De Zerbi tipped to spring Tottenham surprise after another injury scare rocks squad
Tottenham are facing further injury issues after Jan Paul van Hecke was forced to leave Netherlands training early on Wednesday, subsequently withdrawing from the squad, with Roberto De Zerbi tipped to spring a selection surprise if the Dutchman is ruled out for any length of time.
Van Hecke has been a mainstay of De Zerbi’s backline so far this season, having joined in a £52million summer deal from Brighton, but has been heavily criticised for some of his performances.
Indeed, his shambolic display in the 3-2 loss to Aston Villa before the international break led to one former Tottenham star calling for Van Hecke to be axed from the side.
That call could now be enforced, however, after the 26-year-old became the latest injury victim of the prolonged international break.
The Netherlands held an open training session in Zeist ahead of their match against Greece and, while footage showed Van Hecke participating in the early stages of the session, he was then seen having a conversation with head coach Xavi before taking a seat in the dugout.
Reports in the Dutch media say he lasted just seven minutes of that session and has now returned to Tottenham for further treatment, meaning he will miss the Nations League clash against Greece on Thursday and then the return meeting with Serbia four days later.
A statement read: “Jan Paul van Hecke won’t travel to Thessaloniki with the squad.
“The defender got injured during the away game against Serbia and will return to Tottenham Hotspur. Get well soon, JP!”
Van Hecke had started next to Virgil van Dijk in the centre of defence in both the Netherlands’ matches so far in this international break, although his performances against Germany and Serbia led to mixed reviews.
Van Hecke could now join Pedro Porro, Dejan Kulusevski and Mykhailo Mudryk on the injury list for the trip to Manchester United after the international break, although there is hope that Porro could return earlier than expected from his hamstring injury.
De Zerbi tipped to turn to Tosin
As for where De Zerbi could turn if Van Hecke is ruled out for any length of time, the natural assumption is that summer signing Marcos Senesi would be the next man up.
However, the former Bournemouth man struggled in both his starts to date – the season opener at Brentford and the Carabao Cup loss at Liverpool.
The balance of the defence would also be affected if Senesi starts alongside Van de Ven, with both players left-footed and used to playing on that side.
De Zerbi is therefore being tipped to turn to the naturally right-sided Tosin Adarabioyo to replace Van Hecke, if needs be, instead.
The former Chelsea defender was one of Spurs’ better players in the League Cup loss at Liverpool, earning a 7/10 rating from Football.London, who wrote: “A solid full debut from the centre-back. None of the goals were really his fault and he did most of what he had to do pretty well.”
In contrast, Senesi was handed 5/10 for his display, while Tosin also provides a more physical presence to a Tottenham backline that was bullied by Villa frontman Nicolas Jackson last time out.
Whether that will be needed against United will largely come down to whether Benjamin Sesko is fit to start due to his shin injury.
Either way, Tottenham now face a wait to determine the extent of Van Hecke’s injury and how long he could potentially be sidelined for.
