Richarlison has given Tottenham fans a massive boost heading into the North London Derby on Sunday. The Brazilian forward hasn't played since the World Cup having picked up an injury in Qatar.
He struggled with injury before the international break too, missing four matches ahead of playing Leeds in November. The 25-year-old is still yet to score in the league since is move from Everton over the summer but provides an additional burst of energy and aggression to the side.
He, alongside Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrygo Bentancur have been consistent absentees for Antonio Conte this season but things are looking up for the Italian ahead of their biggest game of the season. With an 11-point gap to Arsenal, who also have a game in hand, Spurs are aiming to beat their rivals at home for the fourth time in a row.
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Going back to 2015 Arsenal haven't beaten Tottenham at either White Hart Lane or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in seven attempts. They are far from the favourites heading into this one though and will be reliant on returning stars to give them a boost.
Speaking ahead of the match Conte was hopeful on the fitness of his key trio. "The news is for sure the situation is going to improve, especially for Deki, for Kulusevski," he explained. "He had a training session in the last few days with us. I think he is going to be ready to play. About Richy and Rodrigo (Bentancur), also both situations are improving.
"I think in this moment Deki is much more ready to play and especially don't take risk because for us it is very important to have patience, especially because these are important players for a long period. Now to accelerate the process to risk to recovery and to lose them for a long period again, is not good, is not positive.
"For this reason, we'll see. We have another training session tomorrow to monitor the situation well about Rodrigo and Richy."
Richarlison has gone a step further than this though, dropping a hint on Instagram. In a post of him celebrating a goal in the Champions League, he captioned it with a timer emoji and a face with stars in the eyes, sparking fans' excitement that he could be further down the line than the club are letting on.
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