Tottenham news: Mauricio Pochettino still waiting for Harry Kane to return as Spurs goals dry up

The England striker will not face Leicester City on Saturday, leaving Pochettino with a choice between Heung-Min Son and Vincent Janssen up front again

Mauricio Pochettino is waiting for the return of his main striker (Getty)

The hope at White Hart Lane is that Saturday’s game against Leicester City will be their last one for some time without Harry Kane. He is still recovering from the ankle injury sustained six weeks ago, and the target remains for him to return against Arsenal next Sunday, if not against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday evening.

Until then, though, Tottenham must continue with either Vincent Janssen or Heung-Min Son up front, the two men who have shared Kane’s duties over the last few weeks.

But Spurs have struggled for goals in their last few matches, desperately lacking the dangerous edge that Kane gives them up front. Back in August, when Mousa Dembele was still suspended, Mauricio Pochettino joked that his team “do not exist” without their Belgian midfielder. Spurs’ results were good, though, even without Dembele. The absence of Kane has shown that he is in fact the player they miss the most, more than Dembele, Hugo Lloris or Toby Alderweireld, all of whom have missed games this season.

Tottenham had some early success last month when Pochettino used Son through the middle, giving real incision and speed through the middle. He scored twice at Middlesbrough in the Premier League, scored the crucial late winner at CSKA Moscow in the Champions League and then led the line well in the 2-0 defeat of Manchester City, comfortably Spurs’ best day of the season so far.

The problem was that that City game came just before an international break. As Pochettino feared, Spurs lost their momentum. Players who were on top of their games with Tottenham then went off to play for their countries. And when they came back they were not quite the same.

During the break, Son played for South Korea at home in Suwon, scoring in a 3-2 win over Qatar. Then he flew to Tehran for a 1-0 loss to Iran, before returning to London.

When he returned to Spurs he was understandably tired, so Pochettino went back to playing Janssen up front for the trip to West Bromwich Albion. In Spurs’ four games since the break – West Brom, Bayer Leverkusen, Bournemouth and Liverpool – they have scored just twice. Dele Alli stabbed in an equaliser in the last minute at the Hawthorns, and Janssen scored a penalty at Anfield. One goal from open play, then, in their last four matches. No goals from open play in their last three.


 Harry Kane has made a slow but gradual return to the game 
 (Getty)

The question on Saturday is whether Pochettino sticks with Janssen, or goes back to Son. Janssen has made 14 Spurs appearances now, seven from the start, and has two goals, both penalties, to show for it. He works hard, holds the ball up and links well, but does not have the obvious confidence of a natural goal-scorer. He looks like Olivier Giroud did when he first arrived at Arsenal from Montpellier four years ago: strong, honest and switched-on, but not always dangerous.

Son could be better at getting down the sides of Wes Morgan and Robert Huth, a partnership that was a great strength last year but now already looks like a weakness. But he will have to be sharper than he has been in the last few weeks. Spurs, ultimately, will have to hope they get through this game and Bayer Leverkusen, before returning to the football they can play in the derby.

No-one is keener for Kane to return than Kane himself, though. Pochettino revealed at his press conference today that Kane is working double-time in training.

“They feel very well, they're working very hard and they suffer a lot,” Pochettino said of Kane and Toby Alderweireld, who should also be back next week. “Do you know why they want to be available quickly? Because we kill them when they are injured. They have double sessions every day, and they suffer, to keep fit then. It's a good thing to say, 'Hey come on, work hard'. They are very positive. When the doctors say they are available, that’s when they are available.” Until then, Spurs need to find a new way to score.