Pedro Porro worry at Tottenham as right-back absent from training footage ahead of Aston Villa
Tottenham will hope to have right-back Pedro Porro available when they travel to the West Midlands to take on Aston Villa on Sunday 10 March.
Spurs face arguably their biggest game of the season this week as Ange Postecoglou gets set to take his players to Villa Park for a Premier League clash which could have huge implications on the race for UEFA Champions League qualification.
Unai Emery’s side are currently fourth, five points ahead of Spurs having played a game more.
Victory for Tottenham would put them just two points behind Villa still with their game in hand, which would offer them the opportunity to leapfrog Emery’s side and make a return to the Premier League’s top four.
Ahead of the clash, Spurs have shared footage from their first team training session on Wednesday to the club’s official X account (6 March).
Postecoglou will hope to have Porro available again on Sunday with the right-back having been sidelined by an injury in recent weeks, although the Spaniard was nowhere to be seen in any of the footage.
As a result, Emerson Royal could once again be called upon against Villa.
Ange Postecoglou will be desperate to get Pedro Porro back on the pitch for Tottenham
Porro has been one of Spurs’ best players this season and his availability between now and May could play a huge part in whether or not Tottenham qualify for the Champions League.
The former Sporting Lisbon player has adapted well to his role as an inverted full-back, laying on seven assists for his teammates so far in the Premier League this season.
As per fbref, the 24-year-old ranks in the top nine per cent of his positional peers in England’s top flight for his assist tally in the league across the 2023/24 campaign.
In addition, although he is yet to find the back of the net, he often makes himself a nuisance for opposition goalkeepers, ranking in the 98th percentile of Premier League right-backs for the number of shots he has had (1.61 per 90).
His attacking quality is there for all to see as he sits in the 94th percentile for his total goal-creating actions (0.44 per 90) and top 10 per cent for the number of passes he has played into the penalty area (1.35 per 90).
Replicating this attacking output is no easy task, and Emerson struggled in Porro’s absence during Spurs’ 2-1 home defeat to Wolves on Saturday 17 February as he failed to play a key pass or provide an accurate cross into the box from his two attempts (Sofascore).
His display in the 3-1 home win against Crystal Palace wasn’t much better, as he once again failed to play a key pass while providing one accurate cross from five attempts on this occasion.
Spurs will need everything they have got against Villa, and Postecoglou will hope that Porro makes a last-minute recovery just in time for the match.
In other Tottenham news, ex-Spurs scout Bryan King has likened a player linked with a move to North London to James Maddison.
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