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Nightmare for Nuno as Tottenham sweat over seven potential absentees

Tottenham could be missing as many as seven stars in Saturday’s Premier League trip to face Crystal Palace after four players sustained worrying knocks while on international duty.

Nuno Espirito Santo has made a perfect start to his reign at Spurs. Three successive 1-0 wins have Tottenham sat top of the embryonic Premier League table and have their supporters dreaming once again.

Next up is a tough trip to tackle Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. But Spurs’ prospects of maintaining their 100% start will be thoroughly tested by four injuries that threaten to derail their plans ahead of the game.

Those four stars all picked up knocks during the current international break. Furthermore three players travelled to South America against their wishes with quarentine rules making them doubts.

First up is Ryan Sessegnon and Oliver Skipp, with the duo both suffering setbacks while on duty for England U21s. As per the FA, Skipp suffered a groin injury, while Sessegnon has a knock. Both look doubtful for the weekend.

Nuno also has a major concern over star forward Heung-min Son. The attacker played 90 minutes of South Korea’s 0-0 draw against Iraq last Thursday but has since missed their subsequent games after sustaining a calf problem.

At this stage, he’s rated ‘highly doubtful’ for the weekend.

“Heung-min felt uncomfortable in his right calf after training on the 6th [of September], and as a result of the test, he was excluded in order to protect the player,” the KFA said in a statement.

One man who could benefit from his potential absence is Steven Bergwijn. However, the Dutch winger also hobbled off with an injury during the Netherlands’s 6-1 win over Turkey on Tuesday.

The winger was spotted with heavy strapping and ice on his left ankle, though the exact extent of his injury has not been confirmed.

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South American trio also face absences

Tottenham’s troubles, however, don’t end there.

Indeed the club are also awaiting the outcome after the bizarre scenes that saw health officials halt the Brazil v Argentina clash.

Spurs duo Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero were both involved in the game. The pair though have since been released from duty by Argentina.

However, as per the Evening Standard, they met up with Davinson Sanchez, who was on duty with Colombia.

The three of them are now understood to have flown to Croatia. They will now reportedly spend 10 days training there to avoid being placed in a quarantine hotel in the UK.

And while they will miss Saturday’s game, the trio could be back in time to tackle Chelsea the weekend after.

Reports claim Spurs are also set to fine Lo Celso and Romero, who travelled to Argentina against their wishes.

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