Tottenham Face Selection Crisis With Trio Set To Miss Chelsea Clash

Tottenham Hotspur are facing a selection crisis at the back ahead of their showdown with Chelsea this weekend after Mauricio Pochettino confirmed that Toby Alderweireld will once again miss out, according to the Express.

The Belgian international has been on the sidelines since suffering what was initially thought to be a minor knee injury against West Bromwich Albion in mid-October.

However, the injury has proven far more difficult to overcome and while Pochettino had hoped the centre-back would return in time to face West Ham last weekend, Alderweireld was forced to miss the dramatic 3-2 win over the Hammers.

The 27-year-old also sat out last night’s hugely disappointing defeat to Monaco which saw Spurs crash out of the Champions League and the Evening Standard claim Pochettino confirmed to reporters after the game that Alderweireld will also miss Saturday’s clash with Chelsea.

With Danny Rose suspended after picking up his fifth booking of the season against West Ham and Ben Davies also expected to miss the trip to Stamford Bridge with an on-going ankle injury, Pochettino has a selection crisis at the back to deal with.

The Argentinean coach played a back four against Monaco last night with both Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Walker left on the bench but the Tottenham boss may decide to switch to a back three against Chelsea this coming weekend.

Pochettino used the system to good effect at Arsenal earlier this month so we could see Kevin Wimmer line-up alongside Eric Dier and Jan Vertonghen in West London on Saturday evening.

Walker should also come back in to fill the right wing-back position but it remains to be seen who Pochettino will use on the left with Rose out and Davies not expected to recover in time to make the trip to Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham head in to the game as the only unbeaten team left in the Premier League but they’ve drawn 6 of their 12 games so far and will need to pick themselves up following last night’s Champions League exit, so leaders Chelsea will be confident of consigning their London rivals to their first defeat of the new campaign.