could leave Spurs short in defensive cover over the months ahead in the competition and has caused plenty of discussion among the supporters.

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Daniel Levy has often had a tough time winning over the Tottenham supporters. The Spurs chairman has often been criticised for running the club like a business, rather than giving the playing squad his full focus.

Trophies have been hard to come by in N17 during Levy's reign, with Spurs without a piece of silverware since the 2008 League Cup. There have been near misses of course - the 2016 and 2017 Premier Leagues and the 2019 Champions League chief among them.

And picking up silverware remains the big thing for Spurs supporters. We asked and you answered as football.london quizzed the fanbase on what happened in the summer transfer window and what could come for the rest of the season.

When asked what would constitute a successful season, 46% of respondents said winning a trophy and finishing in the top four, as opposed to one or the other. The fact 29% said just a trophy over the 25% who said top four speaks volumes, albeit in small terms.

Levy, however, appears to have won over large chunks of the fanbase over the years. More than half of the people who took part in our poll said they were content with the Spurs chairman, while another 22% said they were 'very happy' with him.

That left just 23% saying they were not happy with Levy at all. A whopping 91% of people are either very happy or content with Ange Postecoglou so far, suggesting Levy has made the right call with the head coach role this time.

There was something of a surprise when it came to a question about the summer transfer window. We asked who fans thought was the signing of the summer, with Lucas Bergvall - signed in February, arriving this summer - coming out on top with 36%. He was just one per cent ahead of Dominic Solanke, however, with 18% saying Archie Gray.

Do you agree with the results? You can have your say by taking part in our poll below.

Riccardo Calafiori is the latest injury concern for Arsenal ahead of the North London derby after seemingly picking up a calf problem playing for Italy on Friday night.

Calafiori, 22, started their Nations League game against France at the Parc des Princes before being substituted in the 71st minute with what appeared to be an issue. It comes after the defender played more minutes in that match than across his first three appearances for the Gunners combined.

After playing for the first time as a second-half substitute against Lyon during pre-season, Calafiori did not feature against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League season-opener. Then he only came off the bench late at Aston Villa before replacing Leandro Trossard with just over half an hour remaining against Brighton and Hove Albion after Declan Rice saw red.

As such, the England international will miss the visit to Tottenham Hotspur. Calafiori could now be considered a doubt, potentially joining fellow summer signing Mikel Merino on the sidelines. The midfielder must wait until after the October international for his Arsenal debut after fracturing his shoulder in his first training session.

Takehiro Tomiyasu will also miss the North London Derby, with the defender still nursing a knee injury that has kept the Japan international out since pre-season. However, there is potential for Gabriel Jesus and Kieran Tierney to be involved.

The latter has returned to training after recovering from the hamstring injury that cut short his European Championship campaign with Scotland. Jesus has only played five minutes to start this season because of a groin injury but is expected back soon after the break.

Ange Postecoglou's next Tottenham Hotspur challenge is to plot a course through the keenly-anticipated first North London Derby of the season against Arsenal.

Spurs need to bounce back following their tough defeat at Newcastle United last weekend and they have Mikel Arteta's title challenging Gunners in their way once the international break comes to a close. The fixtures really start to ramp up from next week with Carabao Cup and Europa League football on the menu as well as the Premier League schedule.

The main problem for managers after the international break is the staggered return of their players and even more worryingly the prospect of injuries while their stars are on duty with their countries.

Postecoglou will have two injury doubts of his own in Dominic Solanke and Micky van de Ven, but at least they will be recovering away from international duty. He also has James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Timo Werner and Djed Spence as the only fit senior outfield players remaining at Hotspur Way, as well as Rodrigo Bentancur thanks to his four-game international ban following his bottle-throwing moments at the Copa America.

The Spurs boss is helped by the fixture being on Sunday, which will at least give him an extra training day with those returning players, as it will for Arteta.

Swedish duo Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski will be back at Tottenham's Enfield training complex first after playing in Sunday's home UEFA Nations League match against Estonia.

