Tottenham Hotspur are set to face Arsenal in the North London Derby later today, and Spurs faithful might already know a piece of team news that they were sweating over, thanks to Richarlison.
Spurs marquee striker Dominic Solanke has been forced to miss out on action in the past couple of games owing to the ankle injury that he picked up in the draw at King Power Stadium on the opening weekend of the new campaign.
Richarlison hints at Solanke start
While Lilywhites boss Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that the £65 million ace has returned to training and will be available for selection when White Hart Lane hosts Arsenal, his Brazilian teammate has suggested that he would straight away walk into the starting eleven.
Solanke took to Meta’s Instagram to celebrate his 27th birthday, as he wrote, “Thank you, Lord, for another year. Thanks for all the love and messages.”
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Richy was quick to duck into the comments with a response that suggested Solanke would return to starting eleven later today. The ex-Everton man wrote, “Sonny will give you a gift tomorrow, bro.” He added a smiling emoji to a message that gives out two of the eleven players lining up in the tunnel in the North London Derby.
The Richy problem continues
While Richarlison backs Solanke to start today, he would not be involved himself. The Brazilian has been an inconsistent presence at Hotspur Way with his injury problems concerning a lot of Spurs supporters, and he added to the frustrations after picking up an unspecified injury in training ahead of Tottenham’s trip to St. James Park before the international break.
The Tottenham social media team stayed away from posting any Solanke material despite the head coach suggesting he is ready to be back. This kept the supporters on the
edge of their seats, questioning whether the 27-year-old would start or not. Richy might have pulled the rabbit out of the hat with that comment.-> Tottenham’s 5 best PL opening day wins
This would come as a relief for Tottenham fans as they would go into the all-important derby with their marquee arrival; however, it also gives Mikel Arteta more time to prepare for the game rather than focus on how Spurs would be lining up. Pros and cons.