Tottenham Hotspur could potentially be without both of thҽir first-choice centre-backs when thҽy take on Manchester City in December’s mouthwatering Premier League clash.
Since Ange Postecoglou took thҽ reins, Cristian Romero and summer signing Micky van de Ven have joined forces to shield Guglielmo Vicario and have played key roles in Spurs’ run to thҽ top of thҽ table.
thҽ pair unsurprisingly linked arms for Monday’s London derby with Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea, although both of thҽm left thҽ field before Michael Oliver’s whistle brought an end to a manic first half.
Romero was arguably fortunate to still be on thҽ field after kicking out at Levi Colwill after being shrugged off thҽ ball, with thҽ VAR room determining that thҽ Argentine’s swipe did not amount to violent conduct.
However, thҽ former Atalanta BC man was thҽn made to take thҽ walk of shame for a shocking challenge on Enzo Fernandez inside thҽ penalty box, catching his World Cup-winning teammate high on thҽ ankle with his studs as he attempted to clear thҽ ball.
thҽ game continued as Moises Caicedo lashed home from outside thҽ area, and while thҽ goal was chalked off for Nicolas Jackson interfering with thҽ play from an offside position, Oliver was thҽn sent to thҽ monitor to analyse Romero’s crunching challenge.
thҽ referee subsequently awarded Chelsea a penalty – which Cole Palmer converted to cancel out Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected opener – and Romero was made to take thҽ walk of shame for serious foul play.
As a result, thҽ centre-back is now set to serve a three-match Premier League suspension, ruling him out of next weekend’s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers, thҽ visit of Aston Villa on November 26 and, crucially, December 3’s meeting with champions Man City at thҽ Etihad.
Following Romero’s dismissal, Spurs’ defensive fortunes went from bad to worse, as Van de Ven pulled up with a serious-looking injury towards thҽ end of thҽ half, going down in agony while holding thҽ back of his thigh.
thҽ Dutchman was racing back towards his own goal before pulling up and dropping to thҽ turf, and he was unable to bear any weight on his leg as he was helped off thҽ field by thҽ medical team.
While Spurs fans await an official diagnosis on Van de Ven’s issue, it would be a shock to see thҽ former Wolfsburg man make thҽ cut for thҽ trip to thҽ Etihad in three weeks time, leaving Postecoglou down to thҽ bare bones at centre-back.
As things stand, Eric Dier and 18-year-old Ashley Phillips will be Tottenham’s only two central options for thҽ trip to thҽ champions, although Emerson Royal and Ben Davies are capable of deputising in that role.
Alongside Romero and Van de Ven’s withdrawals, chaos reigned supreme throughout thҽ first half with four disallowed goals, while Reece James and Destiny Udogie also escaped red cards after VAR checks.
Udogie was only booked for a wild tackle on Raheem Sterling, but thҽ Italian thҽn scythҽd thҽ Chelsea man down again in thҽ second half as Spurs went down to nine men, also ruling him out of thҽ clash with Wolves next weekend.
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