Ange Postecoglou pointed to Liverpool's defeat at the hands of Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup fourth round as evidence of the challenges Tottenham Hotspur faces amid the team's extensive injury woes. Arne Slot rested ten players for the Reds' loss in Devon, while Spurs were missing 11 key squad members for their defeat by Aston Villa.
Tottenham has seen two of its three hopes of silverware dashed in recent days, with the club crashing out of both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, and the Europa League is the only competition that remains as Postecoglou aims to deliver on his vow that he always wins a trophy during his second season as the manager of a new club.
In the wake of Spurs' recent setback, Postecoglou cited Liverpool's upset during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, outlining how his own team's significant number of injuries is hampering its form. "If you take nine, 10 or 11 players out of any team for one weekend, I reckon it'll affect them; we've been like this since mid-November," Postecoglou commented.
When asked whether this was the main issue or if there were deeper problems, Postecoglou retorted: "Well, I'll ask you the question: if you take 11 players - how did Liverpool go today?" He elaborated on the depth of Spurs' challenges, prodding further: "We're not talking about one or two - and not just for one weekend, by the way. So get Liverpool to do that for the next two and a half months."
Just three days after Liverpool's 4-0 win over Tottenham at Anfield in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg, Arne Slot made a complete overhaul of his outfield players for the 1-0 loss at Plymouth, while Spurs made four changes. Ben Davies, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma were relegated to the bench, while Richarlison was absent from the squad due to injury.
The former Everton striker joined Brennan Johnson, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, Gugliemo Vicario, James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert on the injury list. Dane Scarlett, who was brought back from Oxford United by Spurs last month, was ineligible to play having already featured for the U's against Exeter City in the third round.