Tottenham will welcome back both Rodrigo Bentancur and Destiny Udogie for their Boxing Day match away at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Bentancur returns following the completion of his seven-match domestic suspension. He was handed the punishment back in November for using a racial slur about team-mate Heung-min Son on television, and saw an appeal against the ban rejected by the Football Association (FA). He has remained available for Spurs in Europe.
Udogie, meanwhile, was expected to come back into the team for Sunday’s 6-3 defeat by Liverpool but was an unused substitute instead after missing out on the midweek 4-3 Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United with a quad issue that forced him off early at Southampton. He is now available to start.
“From the [Liverpool] game, as far as I’m aware no issues,” Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou said at his pre-Forest press conference on Christmas Eve. “Destiny was on the bench [against Liverpool], wasn’t 100 per cent but should be right for the game [against Nottingham Forest].
“Bentancur is available after his suspension. That’s kind of it at the moment.”
It is possible that Ben Davies could be fit for the match as he approaches the end of his recovery from a hamstring injury, but the Welsh defender is more likely to miss out again due to a lack of training time leading up to the game.
Fraser Forster looks set to remain in goal after his Carabao Cup nightmare with No1 Guglielmo Vicario still out, while no Cristian Romero or Micky van de Ven still means that teenage midfielder Archie Gray should continue alongside Radu Dragusin in a makeshift centre-back partnership. Attackers Wilson Odobert and Richarlison are also still sidelined for Tottenham.
Predicted Tottenham XI (4-2-3-1): Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Solanke
Doubt: Davies
Injured: Vicario, Richarlison, Odobert, Romero, Van de Ven
Time and date: 3pm GMT on Thursday December 26, 2024
Venue: The City Ground, Nottingham
Referee: Craig Pawson
How to watch: Amazon Prime Video
