Tottenham Hotspur will need to cope without the services of Jan Vertonghen for a handful of matches as the Belgian is sidelined with an ankle ligament injury and the scan results revealed that the influential defender did suffer the same and will be ruled out for up to two months, as per the reports from the Sun. The north London club humbled West Brom 4-0 at White Hart Lane with Harry Kane netting a hat-trick in the process but the only blot of the afternoon was their key defender trudging off the pitch after he lunged for the ball and hurt his ankle midway through the second half. In the highlight reel, Vertonghen clearly was having an arduous time while the medical team proceeded with treatment.
The 29-year-old has been Spurs’ backbone in defence since arriving at the club from Ajax in 2012. It’s no easy feat to adapt the intensity of the Premier League but the towering defender habitually seized a spot at the core of defence and never looked back. He was rock-solid when Spurs put on a surprise and strong competition for the title last campaign.
Putting aside the disappointment of losing the race to Leicester City, Vertonghen has pulled up his sleeves and performed pretty well this term too. He has racked up 20 league appearances out of 21 and helped his side conceded only 14 goals so far, the lowest in the division.
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
Mauricio Pochettino will be upset as his side will be facing Manchester City next and Liverpool in coming weeks, two teams who are gifted with a plethora of attacking power to unravel opponents.
Besides a well-oiled first team, another thing the Argentinean has achieved is healthy squad depth. There is no need of sourcing for a stopgap in the winter window, as either Ben Davies or Kevin Wimmer will be picking up the centre-back’s duty. The former came on for the Belgian against the Baggies and looked comfortable till the final whistle.
However, a hapless West Brom is no Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s men will be looking to bounce back after the humiliating 4-0 defeat at Goodison Park. The result was never seen coming as the Manchester club hammered West Ham 5-0 in the FA cup a few days before. So it’s difficult to predict which team will show up next. Sitting right outside the top four, nothing less than three points against Spurs this weekend will further derail their chances of combating Chelsea.
On the other hand, Tottenham are equipped with prodigious firepower, spearheaded by Kane and Dele Alli, who will look to keep City’s defence busy and troubled. At the moment, no team look more capable of stopping the Blues than the Lilywhites. Apart from being on the coattails of the table-toppers, their stock even raised when they ended Chelsea’s 13-match winning streak with a 2-0 triumph.
No doubt, Vertonghen will be missed but Spurs no longer look like a team heavily reliant on a single star.
