“In the last few minutes against Palace he played with his nose broken but now the problem needs to be fixed,” said Pochettino. “It’s impossible for him to play but he will be available for Sunday.
“Mousa is longer than Harry, maybe 10 days or two weeks. It’s a small injury. It’s similar to what he had against Watford but with the period we have ahead it’s arrived at a very bad moment. The good news is that [Hugo] Lloris is back in the group and available.”
It is almost a year to the day since Fiorentina put paid to Tottenham’s European League hopes by beating them 2-0 in Florence. Three days later, Spurs were beaten in the Capital One Cup final by Chelsea.
But Pochettino’s side are made of sterner stuff this season and the Argentine believes victory over the Serie A team can set the tone for another season-defining week for the club, with three Premier League games in six days.
“It’s important to learn, always,” said Pochettino. “The past is an experience and you need to learn from it but this is a different moment and you have different competitions and different players.
“This season is different, they [Fiorentina] have a different coach and different players too. We have different players too. Both teams have a different momentum.
“Fiorentina is one of the best teams in Italy and show that every weekend. It’s difficult to guess the game but it’s true we will expect a very tough game.
“Football is about results. It’s important to try and win the games ahead of us and to show that we are mature enough to try and compete for the competition. We are in a key period. The period we have ahead is very important. It’s a period where we play for a lot of things.”
Tottenham (possible, 4-2-3-1): Lloris; Walker, Wimmer, Alderweireld, Rose; Dier, Mason; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Chadli.
Fiorentina (possible, 3-4-2-1): Tatarusanu; Astori, Tomovic, Alonso; Rodriguez, Tino Costa, Bernardeschi, Valero; Blaszczykowski, Ilicic; Zarate.
- Telegraph