Richarlison returns for Tottenham as Ange Postecoglou names his squad v Fulham
Richarlison has returned to the Tottenham squad for the first time in almost a month.
Spurs’ number nine missed matches against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, last featuring as Ange Postecoglou’s side were beaten 2-1 at home by Wolves (17 February).
Postecoglou revealed this week that the Brazillian could return to action against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday (16 March), telling SpursPLAY on Friday (15 March, via Tottenham Hotspur’s Official Website), “Richy has trained, so if he pulls up okay (in training today), he should be available for tomorrow.”
The Australian has now named his Tottenham team for the clash with Marco Silva’s side (via Spurs’ Official X, 16 March) which has confirmed Richarlison’s return to action, with the 26-year-old named among the substitutes.
While Richarlison isn’t fit enough to feature from the start, he will certainly hope to get on the pitch and make an impact late on and pick up where he left off after his positive run of form before he suffered his most recent injury.
Richarlison must prove to Ange Postecoglou that he once again deserves a regular spot in the Tottenham starting XI
Before he was forced to spend some time on the sidelines, Richarlison was on fire, having found the back of the net nine times in 10 Premier League matches.
As per fbref, his 10 league goals, with nine of those coming since December, leave him in the 93rd percentile of Premier League forwards this season when it comes to non-penalty goals scored (0.67 per 90).
However, since the Brazil international has been out of action, some of Spurs’ other forwards have stepped up.
Son Heung-min is now back to his best after returning from the AFC Asian Cup where he represented South Korea, and following his performance in Spurs’ 4-0 win over Aston Villa (10 March), it is hard to see Richarlison reclaiming his space down the middle.
As per Sofascore, Son completed 86 per cent of his passes, with two of those key, and created two big chances which led to his two assists for Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner.
He also got himself on the scoresheet late on, which saw him score in back-to-back Spurs games for the first time since late October after he had netted the previous week in Tottenham’s 3-1 home win over Crystal Palace (2 March).
That leaves Richarlison fighting for a place out wide, where his teammates have also stepped up.
Johnson has five goal contributions in his last six appearances for Spurs, with the Wales international seemingly beginning to find his feet in North London, while Werner scored his first goal against Palace and followed that up with a strike from the bench against Villa.
The landscape in N17 is different to how Richarlison left it in February, and he must now work hard to once again prove his worth to Postecoglou.
In other Tottenham news, Postecoglou’s decision to start one 25 per cent ace could cost Spurs against Fulham.
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