Spurs make an unexpected Maddison choice before their match vs Man City.
James Maddison may play for Tottenham again for the first time in almost three months. Spurs’ creative wizard has not played since the team’s devastating 4-1 loss to Chelsea in early November. This injury ended Ange Postecoglou’s promising start to his career in north London.
Micky van de Ven also sustained a major injury in the London derby; he recently returned in a 2-2 draw away to Manchester United. In the intense match, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were also dismissed, and the Lilywhites lost three of their subsequent four games.
Though there have been concerns about injuries recently, Udogie and Romero are back with the club, and Maddison’s possible comeback could not come at a better time. With club captain Son Heung-min representing South Korea at the Asia Cup and Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr representing Mali and Senegal, respectively, in the Africa Cup of Nations, Postecoglou is already without three important players.
One of Maddison’s replacements, Giovani Lo Celso, is also out due to an injury, while Dejan Kulusevski was not there for the thrilling four-goal match at Old Trafford. The Sweden international is expected to be available for the exciting FA Cup fourth round match against Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The illness that plagued the Tottenham camp earlier this month was the cause of his absence.
Additionally, Maddison may return to the matchday roster as he resumes full team training in the lead-up to the cup match. The England international is rumored to have finished his first full practice at Hotspur Way with his teammates since November last Friday, and many Spurs supporters are thrilled about his homecoming.
It is important to emphasize that Maddison can yet be unable to play against the FA Cup winners. To now, Postecoglou has refrained from disclosing if he might make a comeback from injury in time for this weekend’s match.
Similar to Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur sustained an ankle injury in November, and according to his initial prognosis, he might not recover until February. He returned early, starting the match against Bournemouth on December 31. Romero played the entire ninety minutes despite Postecoglou’s earlier statement that it was doubtful the Argentina international would be able to participate.
Many were taken aback by both decisions, especially the clubs who faced Spurs, which would seem to be the primary explanation for Postecoglou’s mysterious tactics. But compared to how Bentancur and Romero’s homecoming were handled, there has been a noticeable shift in the comments and posts regarding Maddison.
The only information about Bentancur’s incredibly early return came from a WhatsApp rumor, while Romero’s inclusion was hinted at in a video of the players arriving in Manchester. However, Madison’s return to the training field has been widely publicized on social media, which, given how previous comebacks have been received, points to a small part for Friday night’s game.
A 12-week absence is also significantly different from the roughly one month of game time that Romero and Bentancur missed. Even so, Maddison’s return to the matchday squad or his impending return will probably provide the Lilywhites with a huge boost in confidence, especially since Man City has yet to score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, giving them hope that they can defeat Pep Guardiola’s team on Friday night.
