#injury-crisis

#injury-crisis

Real Madrid's last-second win on Friday reduced Barça's gap at the top of the standings to one point, so the Catalans know that only a victory in the Basque Country will be enough to restore their four-point advantage as the title race enters its stretch run.

The centre-back department, thus, appears relatively light-staffed, and Araujo may be Flick's trump card. The Uruguayan star has dished out some strong performances in recent times, especially in his cup start against Albacete, where he even scored a goal. Should he be back to his mentally confident state, having his physicality and leadership will be an asset.

Former Palace striker Glenn Murray called Sarr's first goal "very cool". "[He took a] really slow walk up, waited for the goalkeeper to go to his left and put it into the empty net," Murray told BBC Sport. "I am watching - people are heading to the exits."

Tottenham weren't quite as dreadful as they were in losing 4-1 to Arsenal in November, but they were still extremely so, devoid of wit, energy, solidity, creativity, quality, and everything else one would hope to see in a football team. Make no mistake, they are in serious danger of going down and, assessing their fixtures, it is not easy to see where they might win enough points to stay up

The attacking midfielder joined Villa on loan from Liverpool last summer, but his situation appeared to stall earlier in the campaign after manager Unai Emery decided against pursuing a permanent deal. Emery had publicly indicated as far back as October that Villa did not intend to trigger their option to buy the 22-year-old, a decision that saw Elliott fall out of the matchday picture for an extended period.

Napoli are on the brink of being eliminated from the Champions League as the troubled Italian club face Chelsea on Wednesday, racked by a deep injury crisis and a faltering Serie A title defence. Sat just inside the elimination zone on only eight points from seven matches after last week's miserable 1-1 draw at Copenhagen, Napoli must beat Chelsea to scrape a place in next month's playoffs. That will be no easy task with Chelsea, Antonio Conte's former club, needing a win to stay in the top eight and bag direct qualification for the last 16.

For a man who so readily embraces adversity at every turn, even Andy Farrell will surely be sitting a little less comfortably on his flight from the Six Nations launch in Edinburgh on Monday to join the rest of the Ireland squad in the Algarve.

Tottenham are facing another injury concern after Lucas Bergvall suffered a high ankle sprain that is set to rule him out for at least a month, adding to an already lengthy list of absentees in Thomas Frank's squad. The club are continuing to assess the extent of the problem in order to establish a clearer recovery timeframe. Bergvall was forced off after 62 minutes of Tuesday night's Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund following a heavy challenge,

Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur requires hamstring surgery and is set to miss at least three months. The Uruguay international, who has been a key player for Thomas Frank's side this season, suffered the injury in Spurs' Premier League defeat at Bournemouth last week. With the 28-year-old set to miss the majority of the rest of the season, it now remains to be seen whether Tottenham will enter the transfer market to bolster their midfield options.

On paper, Jeremie Frimpong could slot into the role. Signed for his dynamism and versatility, Frimpong is a natural right-back. However, Slot's tactical adjustments during Mohamed Salah's AFCON absence have pushed Frimpong into an advanced role on the right wing. His pace and attacking instincts have been crucial in compensating for Salah's absence, making it unlikely Slot will sacrifice that attacking outlet by moving him back permanently.

"No, from the start, from the first conversations we had, we've had a good, close relationship,"

I don't want to talk about it because if everyone knows it gets more expensive, everything is on track,

I don't know what is in your head but if, for example, you want another system with five defenders that could be an issue. I don't even have five defenders. The system we are playing now suits the players best. They have played this system probably throughout their whole career and there is hardly any training time for us. So it is almost impossible to change our complete idea about football if we play every two days.

"Right now he's super important because we've got a few players out injured in that position and because he's a very good player,"