Pro Pundits

Can we rely on Spurs’ FPL assets without injured Harry Kane in the side?

Fantasy Premier League managers and Tottenham Hotspur fans alike are eagerly waiting for Harry Kane‘s (£11.1m) return from his latest ankle injury.

Watching the striker go down clutching that part of his leg has filled most of us with dread for several years now and we are already seeing some of the impact his absence has had on Jose Mourinho’s men.

At the very least, this time around, the latest news coming out of the Spurs camp does seem more positive than the last two injuries Kane suffered.

“The news is pretty good news. On the day of the Liverpool game, [we had] no idea. Then the next day we were thinking about three weeks, something like that. I do not want to be super optimistic but Harry is optimistic. He has the experience of some injuries in ankles and in Harry’s mind it is a couple of weeks, so let’s see if he is right.”

Jose Mourinho

However, even the most hopeful of Fantasy managers and Spurs fans don’t expect to see Kane back for at least another couple of FPL Gameweeks. The Spurs chatter suggests that the Manchester City game in Gameweek 24 might be the first time we see Kane pull on that trusty number 10 jersey again.

Either way, we cannot rely on him in the short-term but the question on many a Fantasy manager’s lips is what his absence means for his colleagues, especially the highly-popular and capable asset Son Heung-min (£9.7m).

Spurs without Kane in the past

Which FPL forward should we choose to replace Harry Kane?

Many of you will remember this sort of injury has happened before with Kane. On New Year’s Day at Southampton last season, he was substituted with ankle pain and did not return to Spurs’ first-team for 90 days.

It was only due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that he saw any further action at the end of 2019/20, making it back for Spurs’ first game of Project Restart against Manchester United.

Back in April 2019, Kane was out for 51 days with a ligament injury. In January 2019 he missed 40 days with an ankle injury. In March 2018 he missed 20 days with another ankle injury and in the 2016/17 season missed 73 days in total as a result of an ankle injury.

So we do have plenty of data to draw on when Spurs don’t have Kane although some of the circumstances have changed since his previous injury.

Spurs without Kane in 2019

CompetitionOppositionScorelineGoalsAssists
FA Cup
(3rd round)
Middlesborough (a)1-1 (D)MouraAurier
PLLiverpool (h)0-1 (L)
FA Cup
(3rd round R)
Middlesborough (h)2-1 (W)Lo Celso
Lamela
PLWatford (a)0-0 (D)
PLNorwich (h)2-1 (W)Dele
Son
Aurier
Dele
FA Cup
(4th round)
Southampton (a)1-1 (D)SonLamela
PLManchester City (h)2-0 (W)Bergwijn
Son
Moura
Ndombele
FA Cup
(4th round R)
Southampton (h)3-2 (W)Stephens (OG)
Son (pen)
Moura
Ndombele
Dele
PLAston Villa (a)3-2 (W)Alderweireld
Son (x2) (pen)
Bergwijn
Dier
UEFA CLLeipzig (h)0-1 (L)
PLChelsea (a)2-1 (L)Rudiger (OG)Lamela
PLWolves (a)2-3 (L)Bergwijn
Aurier
Aurier
Dele
FA Cup
(5th round)
Norwich1-1 (D)VertonghenLo Celso
PLBurnley1-1 (D)Dele (pen)Lamela

All Spurs fans will tell you how important Kane is to the success of the Spurs’ team.

However, back in the 2019/20 season it was maybe less concerning than it is right now. While Kane’s absence was felt, there were enough big performances and goal involvements from the rest of the side that Spurs continued to do well without him.

When you look at the games Kane missed in all competitions between January and Project Restart, the rest of the Spurs squad chipped in with their fair share of goal involvements.

  • Dele Alli (7.4m) provided two goals and three assists
  • Lucas Moura (6.6m) two goals, one assist
  • Eric Lamela (5.7m) one goal, three assists
  • Giovani Lo Celso (6.9m) one goal, one assist
  • Heung-Min Son (9.7m) six goals
  • Steven Bergwijn (7.0m) two goals, one assist
  • Tanguy Ndombele (5.9m) two assists

Even the defenders contributed with two goals and four assists between them.

However, since Kane left the field at half time against Liverpool in Gameweek 20, Spurs have failed to score. This, in part, should not be, and is not unexpected.

