Much has been made of Antonio Conte's midfield options heading into the new campaign, but the Tottenham boss may have to do without two of his players on the opening day vs Southampton. football.london understands that Oliver Skipp is set to miss the opening two to three weeks of the 2022/23 season after suffering a hairline fracture in his heel.
Playing in Tottenham's two friendlies in South Korea last month, the England U21 international has been absent for the past two matches after suffering an injury on the training pitch at Hotspur Way ahead of the Rangers game. Jumping for an aerial challenge, a Spurs teammate fell awkwardly on Skipp as the pair landed and it left him with a deep cut on his foot from the stud impact and a hairline fracture in his heel.
As well as Skipp, Conte may potentially have to do without new signing Yves Bissouma against Southampton. The Mali international is a doubt for the fixture after picking up a slight hamstring tweak last Saturday against Roma, which resulted in him wearing an ice pack on the injury following the 1-0 defeat in Israel.
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The pair, if fit, may have missed out on selection vs Ralph Hasenhuttl's anyway if Conte's selection in pre-season is anything to go by. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, the player many thought was most at risk of missing out on the team following Bissouma's arrival, may in fact be seen as first choice by the Italian now after playing 289 minutes in total across the four friendlies.
Rodrigo Bentancur was next in line but his 180 minutes were 109 behind his teammate. Such a key player in Tottenham's Champions League finish following his move from Juventus, it was always going to be hard to see Conte drop the Uruguayan from his side and down to the bench given his importance.
Hojbjerg and Bentancur built up a really good understanding in the final four months of last season and now look set to carry on playing alongside each other in 2022/23 starting from Saturday. Skipp's injury and the possible absence of Bissouma does highlight the need to have a fifth midfield option at the club just in case injury or suspension strikes.
With Harry Winks clearly not in Conte's plans having been left out of all four pre-season games, Harvey White could quite easily find himself on the substitutes' bench this weekend, as was the case in 18 of the team's final 19 Premier League games last term. The opportunity may also come Pape Matar Sarr's way after linking up with his Tottenham teammates for the very first time this summer.
Conte and Fabio Paratici still need to decide what comes next for the Senegal international but this could be the opportunity he needs to force his way into his plans for the campaign. Both Sarr and White have been linked with loan moves away before the transfer deadline, something which would both help their game massively, and the two injuries could well determine where they actually stand in his midfield masterplan.
The young duo may in fact both find themselves in the squad against Southampton, although that will probably all depend on Bissouma's fitness over the next couple of days. Tottenham cannot leave themselves too short in midfield over the course of the season and the injury news regarding Skipp and Bissouma only highlights the importance of having that fifth option as cover.
Quite who will be fifth in the pecking order remains to be seen, however. That could all become clear when Southampton visit the capital on Saturday afternoon.
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