View: 25% returnee at risk of axe already for Tottenham v Wolves

Tottenham may only pick Rodrigo Bentancur against Wolves by default after his underwhelming return against Nottingham Forest.

Bentancur made his first Premier League appearance since 10 November on Boxing Day at the City Ground following a seven-match domestic FA ban recently, as Spurs limped to a 1-0 defeat.

The Uruguayan was hooked for Lucas Bergvall 64 minutes into his long-awaited return, and it remains to be seen if Ange Postecoglou retains faith in Bentancur for the visit of Wolves on 29 December.

Rodrigo Bentancur must get back to his best in Tottenham v Wolves

Losing Bentancur for seven matches, on top of a spate of injuries all over the pitch, has proven to be a bitter blow for Postecoglou, with the Lilywhites’ inconsistency going into overdrive during his absence.

Against Forest, however, the Uruguayan’s return didn’t have the desired effect, winning just 25 per cent of his ground duels as Morgan Gibbs-White waltzed through midfield on several occasions [FotMob].

Bentancur contested 10 duels in total across his 64 minutes, winning just four, with only 50 per cent of his aerial battles coming off and just two defensive actions attempted despite his deep-lying role.

Of those two, Bentancur failed to win a single tackle (zero per cent – FotMob), being dispossessed and dribbled past twice despite recovering the ball eight times – albeit none of these were interceptions.

The 27-year-old did play five of his 48 attempted passes into the final third, yet produced an expected assists rate of just 0.03 in a Spurs display which was equally ineffective at both ends.

More is expected against Wolves – namely a second win in seven – and Postecoglou will be hoping that Bentancur is back to his best as soon as possible.

In other Tottenham news, Chris Kamara was in stitches at a joke he made about one Spurs player during their defeat at Forest.

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