Tottenham will need Cristian Romero v Fulham after injury scare this week
Tottenham finally return to Premier League action against Fulham on Monday 23 October and will be itching to get back into the action, sitting top of the table.
The international break may not have been kind to Ange Postecoglou though, with Cristian Romero and Heung-min Son both pictured with potential issues.
Romero has already broken his silence on the issue, admitting that he is optimistic he will be fit enough to start for the Lilywhites on Monday evening.
This could be key for Spurs in their quest for three points.
Fulham have their flair players, and despite losing Alexsandar Mitrovic in the summer, they still have that physical presence up top in the shape of Carlos Vinicius, who fans should know very well.
Romero has won an average of 4.72 aerial duels per 90 minutes already this season, with his last outing against Luton particularly gruelling against Carlton Morris [Wyscout].
Set pieces were a big weapon for the home side in that game, and Fulham will be hoping the same – with the image below showing Romero somehow beating numerous bodies to the ball.
On top of his grit in the air, Romero is even better on the floor, meaning the likes of Willian and Harry Wilson may have a tough evening ahead of them.
The South American has won an average of 8.61 duels per 90 minutes so far, completing 100 per cent of them against Peru for his country before being taken off last time out.
Pace isn’t an issue either as shown below, with Peru playing a ball in behind for the attacker to potentially be through on goal with only Romero to beat.
Only a couple of seconds later, Romero has shown him into the corner with nowhere to go until he wins the ball back and another attack is underway for the world champions.
This is exactly what Ange Postecoglou will want to be seeing, his defenders never switching off despite clear dominance in games, something that will likely happen on Monday with plenty of possession for Tottenham.
Both of Vinicius’ goals this season have been poaches finishes after losing his man in the box, Romero will need to use his physical attributes to bully him out of these situations.
Given his size, the Brazilian has performed miserably in his duels, only winning 28.6 per cent of them so far this season [WyScout], but the big man will no doubt cause issues if given the space to do so.
In other Tottenham news, a forgotten Spurs full-back may feel like a new signing under Postecoglou.