Antonio Conte is worried Dejan Kulusevski may not feature for Tottenham before the World Cup after the winger suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Kulusevski has not featured for Spurs since last month's 6-2 thrashing of Leicester City, having sustained the injury while on international duty with Sweden – who failed to qualify for the tournament in Qatar.
While the form of Richarlison initially allowed Spurs to cope with Kulusevski's absence, the Brazil attacker limped out of a 2-0 win over his former club Everton last week, leaving Conte short on forward options.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's clash with Newcastle United, Conte said of Kulusevski: "I think we have to wait a bit of time to see him with us, it is the same for Richarlison.
"For sure, this type of situation creates a big, big difficulty. It's normal. For me, also fingers crossed because at the moment we have Harry [Kane] and Sonny [Son Heung-min] in good health.
"I hope they continue to stay that way, or I'll have to think about putting my shoes on to play, me!
"When you go to play Champions League, especially if you play in the Premier League, you have to know that you're going to have a difficult season for injuries, for massive games, for players who become tired."
Asked whether he is concerned Kulusevski may not recover before the Premier League breaks for the World Cup next month, Conte said: "Yes, because his recovery was going well and then one day the situation worsened.
"Then when this type of situation happens, you have to restart. You need time, but we have the medical department to face injury situations, and they have to solve the situation in a short period. If you are able to solve the situation in a short period, it means points in the table."
Tottenham have lost two of their last four Premier League games (W2), suffering as many defeats in that spell as they did in their previous 21 matches in the competition.
Wednesday's 2-0 reverse at Manchester United represented the first time Spurs have failed to score in a Premier League game this season, and led Conte to declare the two sides were operating on "different levels".
Asked whether Tottenham needed to sign another creative presence in the January transfer window, Conte said the club would assess their options during the World Cup break.
"Now, we have to try to finish this period, which for us is really tough," the Italian added. "You have important injuries and you have to face the situation in the best possible way.
"Then we'll see. We have to arrive until the last game in November and then with the club we'll see the situation, if we have to do something or we continue in the same way."
RFEF elects Rocha as new president
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has confirmed Pedro Rocha as its new president.
Rocha has been elected as Luis Rubiales' replacement, despite being under investigation for corruption.
He had been serving as interim president since Rubiales resigned in September over the scandal caused when he kissed player Jenni Hermoso following Spain's Women's World Cup triumph in August.
In a statement released on Friday, the RFEF said: "Pedro Rocha has today been proclaimed the new president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), after having received the support of the majority of the assembly members of this institution that governs Spanish football.
"The process followed the procedure agreed by the Electoral Commission, which met this morning, and the timetable that was established for these elections."
Rocha has been under investigation since earlier in April, after the RFEF's headquarters was raided by police last month. The Spanish government announced on Thursday that it would be stepping in to oversee the running of the organisation.
'It's a poor season, not a poor football club' – Blades boss Wilder
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has defended Sheffield United, acknowledging it has been a bad season, but dismissing that the Blades do not have a positive future.
A midweek defeat to Manchester United means the Blades can be relegated back to the Championship should they lose to Newcastle United on Saturday.
The Blades are 10 points from safety with four games left, but even a point would not realistically be enough given they have a goal difference of -59, 41 worse than Nottingham Forest’s -18.
To make matters worse, the Blades will start their next season in the Championship with a two-point deduction for financial discrepancies.
"We're not saying everything is great," said Wilder.
"What we are saying is there is a load of optimism about the future of the football club.
"It's a poor season, not a poor football club. We've been in far worse positions than this as a football club, certainly over my time as a supporter, player and manager.
"So, we'll come again if the inevitable happens on the weekend. We'll try our best, as we did, like we did on Wednesday night at Old Trafford, to get a result for our club and our supporters – who yet again were magnificent."
Newcastle, meanwhile, are in the hunt for European football, and Eddie Howe wants a response following the 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in midweek.
Howe said: "We must learn and absorb all the lessons from Wednesday. Every game is so difficult, it is up to us to go into the game with the right mentality and let our players express themselves in the right way. We have to finish the season strongly, we are under no illusions on how important these fixtures are."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Newcastle United – Alexander Isak
Isak has scored in each of his last six Premier League home games, with only Andrew Cole (eight in 1993-94) and Alan Shearer (15 in 1996-97) netting in more consecutively for Newcastle in the competition.
Sheffield United – Ben Brereton Diaz
Brereton Diaz scored in Sheff Utd’s 4-2 defeat at Old Trafford – his fifth Premier League goal of the season since he joined on loan from Villarreal in January. With Oli McBurnie set to miss the rest of the season, Diaz will be the Blades’ biggest attacking threat.
MATCH PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE UNITED WIN
Newcastle are overwhelming favourites, and it is no surprise given Howe have lost just one of their last 25 Premier League games kicking off at 3pm on Saturday (W16 D8), going down 1-0 at Luton Town earlier this season.
The Magpies have scored in all 17 of their Premier League home games this season, with their 43 goals in total their most at St James’ Park in a top-flight campaign since 1996-97 (54).
Newcastle have lost none of their eight Premier League home games against promoted sides under Howe (W3 D5), with their last such defeat coming against Leeds United under Steve Bruce in January 2021. They also beat Sheffield United 8-0 in the reverse fixture at Bramall Lane – the most goals they have ever scored against an opponent in a single Premier League campaign is 10, doing so against the Blades’ rivals Sheffield Wednesday in 1999-00.
The Blades have lost three of their four Premier League away games against Newcastle, failing to score in each defeat. The exception was a 1-0 victory under Neil Warnock in November 2006.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Newcastle United – 71.6%
Sheffield United – 9.7%
Draw – 18.7%
Howe does not want 'constant speculation' over Guimaraes' future
Eddie Howe acknowledged he cannot control speculation over Bruno Guimaraes' future, though the Newcastle United boss wants it to end swiftly.
Reports emerged this week that Manchester City, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are all interested in the Brazil international, who has been crucial to Newcastle's rise under Howe, having been signed from Lyon in January 2022.
According to the rumours, Newcastle value their star player at a minimum of £80million.
And ahead of Newcastle's meeting with Premier League strugglers Sheffield United, Howe conceded the club cannot control the speculation.
"Having that was well planned and structured by the club, in a sense that there’s a sort of finish point," he said.
"We don't want constant speculation, it's not healthy for the player or for us.
"It goes without saying we want to keep him, I want to build our team around him. His form has been very good and he seems very happy and settled.
"He'll be thinking about a very busy summer ahead, where hopefully we can take the team, with him a big part of it. But we aren't in control of that so let's see."
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