Harry Kane was not pictured in training with his Tottenham Hotspur‘s teammates on Wednesday which sparked the speculation that he was nursing an injury. The England and Tottenham‘s captain was expected to be at the training session since the team is having an important Europa League match against LASK on Thursday.
The Europa League group J match could make or mar Tottenham Hotspur‘s chances of qualifying for the next round of the UEFA competition. So far in the 2020-2021 Europa League campaign, Tottenham have played 4 Europa League matches in which they suffered defeat in the hands of Antwerp, and they have enjoyed three victories.
As it stands, Tottenham Hotspur are occupying the second spot on the group J table with 9 points, the same points as the first placed Antwerp. If LASK defeat Tottenham on Thursday night, the defeat could take LASK above Tottenham but on the same points which could make it difficult for Jose Mourinho and his team to scale through the group.
However, a win over LASK on Thursday will go a long way to guarantee the qualification of Tottenham from the group with 12 points. The win will make the last Europa League group stage match against Antwerp on the 10th of December just a fight for the team that will top the group table.
Hence, when Jose Mourinho faced the press today for the Europa League pre-match press conference, the press tried to understand why Harry Kane did not train earlier in the day.
Mourinho confirmed that Kane is injured but failed to confirm the nature of his injury. He however noted that the striker has a chance of playing against Arsenal on Sunday, November 6, in the Premier League.
“I don’t believe he [Erik Lamela] has a chance for the weekend,” Mourinho said. “Harry, [Carlos] Vinicius and Sergio [Reguilon] there is a chance for them to be [fit] for the weekend.
“I’m not going to tell you about the nature of his injury. I think there’s a good chance [for Sunday], I don’t want to lie, I don’t want to hide anything about ‘Oh is he going to play or not’. I think he’s going to play, that’s my feeling.”
This means that Harry Kane will not be available for the Europa League match on Thursday as Jose Mourinho will prefer to ensure that the England international get fit for the league match against Arsenal. Kane played in Tottenham’s league match against Chelsea on Sunday, November 29 which ended 0-0.
Tottenham’s meeting against Arsenal on Sunday is as important as the club’s Thursday’s Europa League match. Tottenham need to win the London derby to maintain their leadership on the league table. They are currently occupying the top spot with 21 points, the same points as second placed Liverpool and two points away from third-placed Chelsea.
Hence, Tottenham need their 27-year-old center-forward who has scored 7 league goals and provided 9 assists in 10 Premier League matches to be fit enough for the game against Arsenal on Sunday.
The chances of Harry Kane not playing against @Arsenal are about the same as @MesutOzil1088 playing against @spurs…no chance. Why would Kane give up the chance to increase his goals tally. #JosePlayingGames 🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/hzQSZjIRll
— Gary Webster (@RealGaryWebster) December 2, 2020
