Liverpool Vs Tottenham: Micky Van De Ven Will Be Absent

Micky van de Ven is confirmed to be absent when Tottenham travel to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semifinals (Instagram/@mickyvdven).

JAKARTA - Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven will miss the Carabao Cup semifinals against Liverpool on Friday, February 7, 2025, early in the morning WIB, after Ange Postecoglou's manager said he should be conservative about the player's long-term hamstring injury recovery.

Van de Ven returned to play in Spurs' win over Elfsborg on January 30, 2025, playing 45 minutes before being replaced in the second half.

Spurs have been hit by an injury crisis this season and it was exacerbated when Van de Ven's successor to Elfsborg, Radu Dragusin, picked up an ACL injury in the 66th minute of the game. Dragusin is expected to miss out for the remainder of the season.

Dragusin' injury led him to join key team players, such as Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, target Johnson, James Maddison, and Dominic Solanke on the bench of the north London side.

Spurs travel to Anfield with a 1-0 aggregate advantage thanks to Lucas Bergvall's winning goal in the first leg, February 8, 2025.

Postecoglou said Van de Ven had not suffered an injury that left him unable to appear in the Premier League since Spurs lost 3-4 to Chelsea on December 8, 2024.

However, the coach expressed his desire to be careful about the rehabilitation of the defender.

"With Micky and (Cristian) Romero to some extent, I feel we should be conservative to them."

"Micky managed to get through the match (against Elfsborg) well, but I don't think he's ready to increase his intensity to the Premier League."

"After losing Radu, this is my opinion, I don't want to risk losing them. Other players are also getting closer," said Postecoglou.

Van de Ven's absence in a long time will be a crushing blow for Postecoglou with his trapped squad fighting in the Premier League and relying on the success of the league trophy to turn the season into a success.

Van de Ven has suffered repeated injuries since arriving in Spurs in August 2023.

"We saw the numbers in terms of physical results. He trained harder and managed to get through it well. The Premier League is a completely different competition."

"We'll have a tough week ahead. We've given ourselves a few games in the middle of the week without schedule."

"After that, Europe started which was very important to us. I don't see any point in taking that risk now," Postecoglou said when asked to explain further about Van de Ven's absence.

Meanwhile, Postecoglou confirmed that new players Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel are eligible for a trip to Merseyside.

"The presence of Kevin Danso is a big bonus for us. (Van de Ven) has not suffered any more injuries. I feel we need to give him more opportunities," said the Australian coach.