Over the course of the 2019/20 season the Kane was, not unexpectedly, Spurs’ top goal scorer however his team mates contributed too:

  • Kane – 24 goals in all competitions
  • Son – 18 goals in all competitions
  • Dele – 9 goals in all competitions
  • Moura – 7 goals in all competitions
  • Bergwijn – 3 goals in all competitions
  • Alderweireld – 2 goals in all competitions

However, over the course of the 2020/21 season so far the rest of the Spurs team have contributed far less to the number of goals the team have scored.

While Son and Kane are both on target to beat their goal totals from last season with 16 and 19 goals (in all competitions) respectively, they are providing 58% of the goals in all competitions and this increases to 70% of Premier League goals scored this season.

With Ndombele and Aurier the only other Spurs players to register more than one goal this season, Kane missing from the Spurs starting XI is likely to be a lot more costly this season than it was last. Furthermore, when you couple the loss of his assists as well, Spurs are decidedly short in attack without him.

Spurs without Kane in Gameweek 21

This is a massive worry for Son owners.

Son was the second-most transferred-out player ahead of Gameweek 22 with 276,748 managers saying goodbye to FPL’s third-highest point-scorer. At the time of writing, only Kane has been sold by more Fantasy managers.

With a tough match at home to Chelsea in Gameweek 21, followed by West Brom and then Manchester City, more Son sales look inevitable unless Mourinho can find the right balance for his Kane-free side.

During the second half of the Brighton game, things did improve for Spurs when Carlos Vinicius (6.9m) was introduced. The benefit of a target man in the Spurs side was noticeable with improvements.

When asked about the change from Gareth Bale (9.3m) for Vinicius after the match Mourinho said:

“I don’t like to individualise. We tried to start with a team who can try to give Son the same dynamic that he’s used to. There’s no replacement for Harry but we tried to give him that with Bale coming into his position to connect with Son, but we were not successful. But I’m not speaking about Bale, I’m speaking about us. In the second half, Vinicius is a different player. We tried to change the direction of the game. Vinicius as a target point brought us energy and he had a great shot with a great save from Sanchez. The reality is that the team improved.”

Jose Mourinho

While Spurs without Kane does the exact opposite of making Fantasy managers hearts flutter, the last half an hour of Gameweek 21 suggested that Spurs might just have enough about them to survive this latest injury blow.

The Gameweek 22 match against Chelsea will be a different prospect to Brighton. With Spurs and Chelsea playing out a 0-0 draw in the reverse of this fixture earlier on in the season, coupled with Son only managing two gaols in 10 games vs Chelsea, I am not expecting Son to return big for his owners this week.

But with the prospect of Kane returning sooner than originally feared I will be holding him, especially ahead of the West Brom game in Gameweek 23.

GET IN-GAME DATA AT LIVE FPL

Check your own rank and in-play FPL stats on LiveFPL.net every Gameweek

Sam FPLFamily <p>Fantasy Football Scout's General Manager. Half of the FPLFamily. Pundit on the FPL Pod, Fantasy Show and Sky Sports News&nbsp;</p> Follow them on Twitter

752 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Bury94
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Rockstar: Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Laporte should work as a back four.

    1. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Woohoo

    2. JELLYFISH
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      excellent

  2. R.C
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Laporte all start

    1. jtreble
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      ... said @FPL_Rockstar.

  3. Rains of Castamere
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Dammit...

    Rockstar: Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Laporte should work as a back four.

    1. jason_ni
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Thats just his guess!

  4. Rupert The Horse
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    My word it’s really snowballing now. It’s building and building towards the magnificent crescendo.

    1. Mr. O'Connell
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Of Gundogan benched

    2. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Magnifico!

  5. Hazz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Thank god, Stones starts.

    1. Botman and Robben
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Good

    2. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Needs to score two goals now.

    3. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Isn’t he just guessing?

  6. Niho992
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Announce Raz now

    1. AIRMILES
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Just to check. Raz is Sterling, yes?

      1. Stormbringer22
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Yes sir

      2. Niho992
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Yup

  7. GOTHAM City F.C.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Sterling?

  8. Steve The Spud
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    And gundo ?

  9. R.C
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Lineup potentially leaked

    https://twitter.com/DapaskyFPL/status/1356995243070095361?s=19

    1. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Live score have a guess every week. The line up is sometimes on there hours beforehand. Rarely right.

      1. R.C
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Ah ok

        1. Rupert The Horse
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Yeah. Wrong again. I’m not really sure why they do it.

    2. Fudgy
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Delete this lol

    3. Tonyawesome69
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      No Laporte so wrong

  10. Rupert The Horse
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    So Foden rested is it?

    1. Mika-eel
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Good thing I removed him. Have that Saints fella lurking with a -7.

