Tottenham face tough tests following Maddison and Van de Ven injuries

Tottenham duo Van de Ven & Maddison out long-term due to injuries; Richarlison also sidelined.

James Maddison and Van de Ven limp off with injuries in the first half of the defeat to Chelsea. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

Tottenham Hotspur can confirm that the duo of Micky Van de Ven and James Maddison are out for the long term following injuries in the 4-1 home loss to Chelsea on Monday.

The Belgian defender pulled his hamstring in a foot race in the first half of the encounter and was replaced by Eric Dier, while Maddison suffered an ankle problem and was replaced by Pierre Emile Hojberg at the tail end of the first half.

Speaking to the press ahead of the weekend fixture against Wolves, Ange Postecoglou confirmed he is now without more attacking options, with Brazilian forward Richarlison also set to face specialists to resolve his niggling knee problems.

Tottenham sits second on the log, but their title credentials will be truly tested with the absence of their chief creator, Maddison, and the Belgian defender, Van de Ven. The famous high line that Spurs play is centered around the ridiculous pace of Van de Ven, and they will now find ways to play the style without him.

"Micky has a hamstring injury, which we kind of knew was fairly significant," Postecoglou said. "Probably a couple of months for him, looking forward to the New Year.

"Madders is a lot worse than we thought. Obviously, he came off with an ankle injury, but the next day he wasn't great, so we sent him off for a scan. Again, not great for him, so probably into the New Year for him.

"Richy had the operation, which we kind of scheduled anyway because he's been battling with it from day one, and with the international break coming up, we thought it was a good time to get it done. It should only be a month if everything goes well.

"We're aware that we're going to have to make some changes, but the guys who come in have been training hard and understand how we want to play.

"I know people have said it has been an advantage that we haven't been in Europe or the Cup, but if we had been, some of these guys would have had game time. That's the tricky bit. From our perspective, we can't afford any more injuries; we've got to be really careful about the kind of game time we give people."