Seven of Thomas Frank’s Tottenham players are on three yellow cards heading into the Nottingham Forest fixture.
Tottenham Hotspur travel to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Sunday in the Premier League.
Spurs are starting to build some momentum after a forgettable November. They have won their last two games against Brentford (Premier League) and Slavia Praha (Champions League) respectively, after holding Newcastle United to a 2-2 draw at St James’ Park at the start of December. The north Londoners are about to face stiff challenges in the upcoming run of Premier League fixtures during this festive period.
But while the fixture list was always going to be taxing, Thomas Frank has a new concern growing simultaneously. The Danish tactician now has a selection headache given the yellow card that his players have accumulated in recent games.
Thomas Frank has yellow card headache ahead of Nottingham Forest game
Tottenham have dropped to the bottom half of the table following a disappointing run of results. They managed to snap a five-game winless run in the league by beating Brentford 2-0 last weekend. After a promising start to the season, the way the Lilywhites have tailed off has been frustrating to watch for the fans. However, the fans will hope the back-to-back wins in all competitions leads the team to a start of something special.
There is a fresh concern brewing for Frank now when it comes to the availability of players during this busy run of fixtures. Six of Tottenham players in Mohammed Kudus, Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur, Joao Palhinha, Richarlison and Kevin Danso were all on yellow cards heading into the game against Brentford last weekend. Fortunately, none of them picked up a booking during that fixture.
Three players in Cristian Romero, Pedro Porro and Archie Gray went into referee Rob Jones’ notebook against Brentford, with Romero lucky to have escaped a red card for his tackle on Igor Thiago. Porro picking up a caution led to him accumulating three yellow cards (via WhoScored), and as a result, there will be seven players walking a tightrope against Forest. A couple more bookings in the next two league matches against Forest and Liverpool would trigger a ban that rules them out of the London derby at Crystal Palace on December 28.
Thomas Frank must pick his best XI to beat Forest
Injuries and suspensions are part and parcel of games, and every manager is aware of it. Despite being as many as seven Tottenham players on three yellow cards, it won’t change how Frank approaches the next couple of games.
As Forest are first on the menu list, the 52-year-old will try to pick the best XI he thinks can get three points before thinking about the Liverpool game at home next weekend. One game at a time should be his mantra and he will want the players to fight for each other to get the win at City Ground. Once the Sunday’s game is done and dusted, Frank can then focus on the Liverpool game.
