It wasn’t long ago that the 2018-19 Tottenham Hotspur season had hit a bit of a slight rough patch after the north London side saw themselves dumped out of the FA Cup and EFL Cup at the hands of London rivals within the same week. However, it seems like ancient history right now as Spurs have won their last four Premier League contests, and they did it without their top two individual stars.
Now their talisman is coming back, and it won’t be long until their best midfielder returns to action as well. Given how Spurs could cut the deficit at the top of the table to just three points this weekend if they win at Burnley FC, it’s safe to say the rest of the season looks very bright.
Spurs will enter the weekend fixture undefeated in their last nine against the Clarets, and with the league’s best road points total (33).
Harry Kane has returned to training almost two weeks earlier than had been expected. Kane, who was originally ruled out until March, recovered rapidly from the ankle ligament injury he sustained in the home loss to Manchester United on January 13 and has not featured since.
As his rehabilitation progressed quicker than most had expected, the return timeline improved and just last week Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino made it known that a return against Burnley on February 23 could be in the cards. Now it looks like he really could feature on Saturday.
It may not be long until star midfielder Dele Alli also returns to training, but Ben Davies and Vincent Janssen are out. Eric Dier did not participate in the UCL win at Borussia Dortmund last week might may be available here; possibly.
Switching over to the hosts, Aaron Lennon and Jonathan Walters will likely not be available this weekend. Meanwhile Steven Defour is a doubt for this one.
Tottenham Hotspur at Burnley FC FYIs
Kick-off: Saturday February 23, Turf Moor, 1230 pm (BST), 630 am (CST)
Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Odds via Bet365: Tottenham Hotspur 4/6, Draw 11/4, Burnley FC 4/1
Google Result Probability: Tottenham Hotspur win 56%, Draw 26%, Burnley FC win 18%
Press conference videos: coming Friday
Prediction: Tottenham 2, Burnley 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.