Tottenham Faces Injury Setbacks Ahead of Carabao Cup Clash with Liverpool
Tottenham’s build-up to their Carabao Cup trip to Liverpool has been jolted by a double setback and a simmering saga that refuses to die down.
Tonali and Porro ruled out, Udogie returns
Sandro Tonali and Pedro Porro will both miss the tie, leaving Roberto De Zerbi to reshuffle again after Saturday’s goalless draw with Everton.
Porro is still battling the muscular problem that forced him out of that 0-0 stalemate, his absence stripping Spurs of one of their main outlets on the right. Tonali, who started at the weekend, became the latest name on the injury list after picking up a knock in the same game.
One defender does come back.
Destiny Udogie is set to return to the matchday squad after missing the Everton clash. The Italy international’s availability offers badly needed balance on the left, with Porro’s attacking thrust already gone from the opposite flank. For a side still searching for fluency, Udogie’s energy and aggression down that side could be vital.
Richarlison frozen out – even for the cup
Injuries, though, were only half the story.
The pre-match press conference quickly turned towards Richarlison and a situation that now looks beyond repair. The Brazilian has been left out of Tottenham’s 25-man Premier League squad, but he remained eligible for the Carabao Cup, which operates under different registration rules.
Even so, De Zerbi shut that door.
Asked directly if the former Everton forward could feature at Anfield, the Italian did not bother with nuance. “You already know everything,” he said. “Nothing changed for the Carabao Cup or Premier League. The situation is the same. I can’t say anything more because it’s not my job. I can answer about the results, the players in the squad, the offensive space, the defensive space, but not for the other things.”
The message was clear: eligibility on paper means nothing if the club and player are at odds.
Contract snub and a broken relationship
De Zerbi then lifted the lid on how long this stand-off has been brewing. He revealed he had tried to keep Richarlison at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the start of the summer, going as far as personally proposing a contract extension.
“What I’ve done, at the beginning of this season, was to speak with him, and to propose an extension of the contract,” he explained. “If he said no thank you, I have finished my job.”
The refusal marked a turning point. From there, the relationship has only deteriorated.
Richarlison started the league opener at Brentford, but was later told he could leave. A return to Everton failed to materialise, links to Trabzonspor never advanced into a deal, and the striker turned down a move to Vasco da Gama on Friday. Each aborted exit underlined the stalemate: a player who does not want to commit and a club no longer prepared to bend.
Spurs lose a proven Liverpool tormentor
On the pitch, his absence is not a minor detail.
Richarlison has a strong record against Liverpool, scoring four times in seven appearances versus the Reds during his time with Spurs. That knack for hurting Jürgen Klopp’s side will not be available to De Zerbi at Anfield, at a moment when Tottenham are still chasing their first Premier League goal of the season.
For a team already stripped of Tonali’s control and Porro’s width, losing a proven big-game finisher only deepens the sense of vulnerability.
“I can’t go every day to pray for him”
De Zerbi was at pains to stress this is not a personal feud but a fault line between Richarlison and the club’s hierarchy. He hinted at a turbulent spell behind the scenes without disclosing details.
“I said in the last press conference, I know what happened in the last 45 days. It’s not right if I explained. It’s not my behaviour, it is the relationship and the problem is with [between] the player and the club. And I stay inside of the club. It’s coach and club together because at the start of this season, I spoke with him many times to convince him to stay and he didn’t want to,” he said.
The Italian will not chase a player who has already turned away from the project. That much, he underlined with one final line.
“I can’t go every day to pray for him to stay,” De Zerbi concluded.
Tottenham now head to Anfield lighter on options, heavier with tension, and with one question hanging over them: who steps up when the goals, and the goodwill, have both run dry?
