Tottenham have been left with an injury headache of their own ahead of the north London derby.
Spurs fans may have felt smug when they saw Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard came off with an injured ankle on Norway duty on Tuesday evening.
It is unclear how long Arsenal’s captain will be absent for after club tests proved inconclusive, but Norway’s team doctor predicted a lay-off of three weeks.
That will have been music to the ears of the Spurs faithful, especially seeing that Odegaard’s fellow midfielder Declan Rice is suspended.
But any uplift in optimism will be dimmed after the news that Yves Bissouma picked up a knock during Mali’s 1-0 win over Eswatini on Tuesday.
Yves Bissouma was injured on Mali duty on Tuesday – a blow for Tottenham ahead of the derby
Spurs face Arsenal on Sunday but could be without the midfielder, who scored against Everton
Bissouma scored the only goal of the game but was forced off in the 65th minute after a heavy challenge.
The 28-year-old has impressed in the last two games for Spurs, scoring a stunning first goal for the club in the 4-0 thrashing of Everton in August.
He missed the first game of the season as Spurs suspended him after seeing a video of him inhaling laughing gas.
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said Bissouma had ‘made a really poor decision’ and that he needed to learn from his mistake.
Bissouma apologised for a ‘severe lack of judgement’ after posting a video of himself inhaling nitrous oxide in a chauffeur-driven limousine and laughing between puffs to his private Snapchat account, which The Sun obtained.
Tottenham are sweating over multiple stars, with Micky van de Ven, Dominic Solanke, and Richarlison also on the treatment table.
The former two are more likely than Richarlison to be ready for Sunday’s derby but there are no certainties.
Arsenal are unsure how long Martin Odegaard will be out for after his injury with Norway
As for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta is dealing with a growing crisis of absences.
Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Kieran Tierney have also been injured, while Declan Rice is suspended for the derby after his controversial red card against Brighton.
