Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) scored an excellent brace as Tottenham Hotspur fought back to earn a point against Manchester City.
Here are our Scout Notes from North London.
FRANK ON ROMERO + SOLANKE
Already without eleven senior players due to injury, Tottenham lost their captain Christian Romero (£5.0 million) due to illness during half-time.
Thomas Frank explained his withdrawal, saying:
“[It was because of] disease. That’s why we rate it. Hopefully he’s doing well. He also struggled through the match against Frankfurt, but came through with a fantastic captaincy performance. He struggled a little [today] but we hope it is nothing.” – Thomas Frank on Cristian Romero
Pape Matar Sarr (£4.5m) came on for Romero, moving Spurs up to fourth in the second half. This made them look much better.
Solanke, who returned to the starting line-up after his midweek breather, pulled one back for the hosts when he appeared to collide with Marc Guehi‘s (£5.2m) leg as he shot, with the ball finding its way into the net.
He followed it up with a brilliant scorpion kick.
As added incentive, Solanke eased any fitness concerns in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, having apparently suffered an ankle injury prior to this substitution.
“I’ll be fine. I twisted my ankle a little, but I’ll be fine.” – Dominic Solanke
When asked specifically about Solanke’s ankle, Frank said:
“I don’t know the last thing, but he was obviously struggling to run as well, so we knew – was struggling to run fitness-wise – before the game was replayed, it would be a big boost to play 90. He’s not where he should be fitness-wise because he’s been out for so long. We’ve been a bit forced to play him in a way. I think it’s quite clear he’s relatively important for us – four goals in four games, where he’s on his toes.” 70-80% fitness and top sharpness. Imagine City playing without Haaland for six months. We’ve been hit quite hard by injuries in general, but Dom was excellent.’ – Thomas Frank on Dominic Solanke
VAN DE VEN, SPENCE + DANSO LATEST
As previously mentioned, Spurs are in the midst of an injury crisis with defenders Micky van de Ven (£4.6 million), Kevin Danso (£4.2 million) and DJ Spence (£4.3 million) among those who missed Sunday.
Frank provided an update on all three, saying:
“Micky [van de Ven] is a small one. I fully expect him to be available for Man Utd but unfortunately he couldn’t make it for this match.
“Kevin [Danso]another one, I think it’s a very unfortunate one. He hyperextended his big toe when he landed on an opponent’s foot against Frankfurt, causing the ligament in the big toe to break. It’s extremely bad luck, we don’t know the length of it, but we have an appointment next week where we can clarify that and Djed [Spence] has a minor calf injury. I hope Djed isn’t too tall [out].” –Thomas Frank
SIMONS AMAZING
After the tactical adjustment during halftime on Sunday Xavi Simons (£6.5 million) and Conor Gallagher (£5.5m) has really made a step forward for Tottenham.
Simons was perhaps Spurs’ best player. He provided the assist for Solanke’s first goal, registering five shots and four chances created.
“Xavi was exceptional today. He is a very good footballer, but he is probably an even bigger winner and fighter. So the way he fights with the team is exceptional, and the way he is part of moving the team forward I think is very impressive.” – Thomas Frank about Xavi Simons
Simons has now scored eleven shots and created ten chances in his last three appearances. These figures place him second among all Fantasy midfielders in that period.
The disadvantage is that the matches remain very poor until Gameweek 31:
As for Gallagher, he provided the cross for Solanke’s second and should collect defensive contribution points (DefCon) in the next update:
SEMENYO SCORES AGAIN
Antoine Semenyo (£7.8m), who did not feature for Galatasaray in midweek, returned to base in north London.
Playing from the left, Semenyo completed his third consecutive 90-minute appearance in the competition (see image below), securing a comfortable first half for the visitors where it could easily have been three or four.
Prior to that, Erling Haaland (£15.0 million) provided the assist Rayan Cherki‘s (£6.6m) opener. With four chances created in Gameweek 24, this is the most he has scored in a single match all season.
However, he missed an excellent opportunity to extend the lead and has now scored just one goal in the last seven gameweeks.
Guehi, meanwhile, scored four shots at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
As for Cherki, he was replaced midway through the second half after apparently picking up an injury, although we have yet to see any statements from Pep Guardiola confirming this.
Elsewhere, Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) started at left back with Nico O’Reilly (£5.0m) was pushed into central midfield, while Phil Foden (£8.3m) once again had to settle for a place on the bench and only featured in the final few minutes.
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