Van der Vaart out for Six Weeks

Things just go from bad to worse for Spurs.

Via Yahoo!/Eurosport:

Dutch international midfielder Rafael van der Vaart will be out for up to six weeks after tearing a hamstring in last weekend's 5-1 defeat against Manchester City, his club Tottenham Hotspur said on Saturday....

He will miss at least the next four Premier League matches for Spurs as well as their opening Europa League fixtures against PAOK Salonica and Shamrock Rovers.

My money would be on Spurs pairing K2 (Emmanuel Adebayor) and Defoe in a classically 'arry "little/large" partnership. However, we could see Niko Kranjcar - who has started both of Spurs' matches so far - move into an advanced role with Tom Huddlestone (THud) coming into the midfield.

[In fact, THud should start regardless!]

For fantasy, this could see Gareth Bale reclaiming set-pieces and increasing his value.  Luka Modric could also see more of the ball as (if) he gets integrated back into the team.

However it plays out, Van Der Vaart has been Spurs' stand-out player since his arrival at the Lane, and he will be missed. Spurs aren't likely to be as good of a team without him, and sitting at the bottom of the table having scored one goal and shipped seven... that's a scary prospect.