Victor Wanyama is expected to return to the Tottenham squad for the first time since August on Tuesday in a vital boost for Mauricio Pochettino.
The Kenyan has been sidelined with a knee injury since playing in the first two games of the season but he should start in either Tuesday's match at bottom-club Swansea or the derby against West Ham on Thursday.
Wanyama was available for Tottenham’s 5-2 win over Southampton on Boxing Day but Pochettino decided against including him in the 18-man squad. Another week of full training has convinced the manager that he is ready and Wanyama could go straight into the XI in place of Mousa Dembele, who has been training alone and is a doubt for the game after limping off against Saints with hip and groin pain.
Spurs have missed Wanyama, one of their players of last season, particularly since Toby Alderweireld — now their only long-term absentee — suffered a hamstring injury against Real Madrid on November 1.
The midfielder’s return will again allow Pochettino to include Eric Dier in a back-three without missing a physical presence in the centre of the pitch.
Wanyama returns ahead of three matches in six days for Spurs, finishing with Sunday’s FA Cup third-round clash with AFC Wimbledon at Wembley.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and West Brom’s Alan Pardew have both complained about fixture congestion this week and the Baggies have lodged a formal complaint with the Premier League after being forced to play twice in three days. Pochettino is in exactly the same position and, although he has not commented publicly on the schedule, he will not have been impressed by the Premier League’s decision to move the West Ham game at Wembley from New Year’s Eve to Thursday.
The Argentine will make wholesale changes for the visit of League One Wimbeldon but Liverpool’s last-gasp win at Burnley on Monday has left Spurs needing to beat both Swansea and West Ham to remain in touch with the top four, and Pochettino cannot afford too much tinkering in the next three days.
In Pictures | Burnley vs Tottenham | 23/12/2017
Wanyama is expected to be joined by Erik Lamela, Moussa Sissoko, Harry Winks, Heung-Min Son and the four full-backs in starting one of the two matches but Pochettino has little choice but to use Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane prominently in both.
Kane’s fitness is a worry, however, after the record-breaking striker missed training at the end of last week with a serious bout of flu. Pochettino is hopeful of having him available at the Liberty Stadium, where the 24-year-old is aiming to become the first player in Premier League history to score three consecutive hat-tricks.
He needs one more goal to equal Teddy Sheringham as Spurs’ all-time Premier League top-scorer on 97 and, with more personal accolades on the line, the highest goalscorer in elite European football in 2017 will not want to miss the game against Swansea’s leaky defence.
Sheringham’s goals came over seven seasons in two different spells, while Kane will break the record in his fourth season as a Premier League regular, barring serious injury.
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