Tottenham Strives To Keep Winning And Getting The Third Place

Tottenham loss of Cristian Romero for up to five weeks with a hamstring strain leaves Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou with a fresh selection headache for Thursday's visit to Brighton.

With Micky van de Ven (hamstring) still sidelined, Postecoglou has a choice between out-of-favour Eric Dier, youngster Ashley Phillips or full-back Emerson Royal to partner Ben Davies at centre-half on the south coast.

Dier replaced Romero at half-time in Saturday's win over Everton but Emerson was needed at left-back to cover the suspended Destiny Udogie, so the likeliest scenario is the Brazilian reverting to the middle in a back line made up entirely of full-backs.

"No, no. He's no good," said Postecoglou when asked about Romero.

"He's had a scan, so he'll be out for four or five weeks. Everyone else got through it okay. There's a few sore bodies there but we've had a, sort of, easier training week, last few days anyway, but everyone else is okay."

Aside from Udogie's return, the only other likely change could be Giovani Lo Celso's return to the XI, although Postecoglou may be reluctant to disrupt his front front four, who are finding some rhythm.

James Maddison (ankle), Manor Solomon (knee), Ivan Perisic (knee) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) are also still sidelined, while Yves Bissouma will serve the second of a four-match ban.

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Predicted Tottenham XI (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Porro, Emerson, Davies, Udogie; Skipp, Sarr; Johnson, Kulusevski, Son; Richarlison.

Injuries: Romero, Perisic, Maddison, Bentancur, Van de Ven, Sessegnon, Solomon, Whiteman

Suspended: Bissouma

Head-to-head:Tottenham and Brighton

Matches: 16

Brighton win : 3

Tottenham win: 12

Draws: 1

Date and time: 7:30pm GMT, Thursday December 28, 2023

Venue: Amex Stadium

Jarred Gillett - Referee

Graham Scott - 4th Official