Injuries Galore at Tottenham Hotspur – Squad Update ahead of Leeds United.
Tottenham Hotspur’s injury list at this stage of a relegation battle would be comic in its comprehensiveness were the circumstances not so desperately serious. Following the 2-1 victory over Aston Villa, De Zerbi faces a situation in which he must now navigate three matches of enormous consequence with a squad stripped of its most influential figures and operating on collective nerve rather than collective depth. Here’s an update from The Standard.
The headline concern remains Dominic Solanke. The striker was substituted before half-time during the Wolves’ victory after sustaining what was reported to be a grade two hamstring injury. Reports suggested the remainder of his season was over. De Zerbi, when pressed on the matter ahead of the Villa fixture, declined to confirm the extent of the injury with pragmatism. Solanke did not feature at Villa Park. His availability for Leeds, Chelsea, and Everton remains genuinely uncertain. A grade two hamstring injury typically requires between three and eight weeks of recovery.
James Maddison’s situation carries its own complex weight. The attacking midfielder has featured in three successive matchday squads without once getting on the pitch. De Zerbi confirmed ahead of the Villa match that he genuinely did not know whether Maddison would play again this season. For a player recovering from a big ACL rupture, margins for return remain as thin as ever.
More injuries!
Cristian Romero’s season is definitely over. The Argentine centre-back collided with Antonin Kinsky during the Sunderland match in what proved a catastrophic moment, suffering a serious knee injury that De Zerbi subsequently confirmed would prevent him from returning this campaign. The defender now faces a race to be fit for the World Cup this summer.
Xavi Simons is sidelined until the end of 2026 at the earliest, following confirmation of an ACL tear in his right knee sustained during the Wolves’ win. The timing, arriving just as the Dutchman was beginning to function as De Zerbi’s primary creative conduit, could not get any worse for Xavi himself, RDZ, Tottenham, and, of course, the Dutch national team.
Rodrigo Bentancur saw himself forced off in the second half at Villa Park, adding yet another concern to an already strained midfield. His availability for Leeds remains under assessment. Guglielmo Vicario, who underwent hernia surgery, remains absent and is potentially available for the Leeds match. The Leeds fixture arrives as something of a target return date for several players hovering between readiness and precaution.
Micky van de Ven returned to action at Villa Park, and his performance provided considerable reassurance. Kevin Danso also featured without major complaint. For De Zerbi, the reassembled defensive partnership represents genuine stability in an area that had been profoundly vulnerable.
Wilson Odobert and Mohammed Kudus remain unavailable. Kudus, whose injury setback under De Zerbi now appears to require surgical intervention, faces a World Cup participation race of his own. Odobert will not return before the end of 2026. Three matches remain. The treatment room continues to operate at capacity. Whether the available players can deliver the results required is, at this stage, the only question worth asking.