The next contingent of Tottenham players are in action on Monday night including Pape Matar Sarr in Senegal's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier away against Burundi before Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson compete for Wales in their UEFA Nations League qualifier in Montenegro. Radu Dragusin also plays on Monday night, with Romania's home UEFA Nations League match against Lithuania.

Italians Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario take on Manor Solomon's Israel in a UEFA Nations League match in Hungary, while Archie Gray faces an England Under-21s home friendly against Austria.

Then on Tuesday, Yves Bissouma will be in action for Mali away in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Eswatini, Son Heung-min Son captains South Korea in their World Cup qualifier in Oman while Wilson Odobert could feature for France Under-21s at home in their European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Later that evening Cristian Romero will be in action for Argentina in their World Cup qualifier away against Colombia.

That all means that Bissouma, Son and Romero will likely be the last to return to Hotspur Way, potentially back in training as late as Thursday depending on their flights back to the UK.

That gives Postecoglou three training sessions with the whole team ahead of the big derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and he's going to have to make every minute count.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham!Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Solving an Arsenal problem like the North London Derby without Declan Rice. When you consider that last season’s victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was the first time since 1988 that the Gunners had won back-to-back away clashes at their bitter rivals and Rice was a key figure of course in helping that happen.

Yet the England international was yet to arrive at Arsenal when Mikel Arteta’s side ended a near-nine-year wait for a win on Tottenham soil. An own goal from Hugo Lloris and a brilliant strike from Martin Odegaard were the difference in January of 2023 to set up a big end to the season in a surprise title race that the Gunners have since established themselves in.

The midfield that day was made of the aforementioned Odegaard along with Thomas Partey and the now departed Granit Xhaka. It is this third midfield slot that Arteta needs to find the right part to fill in the absence of Rice.

Some might argue the most seamless insertion would be to bring in Jorginho who has been an unused substitute in the first three games. However, having played so little, throwing the Italian in now might not be the smartest move and therefore it makes sense perhaps to use someone already in good form.

Yet other options mean some shuffling with Kai Havertz returning to the middle third. Before alarm bells begin to ring in those not a fan, of which personally I too have reservations, it is worth remembering his games in pre-season against Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen.

Hope will be that Gabriel Jesus will have recovered from his injury which has seen him missing since the away trip to Aston Villa. Jesus, Havertz and Leandro Trossard ripped apart Xabi Alonso’s side at the Emirates Stadium last month and the hope will be they can repeat this against a Spurs side who are coming off the back of another match of dropped points at Newcastle.

Trossard therefore would start the game to rekindle the Leverkusen-beating connection. Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Martinelli are suddenly a threatening duo for the club to bring off the bench for the first time in quite a long period for the Gunners.

Jurrien Timber came off toward the end of the game against Brighton but was still called up by the Netherlands and is expected to be part of the squad. However, Riccardo Calafiori came on in the game and impressed on the left-hand side and perhaps offered Arteta another choice for the derby too.

Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven and his Netherlands teammate have been sent a clear message on their international futures, thanks to a public bust-up between Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman and former Spurs man Steven Bergwijn.

The winger completed a £17.7 million move from Ajax to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad at the start of the week. It comes after he was linked with a return to the Premier League earlier in the summer.

Bergwijn’s move to the Middle East has seen him drop from the Netherlands’ squad for good while Koeman is in charge. The former Southampton and Everton boss was scathing of his decision to make the move.

"Steven Bergwijn goes to Saudi Arabia at age 26. It's clear that this has nothing to do with sportive ambition," he said in a press conference on Tuesday.

"His book with the Dutch National Team is closed. He probably knows that I would have said this."

The former Spurs man has now hit back at his national coach in an interview with Dutch outlet De Telegraaf . “I don't even want to play for this manager anymore,” he said. “I won't play for someone who portrays me like he has done in the media.

“He could have called me, hear my side of the story. How can he say such things without talking to me?

"If he had been a committed national coach, he would have called me first. Now I had to hear about it on TV. I've had many beautiful moments with him, so this is far too easy and I'm disappointed with him."

Koeman was given his chance to respond to the player when he spoke to the media again on Friday, with the manager simply reiterating his stance, saying: “It’s logical that Steven Bergwijn reacts to my words on his move to Saudi. But I stick to my words! It does not affect me at all. I only said that this step does not show sporting ambition. I did not say much more."

