Thomas Tuchel has admitted that it is ‘absolutely no secret’ that it would be ‘easier’ if Harry Kane isn’t playing for Tottenham during their Premier League clash against Chelsea tonight, as he told his pre-match press conference.
Tottenham’s main man is expected to be absent for the all-London affair, but Tuchel made it clear that Chelsea will be preparing for ‘all cases’, as he labelled the 27-year-old as ‘one of the best’ in the world.
Kane missed Tottenham’s defeat to Brighton last time out after he went off at half-time during the loss against Liverpool.
This won’t be the first time Tuchel has come up against Spurs, nor planned for Kane, but he’s suggested that he would prefer the England international to be out of the XI than to be taking to the field.
“Well I would say it’s always easier if Harry Kane is not playing, that is a given, absolutely no secret,” said Tuchel.
“Harry Kane is one of the best number nines in the world, a role model number nine that every coach and team wishes for in terms of work rate, ambition, mentality, attitude, and his goalscoring is simply outstanding.
“At the moment, we assume he will not play. But we will prepare ourselves for all cases. So if he’s on the pitch we will also be prepared for that.”
Tottenham’s performance at Brighton was pretty evident as to how much Kane means to this Spurs side.
Even with the likes of Heung-Min Son, Gareth Bale and Tanguy Ndombele in the team, they still looked lost for ideas and struggled to get their engine going.
Jose Mourinho’s side are slipping down the table and another defeat to their neighbours would well and truly put the pressure on the man in Tottenham’s dugout.
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