Our View: ‘World-class’ player is now surely likely to start Tottenham’s first game after World Cup break

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Tottenham Hotspur central defender Clement Lenglet is now most likely to start against Brentford when the Premier League resumes.

Ben Davies may reportedly not play again until 2023 with a stomach injury he picked up during the World Cup with Wales.

That means that Lenglet is now the outstanding candidate to start on the left of the Spurs back three when they get back into league action with a London derby on Boxing Day.

The one caveat to that is that the Frenchman missed the 4-0 friendly win over Motherwell himself with a slight injury problem.

Lenglet now likely to start versus Brentford

Spurs have one more friendly, against Ligue 1 outfit Nice, to come before they get back into serious action and Lenglet will hope to play in it.

Their EFL Cup elimination allows for a bit of a gentler lead in to competitive action, and Lenglet seems likelier than Davies to be fit by then.

Of course, the Frenchman will hope to get over the fitness issue which has clearly niggled through the World Cup and he is not recovered from yet.

Lenglet has been described as ‘world class’, but he is yet to show that level of quality on a consistent basis since coming to Spurs on loan from Barcelona.

He has class on the ball but doubts remain over his recovery pace and ability to deal with physical strikers, like Ivan Toney, who will likely lead the line for Brentford on Boxing Day.

Spurs are still looking for a longer term solution on the left of their defence really, but in the shorter term, Lenglet looks likely to be the man on 26 December.