Tottenham Hotspur have received a blow ahead of the North London derby as a key Arsenal man is expected to recover from his injury and be involved on Sunday.
Spurs could have a whole host of players missing the North London derby, with the Lilywhites still in the midst of an injury crisis.
Last week, it was reported that Arsenal would welcome back five key players for the clash against Tottenham.
It was suggested that Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard could all take to the field at the Emirates.
Now, Tottenham’s fierce rivals have had further good news ahead of the big clash on Sunday.
Riccardo Calafiori is expected to be fit to face Tottenham
Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori withdrew from the Brazil and Italy squads, respectively, after suffering injuries on international duty.
There was thus the possibility that Arsenal would have to line up against Spurs without two members of their usual back four.
While Gabriel is still considered a major doubt to face Tottenham, it has now emerged that Calafiori is set to start against the Lilywhites.
This is according to Fabrizio Romano, who says that the Italian, who has been Mikel Arteta’s first choice at left-back this season, is expected to be passed fit for the derby.
Spurs can take heart from their home form
Tottenham’s bloated injury list, their poor record at the Emirates and Arsenal’s impressive start to the season mean that Thomas Frank’s men go into the game as massive underdogs.
As expected, most pundits have not given the Lilywhites a chance of getting a result against Arsenal.
However, it is worth remembering that Spurs have the best away record in the Premier League this season, which is something Frank’s men can take confidence from heading into Sunday’s fixture.