Talk about bad timing
Tottenham Hotspur were missing as many as four players after the club were hit by a sickness bug in the run up to their game against Burnley on Sunday.
Dejan Kulusevski is one of the players who had been struggling
Ahead of their fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it was revealed that key man Dejan Kulusevski had been hit by illness and didn’t look likely to make the game after missing training on the eve of the fixture.
The Sweden International recovered to make the bench with Lucas Moura starting in his place, but there were still other members of the first team squad missing for the game.
Kulusevski did not train yesterday and has been sick with a stomach virus, which has affected another four players. #THFC
— Jonathan Veal (@jonathandveal83) May 15, 2022
Although the names of the players absent from the squad have yet to be revealed, Spurs’ sickness bug was evident to see as manager Antonio Conte was forced to name two goalkeepers on his bench – as well as a number of academy players.
Here's how we line-up against Burnley! 👇 pic.twitter.com/0X7LtMDd7t
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 15, 2022
The game is a must win for Spurs who know that three points will see them leapfrog their closest rivals Arsenal after they beat the Gunners in the north London derby in midweek.
Lasagna-gate 2.0?
Fans of Spurs will be praying that there is no repeat of the infamous Lasagna-gate episode back in 2006 which ultimately cost them a place in the top four.
With just one game of the season to play in the 2005/06 campaign, Spurs simply needed to match Arsenal’s result to secure their place in the Champions League.
Spurs ended up losing the game 2-1 with the several key players turning in below-par performances after it emerged as many as 10 of them had been suffering from a stomach bug.
The club were left so concerned by the number of absences that environmental health officers were called to the training ground to take away samplings of the food players had been eating for testing.
Health authorities later declared that the players had been suffering from food poisoning, with the incident given the famous title of ‘Lasagna-gate’.
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