Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou faces his most daunting assignment yet when the Lilywhites trek to the Emirates for a North London derby date with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
Spurs maintained their unbeaten start to the season in phenomenal circumstances last weekend, coming from behind to beat Sheffield United 2-1 thanks to Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski’s injury-time efforts.
With 13 points from five games, Tottenham have enjoyed their best start to a campaign since the 1965-66 season and are sitting in second place in the table, only behind a perfect Manchester City.
On Wednesday afternoon, Tottenham revealed that experienced midfielder Ivan Perisic had sustained a “complex” anterior cruciate ligament injury, and the Croatian could potentially miss the rest of the campaign as he prepares to undergo surgery.
One player who may offer Perisic tips in his recovery is Rodrigo Bentancur, who is on the long road back from his own ACL injury and is slowly being re-integrated into team training, but he will not make his return for another few weeks yet.
Similarly, Ryan Sessegnon underwent an operation on a hamstring problem earlier in the season and is also thought to be aiming for a comeback at some point in October.
Giovani Lo Celso picked up a thigh issue against Fulham in the EFL Cup last month, but while he was not available to face the Blades, he ought to come back into contention for the derby.
Fourth-choice goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman went under the knife to address an ankle concern in the summer, and it is not known when the Englishman might be back in the fold.