Tottenham to assess Walker & Wanyama ahead of Southampton match

Injury news is out ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League match against Southampton, and there are a couple of new issues to obsess and worry over. Spurs apparently are watching the status of right back Kyle Walker and midfielder Victor Wanyama, and both of them are slight doubts for tomorrow.

Spurs will also, as expected, be without the services of Harry Kane, Danny Rose, and Erik Lamela who continue to rehabilitate from medium to long term injuries.

I don’t think there’s a whole lot to worry about here with Walker and Wanyama. Spurs are notoriously (and understandably) vague when it comes to injury reporting, and so while it’s reassuring to see their issues categorized as “minor” it’s curious why the club would mention it at all.

On the other hand, the follow-up tweet from Ben Pearce, with quotes from Mauricio Pochettino, is interesting.

I’m not sure I really want to know what kind of “private matter” would result in Kyle Walker injuring his ankle on his day off. I’ll leave that kind of speculation to others.

If we play a fun game and assume that Walker was hit by a bus and Victor had his head cut off, both have relatively straightforward substitutions. Kieran Trippier would come in for Kyle, obviously. Wanyama’s absence would be a little more interesting: Harry Winks could come in as a direct replacement (though, obviously without the same kind of defensive destroyer duties in the 3-4-3). Alternately, Eric Dier could push into midfield alongside Mousa Dembele with Kevin Wimmer in central defense.

But I’m choosing not to go down that road. Based on this tweet I don’t see much of a reason not to expect both Wanyama and Walker to be in the starting lineup when the Saints go marching in on Sunday.