José Mourinho said that Harry Kane could be out for “a few weeks” after the striker gave England a scare by injuring both of his ankles on a night when Liverpool returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Tottenham.
Kane suffered a blow to his right ankle after an early tackle from Liverpool’s Thiago Alcântara and took a blow to his left ankle following a challenge from Jordan Henderson. The England captain, who has a history of ankle injuries, went off at half-time and the update from Mourinho was far from positive.
“The second injury was worse than the first one,” the Spurs manager said. “For Harry to leave a game when the team is losing is not a nothing injury. There are some players you can’t replace. Both ankles getting big.”
Kane’s latest lay-off is worrying news for England, who need the forward fit for Euro 2020 this summer. Mourinho was unsure about the severity of the injury. “We have to wait and see,” he said.
Spurs struggled without Kane and made defensive errors for Liverpool’s goals. The champions took the lead through Roberto Firmino after a mix-up between Eric Dier and Hugo Lloris, the Spurs goalkeeper, just before the break. Serge Aurier did not prevent the cross from Sadio Mané to Firmino.
Aurier, who had also given away an early chance to Mané, was substituted at half-time and is understood to have reacted furiously. The right-back did not stay to watch the second half and Mourinho described an emotional scene during the interval.
“It’s the mood of a team that it was difficult to accept you are losing, difficult to accept the nature of the goal because the goal is in some aspects a replica of the chance they had in the first minute,” Mourinho said.
“So it’s of course a mood where people are not happy – but then we have to move. Then Harry is injured and we need to try to do something. Unlucky that we started the second half conceding a goal.”
Liverpool’s first win in six matches moved them back into fourth place and four points above Spurs. The champions were excellent. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mané scored in the second half, rendering a fine strike from Pierre-Emile Højbjerg irrelevant.
However Liverpool, who visit West Ham on Sunday, suffered a blow when Joël Matip went off with an ankle injury. Jürgen Klopp said it was unlikely he will ease his defensive crisis by signing a centre-back before the window shuts.
“We thought the whole time it’s about doing the right thing,” Liverpool’s manager said. “I’m not picky or whatever but we need to find the right player. We have players still but in the defence line it’s incredible what’s happening there. It’s really incredible.”
