Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero made it into the starting XI for Sunday’s clash with Aston Villa but managed to injury himself before kickoff.
The Argentina international had been an ever-present for Spurs in the Premier League this season since Thomas Frank took the surprising decision to name him club captain. Romero was set to extend his run of starts to eight straight games despite travelling to the United States with Argentina over October’s international break, only to pull up during the warmup.
Kevin Danso was drafted in alongside Micky van de Ven, who took on Romero’s armband, but Spurs often feel the impact of their captain’s absence.
Of the 25 Premier League matches which Romero has missed over the past two years, Spurs have won just six (24%). Their win rate with the Argentine in the team more than doubles (50%, 29/58). That said, Tottenham needed less than a minute to take the lead against Villa in front of a pleasantly surprised home crowd.
Romero Adds to Tottenham Fitness Concerns
Romero wasn’t the only unexpected absentee this weekend. Left back Destiny Udogie was also conspicuously missing after suffering a setback while away with Italy this month. “He came back from international duty with a minor irritation in the knee, so that just keeps him out for this game,” Frank told Sky Sports ahead of kickoff.
The Danish boss was optimistic that Udogie wouldn’t be out for the long term—“That’s not the plan”—but the fitness issues don’t stop there.
Midfielder Yves Bissouma is set to be out for “a few weeks” with an ankle issue while first-choice centre forward Dominic Solanke is sidelined for an indefinite period of time after undergoing knee surgery last month.
“Dom’s progressed well post-surgery,” Frank insisted ahead of Sunday’s match. “The good thing is he is progressing, but he is still training on his own. I don’t want to be too negative or get too excited. How long he takes [to return], I don’t know.”
Paris Saint-Germain loanee Randal Kolo Muani offered some rare positivity. After sitting out Tottenham’s previous six matches with a muscular complaint, the France international was back on the bench this weekend.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Cristian Romero Isn’t Playing for Tottenham After Being Named in Starting XI.