Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed Harry Kane has suffered a minor hamstring strain and will miss their trip to Manchester United on Saturday.
The England skipper came off early having scored twice against Liverpool appearing to hold his hamstring, though Pochettino insisted at the time there was no issue and that his withdrawal was due to tiredness after a busy schedule.
However, having stayed at home for Spurs’ midweek EFL Cup defeat to rivals West Ham, the Premier League’s top scorer will be forced to sit out the crucial visit to title rivals United, with Pochettino saying it's 'impossible' to risk his star man.
"We cannot take a risk for tomorrow," the Argentine said.
"We'll see after for Wednesday [against Real Madird]. But tomorrow, it is impossible."
Jose Mourinho’s side are currently level on points with Spurs, five adrift of league leaders Manchester City, meaning defeat this weekend could well leave them eight points behind in the title race.
Kane, who missed almost four months across two injury spells last season, has 13 goals in 12 games in all competitions for Spurs so far this season, despite not registering in August once again.
Pochettino admits being without Kane will be a big loss for Tottenham.
The 24-year-old has scored 13 times in 12 appearances for Spurs this season and is the leading scorer in the Premier League with eight goals.
Pochettino must decide whether to stick with Fernando Llorente, who played in the 3-2 defeat by West Ham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, or use Heung-min Son as his centre-forward tomorrow.
Llorente has yet to score for Tottenham since his £14million move from Swansea.
Pochettino said: “I am disappointed because Harry is one of the best strikers in Europe and the world. Always you are going to miss your best striker. I am not stupid. But that is football.
“The players are not machines. It is so difficult to cope with international duty, playing every three days. It is lucky because it is not a big problem, it is only a small issue. But he is not going to play tomorrow.”
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Kane will continue to be assessed by the Spurs medical department and the club are optimistic he will be back against Real Madrid.
Pochettino said: “Always you want to have all your players available. Like always, we believe in the collective of the squad and during the season sometimes you have problems. You have to trust the players in the squad.”
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