The public war of words sends a clear message to other members of the Netherlands squad over the impact that transfer decisions will have on their international future.

Initiation songs have become a rite of passage for new football signings and Lucas Bergvall could not escape his duty after joining Tottenham Hotspur.

The 18-year-old has made a big impression on Ange Postecoglou and the coaching staff since arriving at Spurs this summer following his £8.5million February transfer from Djurgarden. Bergvall has got game time from the bench in all three of Tottenham's Premier League matches so far and earned himself a call-up to play for the Sweden senior side, coming on for the final 18 minutes of the 3-1 win in Azerbaijan this week.

However, when he first came to Spurs, there was one thing far more nerve-wracking than football to be dealt with by the teenager and that was performing his initiation song.

Bergvall went for a Swedish song of course and one from the most famous band of all from the country - Abba - but his rendition did not go down well with his team-mates.

"I sang Abba's 'Dancing Queen'. It was really, really bad. I was booed afterwards," admitted the teenager in an interview with Swedish media outlet Aftonbladet.

Bergvall put in a relatively quiet performance for Sweden on Thursday night, but his national manager Jon Dahl Tomasson believes the 18-year-old and his young international team-mates are the way forward when asked after the game why Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hugo Larsson was not brought on.

"I know that Hugo wants to start matches and do better," he said. "When I made the changes, I felt it was the right match to give Lucas Bergvall the chance. We cannot have all the youngest players on the field at the same time.

"There is a lot of competition. We have several young players with great potential. Hugo is one of them. We also have Ayari, Nanasi and Bergvall today. There are four players who could mean a lot for the future of Swedish football."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham!Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou's decision to leave Djed Spence out of Tottenham's squad for the Europa League group stages has certainly provoked plenty of strong opinions but it could push the door open for one young player.

Spurs submitted their squad to UEFA this week for the new expanded league stage of the Europa League, during which they will take on Qarabag, Ferencvaros, AZ Alkmaar, Galatasaray, Roma, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg over the months ahead. The squad can only be changed in early 2025 if Tottenham advance to the knockout stages of the competition.

The north London club have previously struggled to get their numbers right for European competition, which has stricter rules than the Premier League particularly in terms of the U21s list and with homegrown players. This time around, Postecoglou's squad has a problem with a lack of required club-trained players as the sale of Oliver Skipp to Leicester City meant the Australian has no outfield senior players defined as club-trained under the rules.

Only goalkeepers Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman meet those requirements - players who were on the club's books for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21. That meant Tottenham were required to waste two spots and leave them empty for a 23-man squad instead of the full 25.

The amount of combined foreign players and association-trained players left to fit into the remaining 21 spots in the squad meant that two players had to miss out. Postecoglou eventually decided that both Spence and Sergio Reguilon, who is not part of his plans, would miss out on Europa League football.

It's a big call from Postecoglou, naming four goalkeepers in his squad in order to include the experienced former England international Fraser Forster rather than name the versatile Spence, who is a right-back who can also do a job on the left.

It means defensively, Spurs are going to have seven rather than the ideal eight senior players needed to have two men for each role in the back four, and that seven is only created by including 18-year-old midfielder Archie Gray, who proved last season at Leeds United that he can also perform well as a right-back.

With matches every three days after the international break, thanks to the Carabao Cup and Europa League kicking off in the same month alongside the Premier League, it means that Postecoglou will not be able to swap out his entire back four to rest them at any point and instead will have to use at least one defender from the previous match just 72 hours earlier.

That's not even taking into account injuries. Spurs currently have Micky van de Ven recovering from his recent problem and while he hopefully will be available for next weekend's North London Derby, Postecoglou will not want to push the young Dutchman into playing game after game in the months ahead.

That will put more pressure on Cristian Romero and Radu Dragusin to play matches in the centre of defence. Ben Davies can play at centre-back but he will also be required to rotate with Destiny Udogie in order to prevent the Italian left-back from risking injury after only just returning last month after four months out following quadriceps surgery.

