Tottenham Injuries: De Zerbi’s New Era Begins with Challenges
Tottenham have spent £237million and talked up a fresh start. Now comes the awkward part: doing it all with a patched‑up squad.
Roberto De Zerbi takes charge of his first full Premier League season as Spurs boss on Saturday evening, away at Brentford’s tight, unforgiving Gtech Community Stadium. After back‑to‑back 17th‑place finishes, the club are desperate to break out of survival mode and into something more ambitious under the Italian.
The optimism is real. So are the problems.
Key men short, questions everywhere
At the back, Micky van de Ven is the headline concern. Fresh from signing a lucrative new contract, the Dutch defender did not feature at all in pre-season after extended post‑World Cup leave and was not seen in training on Tuesday. The club have not disclosed the issue, but his absence throws early doubt over the heart of De Zerbi’s defence.
There was at least a flicker of good news. Destiny Udogie, James Maddison and record signing Mateus Fernandes all trained ahead of the short trip across the capital. None of them, though, can be called certain starters.
Udogie has yet to play a minute in pre-season as Spurs carefully manage him following a string of muscular problems. Maddison, a leading candidate to take the captain’s armband after Cristian Romero’s departure, is also being handled with care as he continues his recovery from the anterior cruciate ligament injury that ended his last campaign. He has been back on the grass, but his involvement at Brentford remains in serious doubt.
Fernandes, the £85m arrival from West Ham, has been wrestling with a calf issue since Spurs’ pre-season tour of New Zealand and Australia. The hope inside the club is that he will be ready to feature, yet De Zerbi’s stance has been clear: no shortcuts, no gambles, not after last season’s injury crisis ripped the spine out of the side.
Up front, Dominic Solanke is another worry. The striker has been used sparingly in pre-season after missing most of last year with a recurring ankle problem and then a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the relegation run‑in. Throwing him straight into the intensity of a Premier League opener would be a risk.
Kudus unlikely, Moore on standby
Out wide, the situation is just as delicate. Mohammed Kudus is back in training but has not played a single minute since January because of a serious quad injury. With De Zerbi refusing to rush anyone, the Ghanaian looks unlikely to be risked.
That could open the door for teenager Mikey Moore on the right wing. The plan remains to send him out on loan, but Spurs will not sanction that until they land their own attacking reinforcements. Their pursuit of Savinho has dragged through the summer with little sign of a breakthrough in talks with Manchester City, leaving Moore stuck in limbo — and potentially thrust into a Premier League curtain‑raiser.
On the opposite flank, there are also mild concerns over Pedro Porro. The World Cup‑winning right‑back has only just returned to training. He is not injured, but sharpness and match fitness are not guaranteed heading into the weekend.
Longer‑term absentees Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert and Dejan Kulusevski remain unavailable, trimming De Zerbi’s options even further.
Predicted XI and the balancing act
Against that backdrop, De Zerbi is likely to turn to a blend of new faces and familiar survivors. Spurs’ predicted XI for Brentford is: Kinsky; Gray, Van Hecke, Senesi, Robertson; Fernandes, Tonali; Moore, Gallagher, Tel; Richarlison.
Confirmed absentees are Simons, Odobert and Kulusevski. Maddison, Solanke, Porro, Fernandes, Udogie and Kudus are all doubts.
For a club that has just spent heavily to reset its trajectory, the opening whistle at 5.30pm on Saturday may already feel like a test of depth, nerve and resolve. If this is the start of a new Tottenham, they will have to prove it while still carrying the scars of the old one.
