Injury Blow for Tottenham as Defender Romero Ruled Out for Four or Five Weeks

Tottenham's Cristian Romero, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP)
Tottenham's Cristian Romero, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP)
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Injury Blow for Tottenham as Defender Romero Ruled Out for Four or Five Weeks

Tottenham's Cristian Romero, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP)
Tottenham's Cristian Romero, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP)

Tottenham defender Cristian Romero will be out of action for four or five weeks with a hamstring injury, manager Ange Postecoglou said on Wednesday.

The Argentina international, who only returned from a three-match suspension at the start of this month, sustained the injury during Saturday's 2-1 Premier League victory over Everton.

On the eve of fourth-place Tottenham's Premier League game at Brighton on Thursday, Postecoglou told reporters: “Not so great with Romero. He had a scan the other day and has got a hamstring strain. We are looking at probably four or five weeks for him.

“Disappointing to lose him, for sure. We obviously missed him with the suspension and now we’ve just got him back and he steadied things up. Now he will be missing again for quite a chunk of time.”

However, Romero's center-back partner Micky van de Ven should be ready to return soon after his own hamstring injury.

“We will see him some time in January,” Postecoglou said. "I don’t think for Burnley (in the FA Cup on Jan. 5) but for Manchester United on the 14th potentially.

“He is not due to be part of the group this week, so we’ll see how he is going at the end of this week. Once they start training with the group, that’s when we start thinking about if they are available."

Spurs will have Destiny Udogie back at ninth-place Brighton after his one-match ban, and Postecoglou could push full-back Emerson Royal into the heart of defense alongside Ben Davies in Romero’s absence.



Salah Double Sends Liverpool 8 Points Clear in Premier League as United Draws First Game with Amorim

 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Liverpool in Southampton, England, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Liverpool in Southampton, England, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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Salah Double Sends Liverpool 8 Points Clear in Premier League as United Draws First Game with Amorim

 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Liverpool in Southampton, England, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Liverpool in Southampton, England, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

It has been more than 30 years since a team held as big a lead as Liverpool after 12 rounds of the Premier League.

Not that Arne Slot is getting too excited about an eight-point advantage before even hitting December.

“It’s nice to have this position,” the Liverpool manager said Sunday after Mohamed Salah inspired a 3-2 come-from-behind win at Southampton, “but we are definitely not getting carried away.”

Only Manchester United's class of 1993-94 — under Alex Ferguson — has had a larger lead than Slot's Liverpool at this stage of a Premier League campaign. The title stayed at Old Trafford that season.

It's those kind of glory days that Ruben Amorim is trying to recreate after taking charge of United and the Portuguese coach could hardly have got off to a better start.

Only 81 seconds had elapsed before United marked Amorim's first game at the helm with a goal from Marcus Rashford at Ipswich.

United couldn't hold out and a 1-1 draw against a team destined to be battling against relegation underlined the scale of Amorim's task to turn around the fortunes of a fallen giant in English soccer.