  11. Make United Great Again
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Stones, Gundagon & Dias better start.

    1. OleBall
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      They start

  12. g40steve
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Foden deserves a rest @ rockstar

    1. Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Most rested player ever

  13. Steve The Spud
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    People actually still have foden?

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      0/ 🙁

  14. Bury94
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    XI | Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Laporte, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Mahrez, Bernardo, Sterling (C), Jesus

    SUBS | Steffen, Walker, Zinchenko, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Foden, Garcia, Gomes

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Cheers

  15. Tshelby
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    XI | Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Laporte, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Mahrez, Bernardo, Sterling (C), Jesus

  16. Dynamic
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Laporte, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Mahrez, Bernardo, Sterling (C), Jesus

    1. Dynamic
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Why is Sterling captain?

      He strikes me as a worse captain than Bednarek.

  17. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    BURNLEY TEAM NEWS

    Team to play Man City: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Cork, Westwood, Gundmundsson, McNeil, Rodriguez, Vydra

    Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Stephens, Bardsley, Long, Dunne, Benson, Driscoll-Glennon, Mumbongo, Nartey

    MAN CITY TEAM NEWS

    Team to play Burnley: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Laporte, Gundogan, Rodri, Bernardo, Sterling, Mahrez, Jesus

    Subs: Steffen, Walker, Zinchenko, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Foden, Garcia, Gomes

    1. Bury94
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Strong bench there from Burnley

    2. AIRMILES
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Kick in the balls for Zinchenko and Mendy?

  18. Rupert The Horse
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Gundo starts just as Pep promised.

  19. Niho992
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Omg KdB on the bench

    1. Niho992
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Never mind its Zinchenko

    2. R.C
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Um?

    3. Threat Level Midnight
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Dude do you have any clue of the things you say before you type them?

  20. ClassiX
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    MAN CITY TEAM NEWS
    Team to play Burnley: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Laporte, Gundogan, Rodri, Bernardo, Sterling, Mahrez, Jesus
    Subs: Steffen, Walker, Zinchenko, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Foden, Garcia, Gomes

    BURNLEY TEAM NEWS
    Team to play Man City: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Cork, Westwood, Gundmundsson, McNeil, Rodriguez, Vydra
    Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Stephens, Bardsley, Long, Dunne, Benson, Driscoll-Glennon, Mumbongo, Nartey

    LEICESTER TEAM NEWS
    Team to play Fulham: Schmeichel, Pereira, Soyuncu, Evans, Justin, Choudhury, Tielemans, Maddison, Perez, Barnez, Iheanacho.
    Subs: Ward, Daley-Campbell, Thomas, Fuchs, Mendy, Leshabela, Amartey, Albrighton, Under.

    FULHAM TEAM NEWS
    Team to play Leicester: Areola, Tete, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Reed, Anguissa, Lookman, Mitrovic, Loftus-Cheek.
    Subs: Rodak, Hector, Odoi, Ream, Lemina, Bryan, Onomah, Decordova-Reid.

    1. pingissimus
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      This must be a record for consecutive starts for an outfielder under Pep by Dias

      1. ClassiX
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Would be interesting to check - Laporte had a season like that in 2018/2019 where I think he missed only one game and played 3056 minutes out of 3420

  21. Ibralicious
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    What’s the lineup then?

  22. R.C
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Jesus starts. Bad news for Gundo.

  23. Botman and Robben
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Dias, Stones, Gundogan lets go!

    1. JELLYFISH
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      this

  24. Steve The Spud
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Imagine Raheem sterling leading you into battle

  25. JoeJitzu +42
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Bit confused by last article and I’m sure I’m having a brain f*rt but I’m not getting the whole angle of City (Southampton, Fulham Spurs) having two doubles to arrange when they’ll only be one game behind league in terms of fixtures played?

    I can see how Aston Villa and Everton will though be two games behind. (And Leeds and Burnley having one double)

    What am I missing?

    1. No Kane No Gain
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Relax brother!

      The Carabao cup final in the future mean that week the spurs and city fixtures become a future double..

    2. ZimZalabim
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      gw 33
      cup final

  26. DA Minnion (Former great)
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Burnley one nil win please.

  27. CRO KLOPP
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Points for everyone,so much crying last 20 mins for nothing

  28. Party time
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Gündoooooooooooooooooo

      Just warming up

      1. Botman and Robben
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Good. Be ready.

    • Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      I can sense an areola haul tonight !

      1. Pompel
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        As I benched Martinez pointd for him ladt gw, that id boind to happen since I'm benching Areola this gw