‘Maddison can be important’ in survival fight

Tottenham Hotspur's James Maddison warming up before the  Premier League match at Wolverhampton WanderersImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

James Maddison sustained an ACL injury during a pre-season friendly against Newcastle in South Korea

Netherlands attacking midfielder Simons has been ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) against Wolves – and joined a lengthy Spurs injury list.

Striker Dominic Solanke also went off at Molineux with a hamstring injury, while goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario will also be unavailable against Villa – with Ben Davies, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert and Cristian Romero among long-term absentees.

“I want to keep the focus on ourselves and the quality of my players,” De Zerbi reported.

“We go to play against one of the best teams in this moment Premier League, but if Tottenham win at Villa Park it’s not a miracle. Maybe we lose but we have the quality to win this game. It’s not a miracle. We have to be positive.

“If Xavi and Solanke are injured we can play with [Randal] Kolo Muani, [Mathys] Tel, Richarlison… they are different but very good players. All these things – I don’t have too much time to hear these things.

“We are good enough to win the games and to stay up and then we will see because it’s the unique way. The way I know is to work hard, give my best, to trust in my idea of the players, their confidence and to be realistic.”

However, one player close to returning from a long-term injury is James Maddison.

The England playmaker has not featured this season because of an ACL injury but was named on the bench against both Brighton and Wolves.

“I would like to play with Maddison because he is a special player but we have to consider physical condition, a lot of things. But I think he can be important in the next three games,” De Zerbi reported.

Related topics

  • Premier League
  • Tottenham Hotspur
  • Football
  • Get news, insight and fan views on your Premier League team
    • Published
      12 March
    A graphic of Premier League players from every team in the division in 2025-26 season, with the Premier League trophy in front of them.
  • All your football quizzes in one place
    Quiz logo

More on this story

  • Premier League index
  • Premier League table
  • Premier League fixtures

✔ today silver rate

✔ 2026 winter olympics

✔ chat gtp

✔ silver rate today

✔ silver rate today live

✔ 2030 winter olympics

Read More

Sports

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *