Guglielmo Vicario injury blow may have huge impact on Tottenham but they will be too good for Europa League rivals Roma

Ange Postecoglou must hate November with a passion as it never ends well for Tottenham. 

Hark back 12 months and Spurs were flying high at the top of the Premier League table only to lose 4-1 at home to Chelsea when Micky van de Ven and James Maddison suffered long-term injuries and Cristian Romero and Destiny Odogie were suspended for multiple matches after receiving red cards.

Fast forward to this week and the central defensive pairing of Van de Ven and Romero, among the best in the division, are both in the treatment room with Richarlison and Wilson Odobert. Rodrigo Bentancur is serving a seven-match ban for making a racial slur about team-mate Son Heung-Min in an interview and now they will be without goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario for the foreseeable future after he had surgery on a fracture to his right ankle.

The Italian suffered the injury half an hour into the 4-0 demolition of Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday but stayed on the pitch to make a series of superb saves and keep a rare clean sheet away from home. Brave kid.

Fraser Forster, the former Celtic, Newcastle and Southampton goalkeeper, steps up to the plate and although the 36-year-old has enjoyed an above average career he’s not the sweeper-keeper Vicario is and there have to be question marks over his ability to play the ball out from the back in the same fluid manner.

Forster would most likely have started this week’s match against Roma in any case as he’s already featured in Tottenham’s Europa League campaign and Spurs will be praying he can prove himself as the perfect replacement the way Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin seamlessly stepped into the heart of defence against City.

Spurs will look to find another keeper in the January transfer window but the answer to Big Ange’s problems is obviously going to be to score goals galore – they already top the Premier League with 27 in just 12 matches, three more than next best Liverpool, and have found the net three or more times in seven of 18 matches in all competitions.

As usual it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride for Tottenham fans but they can start life without Vicario by beating Roma outright at 8/11 with Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill, while Brennan Johnson is 7/1 with bet365, Paddy Power and Betfair to bag the first goal and 21/10 with the former firm to score at any point.

• Ruben Amorim should gain his first victory as Manchester United manager when they entertain Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League duel at Old Trafford.

United were mediocre in the 1-1 draw at Ipswich on Sunday and under 2.5 goals is 41/20 with BetMGM and Unibet, while Bruno Fernandes is 23/4 to break the deadlock and 8/5 with Paddy Power, Betfair and bet365 to score at any time.

Chelsea are 23/20 with StarSports to lead HT/FT at Heidenheim 1846 in the Europa Conference League.

• It’s estimated by the US Department of Agriculture that 46million turkeys are gobbled up by hungry Americans each Thanksgiving Day. The biggest turkey devoured this year will be the truly awful New York Giants when they face the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington.

The hosts are not very good either but pulled off a shock win against the impressive Washington Commanders on Sunday and can win by more than 3.5 points at 6/5 with Ladbrokes and Coral.

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