Tottenham Boss Reveals Fresh Injury Concern Ahead Of Arsenal Clash

Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed Mousa Dembele was forced off with an ankle problem during Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace last night making him a doubt for Sunday’s huge clash with Arsenal.

Dembele was withdrawn at half-time at Selhurt Park last night with the score still level at 0-0 while fellow central midfielder Victor Wanyama was also taken off as Pochettino changed things up at the break.

The Spurs coach has now revealed that Dembele was forced off after twisting his ankle during the opening forty-five minutes while Wanyama’s withdrawal was tactical as the Kenyan international was already on a yellow card and was fortunate not to receive a second booking during the first half.

When asked by TottenhamHotspur.com after the game why he chose to introduce Moussa Sissoko and Heung-min Son at half time, Pochettino explained:

“Mousa twisted his ankle and Victor had a yellow card and it was difficult for him. We needed to do something different to try to find the way to create chances, to dominate and win the game and it worked well. Sometimes, when you make changes and change the shape it doesn’t work, but this worked very well.”

It’s not clear how serious the injury is and no doubt Dembele’s ankle will be assessed at training today but the midfielder must now be considered a doubt for Sunday’s visit of Arsenal to White Hart Lane.

The changes at half-time seemed to work as Spurs secured a vital 1-0 win thanks to Christian Eriksen’s superb strike in the 78th minute which made it eight wins on the bounce for the in-form north Londoners.

The latest victory sees Tottenham close the gap on Chelsea to just four points following the leaders win over Southampton on Tuesday night so the title race is still very-much alive.

This weekend’s action is going to be pivotal as not only do Spurs have a north London derby to contest but Chelsea face a tough trip to Merseyside to take on Everton, so things could look very different come Sunday night.