James Maddison Tottenham injury return vs Man City could impact five of Ange Postecoglou’s stars

Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham will be hoping for some more positive news on the injury front ahead of Friday’s FA Cup fourth round clash against Man City. After receiving some huge boosts of late with Micky van de Ven finally returning from a hamstring injury and Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur back on the pitch ahead of schedule, Spurs still have others in the treatment room waiting to return.

The spotlight will very much be on James Maddison over the next couple of days as the Lilywhites prepare for the mouth-watering showdown against the Premier League champions. Like Van de Ven, Maddison picked up an injury in the 4-1 defeat against Chelsea at the beginning of November and it feels like a lifetime ago that he was dictating things for Spurs.

Influential for Tottenham in the opening weeks of the season after making the move from Leicester City, Maddison has been a major miss since his ankle injury and the team’s results could have been a lot different in November and early December if it wasn’t for the setback. Speaking ahead of the recent 2-2 draw against Manchester United, Postecoglou issued an update on Tottenham’s No.10 and revealed that he should be back in first-team training between the two Manchester games.

“He’s getting closer. He hasn’t trained with the group yet,” said the Australian. “Obviously after Man United we’ve got two weeks and I’ll be hoping between the two Manchester games he’s back training with the first team as long as there’s no setbacks in that two-week window.

“No idea [if he’ll be fit to face Manchester City in the FA Cup], we’ll see. It depends when he starts training. If he starts training early next week, potentially, but then again you have to see how they train with the first team, how they feel. I think we’ve got three games in that week after the Premier League champions Premier League champions game so I’d hazard to say he should be…. him and Manor Solomon are the next two that should be fairly close after that provided there’s no setbacks.”

Tottenham fans are desperate to see Maddison back on the pitch, with the player sending some supporters into overdrive recently after posting a picture of his football boots alongside four heart eye emojis on his Instagram Stories. His boots were quite clearly worn as well considering the amount of grass on them, thus dropping a hint over an imminent Tottenham comeback.

If indeed Maddison is in a position to be included in the Tottenham squad against Man City, his return could impact a number of Spurs players in the process. Considering Bentancur was handed a shock start on New Year’s Eve against Bournemouth despite initially looking set to be on the sidelines until the middle of February, a potential start for Maddison certainly can’t be ruled out if he is able to give an hour or more to Postecoglou and the team.

In the event that he does take to the field at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday evening, the head coach will have the option to switch things about in the middle of the park. Bentancur, Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg were the selected trio at Old Trafford in the team’s last fixture due to a lack of choice and it was clear to see that Spurs were lacking an attack-minded player to link up midfield and attack.

Skipp and Hojbjerg will be the two players most at risk if Maddison can start against Pep Guardiola’s team, with Dejan Kulusevski, who was absent at Manchester United through illness, another option to start in midfield. A midfield of Bentancur, Kulusevski and Maddison may look rather attacking to say Spurs are coming up against the champions, yet Postecoglou did start Yves Bissouma, Kulusevski and Giovani Lo Celso in the game between the sides at the Etihad Stadium in early December.

A return for Maddison could also have an impact on Spurs’ attack as Postecoglou may elect to move Kulusevski back to the right flank. Brennan Johnson, after a disappointing showing at Old Trafford, would be at risk and the same goes for new loan signing Timo Werner.

If that is to be the case and one of the duo drops down to the bench, Postecoglou would at least have a very good option to introduce in the closing stages and their pace could be prove key against a tiring backline. Things do appear to be getting better for Tottenham in regards to injured players returning and the boss is going to have some decision on his hands if he is ever in a position where all of his squad are available at the same time.

It is a selection headache he will be desperate to have, though, considering what’s happened on the injury front over the past few months.