The World Cup break could be coming at a perfect time for Tottenham Hotspur as they continue to struggle with injuries and a lack of consistency perhaps epitomised by their last five results. Spurs have won two, lost two and drawn the other in all competitions over the last few weeks.
Defeats to Liverpool and Newcastle have followed the exact same format for Spurs with them going two goals behind at home and scoring a consolation goal through Harry Kane in the second half, while both their victories have been last-gasp goals after coming from behind.
Antonio Conte has had to cope without a number of players, in particular attackers, over the last month with Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski missing for a significant amount of time through their respective calf and hamstring injuries.
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In his pre-match Liverpool press conference Conte revealed Lucas Moura was also struggling but he was able to feature for the final few minutes possibly giving some positive to Conte that he can be for available in some capacity for their final two games before the break against Nottingham Forest (Carabao Cup) and Leeds.
With that said, here's a look at the latest Spurs injury news after their Premier League clash with Liverpool and ahead of their cup match in a few days:
Dejan Kulusevski
The emergence of the Swedish forward from the bench in the 68th minute was a welcome sight for Spurs fans on Sunday. Kulusevski has not featured since before the international break in Spurs' 6-2 win over Leicester in September.
A hamstring issue picked up with Sweden has been the cause of his absence but he was able to play the final 25 minutes which included making an immediate impact slotting in Harry Kane for the Spurs goal.
Conte will be hoping Kulusevski can remain available for the final two games before the World Cup break, but with Sweden not in the World Cup, the six-week pause provides more than enough time to get Kulusevski up to speed.
Expected return date: Available for Nottingham Forest (A) Nov 9
Cristian Romero
The Argentine's absence for the third game in a row was certainly on show as Spurs were unable to keep out their opponents, in this case Liverpool, for the fourteenth time out of 19 games this season.
Romero has not been in action for Spurs since the dramatic Champions League draw with Sporting CP, with Conte revealing ahead of last Saturday's league match with Bournemouth that they had taken a "big, big risk" with Romero.
It was somewhat expected he would have recovered in time for either the final European group game in Marseille but Conte confirmed he suffered a slight setback and would perhaps not feature again for the Lilywhites until after the World Cup.
Expected return date: Unknown
Richarlison
After seeing Kulusevski depart from the proverbial treatment room, Richarlison was very quickly joined by Heung-Min Son after it was confirmed he needed surgery to fix fractures around his eye socket and will be out until the World Cup.
The Brazilian's World Cup hopes are also still alive though and while he was confirmed as out by Conte for the Liverpool game, it's possible he could return to the squad for either the Nottingham Forest fixture or Leeds game.
Expected return date: Leeds (H) Nov 12
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