All of that could mean Postecoglou looks to the academy and that could open the door for 19-year-old centre-back Alfie Dorrington. The teenager is highly-rated within the club but suffered two hamstring injuries last season that hampered his development.

Dorrington, a dominant, ball-playing defender, has only just returned to training following the second injury in May, which required surgery, and is yet to play this season. He is expected to be gradually introduced back into matches as this month progresses before hitting his stride again in October as the games come thick and fast.

Despite his two hamstring injuries, the England U19 international was still the bedrock of Tottenham's U21s title-winning defence, playing 19 times for Wayne Burnett's side, and did get called up to the first team bench 10 times by Postecoglou in the Premier League last season as well as once in the FA Cup, albeit remaining unused.

With Luka Vuskovic set to arrive in 2025, this could end being a key season for Dorrington to make big strides. With Ashley Phillips unable to be registered for the Europa League and moving on to Stoke City on loan, the door might just open in the weeks ahead for Dorrington to show what he can do. It's a risky decision from Postecoglou to leave out Spence, but it might end up presenting a chance to a talented young academy prospect who can help the club-trained issue in years to come.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham!Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou's decision to leave Djed Spence out of his Tottenham Hotspur squad for the Europa League group stages has surprised plenty of people.

The different squad regulations for the competition compared to the Premier League - which you can find in detail here - ultimately meant that Postecoglou had to leave two senior players out of his Spurs squad for Europe. One of those was an easier choice in Sergio Reguilon, who is not part of the Australian's plans and the left-back could yet leave the club before the Turkish window closes this week.

The other chosen player was always going to be more difficult. One heavily-touted option was 36-year-old goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who has not played a game of football for the club in more than a year, having only recently returned from a fractured foot suffered in training in February.

In terms of numbers, the former England international was less crucial because Postecoglou had to register fellow goalkeepers Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman as Spurs' only two club-trained players. The club had to leave two empty spots in that category, meaning a 23-man squad rather than the permitted 25. There is also talented young goalkeeper Luca Gunter, who was handed a new five-year contract this month and is on the B list for players aged 21 or under who have been at the club for two years or more.

However, the Tottenham head coach appears to have decided that he cannot do without the experience of Forster for the competition's group stages.

That meant an outfield player had to miss out instead and the finger of fate has fallen upon Spence, who has impressed Postecoglou and his coaching staff this summer after seemingly heading towards the exit door. The 24-year-old has already got minutes in two of the first three matches, able to play at both right-back and left-back.

There are other options for the positions that Spence can cover but leaving him out of the squad does stretch his Europa League squad thinly and it means that during the packed schedule from this month onwards he will always have to pick at least one player in the back four who played three days earlier.

That is because if you're looking at Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie as the regular starting XI in the Premier League, there is now only Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies as centre-back cover with young midfielder Archie Gray able to fill in either as a right-back or as a centre-back, having helped out in that position during the early weeks of pre-season.

Davies is also a left-back option but that's still seven senior players to cover eight roles in the back four and it's not taking into account further injuries. This is Tottenham Hotspur after all.

So Postecoglou has gone with the back-up goalkeeper he appears to trust the most as cover for Guglielmo Vicario but in doing so he's left himself exposed in defence for the coming four months of football until the January transfer window arrives and the Europa League squad can be tweaked after the league phase. The months ahead could provide an opportunity for young academy centre-back Alfie Dorrington if the 19-year-old impresses after returning from a serious hamstring injury.

It is also a blow though for Spence himself, who has been working hard for his chance, and the young full-back would have likely got plenty of game time in the competition as Spurs face Qarabag, Ferencvaros, AZ Alkmaar, Galatasaray, Roma, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg over the months ahead.

Postecoglou will explain his reasoning at his press conference next Friday ahead of the north London Derby against Arsenal and provide more context to his decision. Timo Werner might have been another candidate as a loan player and in the winger department where Spurs have plenty of options, but the experienced Champions League winner could end up being a key player in the Europa League this season.

Every decision came with risks but choosing Spence as the odd man out certainly seems the one with the most potential problems along the road ahead. That's because if there's a worst case scenario, Tottenham invariably stumble across it.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham!Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.