Tottenham Hotspur have received a huge boost ahead of the north London derby this afternoon…
What’s the latest?
Lilywhites boss Nuno Santo is able to welcome back first-team winger Lucas Moura from injury as they head to arch-rivals Arsenal in the Premier League.
Speaking ahead of kick-off in his pre-game press conference, the Portuguese head coach revealed the Brazilian had returned to training this week.
“It’s important to have all the options that we can have,” Nuno told the club’s official website. “It gives you so many solutions that we need and it’s so good to have Lucas back.”
The 29-year-old picked up a knock during their 2-2 draw with Stade Rennes in the UEFA Conference League two weeks ago and missed the defeat to Chelsea last weekend, as well as Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over Wolves.
Imagine him, Kane and Son
Moura has started three of his four appearances in the Premier League this term, so it’s evident that he’s a key player for Nuno and the squad.
He may not have scored or assisted yet in 2021/22 but the long-serving wide man currently ranks as Spurs’ best player, earning a WhoScored rating of 7.09, which is even higher than top goalscorer Heung-min Son (7.07) and August ‘Player of the Month’ nominee Eric Dier (6.87).
The former Paris Saint-Germain star is a tireless presence on the right flank, and with Steven Bergwijn out injured and Bryan Gil still adapting to life in England, his likely involvement at the Emirates Stadium will come as a massive boost.
Moura is currently averaging a squad-high 2.5 dribbles per game, which suggests he’s the most capable option of driving the ball forward into the final third, whilst an average of 2.3 tackles per game shows he still tracks back to help out the side defensively.
It’s that sort of relentless work rate that Nuno will need if he’s to have success against their arch-rivals today.
The £22.5m-rated dynamo, who Dier once described as a “nightmare” to train against, should come straight back into the starting XI this afternoon.
As Nuno claims, it’s good to have him back, so the Portuguese head coach may well be a little more confident heading into kickoff.
A front three of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Moura gives Spurs a great shot at pulling off a result in north London today.
AND in other news, Nuno must ruthlessly axe Spurs’ £18m-rated “real liability” today, Arsenal could feast…