Antonin Kinsky is expected to make his fourth consecutive start in goal for Tottenham when they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday.
Antonin Kinsky played a key role in Tottenham Hotspur registering their first Premier League win of 2026 away at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
1-0 up thanks to substitute Joao Palhinha’s second-half strike, Spurs conceded a free-kick against Wolves in stoppage time. Joao Gomes took the resultant free-kick and felt he had equalised, only for Antonin Kinsky to heroically tip it over the bar. The young Czech Republic goalkeeper was immediately mobbed by his teammates, and eventually, Spurs held onto a crucial 1-0 win at Molineux.
Joao Palhinha and James Maddison showered praises on Antonin Kinsky after an impressive Wolves outing. Indeed, it has been a redemption arc of the 23-year-old in recent weeks after his horrible 1/10 Champions League debut night against Atletico Madrid in March. He was called upon in a surprise selection by then-interim boss Igor Tudor, who dropped No.1 Guglielmo Vicario for the first leg of the last-16 tie at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano. Spurs found themselves 4-0 down inside 22 minutes in the Spanish capital, and Kinsky was at fault for two of the four goals.
It led to Tudor hauling Kinsky off after just 16 minutes, replacing him with Vicario in a bizarre first-half substitution, as Spurs lost the first leg 5-2 to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital.
Antonin Kinsky opens up on Atletico Madrid nightmare
Kinsky was spoken for the first time since his howler against Atletico Madrid, claiming he is a stronger player after his forgettable Champions League debut in Spain.
“Yeah, I would say I’m stronger by that one experience,” Kinsky said in an interview to Sky Sports.
“It’s not like before, I would feel weak, now I feel stronger because I made [that experience]. You make it because you are strong already, and it makes you just stronger, and it helps you just to grow.
“There is always so much things to improve, so it just shows you the things that you can get better at or mentally to adjust a little bit the approach towards the game.”
Tottenham make a U-turn on Kinsky
Barely anyone saw Kinsky featuring again for Tottenham this season after his underwhelming display at Atletico. However, Guglielmo Vicario’s hernia surgery during the March international break opened up the door for the Czech Republic shot-stopper, and he has been solid across three games under De Zerbi.
With Vicario having reached a full agreement to join Inter Milan in the summer, recent reports suggest that the Lilywhites would like to keep faith in Kinsky if they go down. Ideally, they would likely seek a quality replacement for Vicario should they manage to stay in the top flight. However, if the unthinkable happens, the N17 bosses are planning to put their faith on Kinsky.
This means that the young glovesman is showing signs of revival under De Zerbi.