Tottenham have been dealt a big blow in the Premier League title race with the news that defender Jan Vertonghen could be out for up to two months, as per the reports from the Sun. The defender was in tears during the recent 4-0 win over West Brom. Manager Mauricio Pochettino said after the game that the injury may be extremely serious on initial looks. The fears have been confirmed after scans have revealed that the player could miss up to 2 months of action as a result of ligament damage. It means that the Belgian international may not come back to the first-team reckoning until the next international break completes in March.
This puts Tottenham at a serious disadvantage in the title race considering that Vertonghen has been one of the best and consistent players for the club over the last few years. Even though Spurs did not get a lot of positive results when defender Toby Alderweireld was unavailable, it could have been much worse if Vertonghen was also on the sidelines. The 29-year-old complements Alderweireld extremely well and it is one of the reasons why the Belgian centre-back pairing has done exceedingly well for Spurs since being brought together in the summer of 2015.
Thanks to everyone for your kind messages. Gutted to be injured but will be back as soon as I can #COYS
— Jan Vertonghen (@JanVertonghen) January 17, 2017
Vertonghen has been a fine player for Spurs and he has started in the club’s 20 league matches – missing just once due to suspension. Even though he is yet to score this season, Vertonghen has always been a major threat going forward. His ability to bring the ball out of the back was also key in Tottenham being able to switch to playing three at the back in some of the games. Over the next months, the absence of the defender will be felt especially in the games against Manchester City and Liverpool. Spurs travel to both these clubs in what could be titled defining games.
The first of these matches would be coming as early as this weekend when Spurs travel to the Etihad stadium in order to take on City. Chelsea are the leaders in the title race, but their advantage over Spurs has been cut back to just seven points in recent weeks. The North London outfit managed to get a 2-0 win over the blues in their recent visit to the White Hart Lane. It is not a surprise that Spurs have one of the best defensive records in European football, and certainly the best in the Premier league. It has been down to the combination of Vertonghen and Alderweireld managing to stifle any attack.
In the absence of Vertonghen, manager Mauricio Pochettino may have to utilise midfielder Eric Dier or the versatile Kevin Wimmer.
