New boy Savio was not a part of the Tottenham squad that lost 2-0 to Newcastle United.
A week on from going down 3-0 to Brentford, Tottenham Hotspur were beaten again in the Premier League. This time by Newcastle United in their first league game at home.
Second-half goals from Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa helped Newcastle United win the contest 2-0. The dreadful start to the Premier League season comes after spending millions on eight players in the summer transfer window. £100million signing Sandro Tonali continued his underwhelming start to life in N17, with the Italian getting substituted in the second half amidst a chorus of boos from the travelling Newcastle United fans.
De Zerbi has overseen significant changes to his squad over the summer, but one of his latest signings was not involved against Newcastle United.
Reason explained by De Zerbi behind Savio’s absence vs. Newcastle
Tottenham were dealt a cruel blow before the Newcastle game. New signing Savio was denied a Premier League debut for the Lilywhites on Saturday.
After arriving in an £85million deal from Manchester City, Savio scored a debut goal for Spurs in the EFL Cup win over Charlton Athletic in midweek. He also assisted Ben Davies’ goal in the 5-1 thumping of Charlton Athletic, thus immediately becoming a fan favourite at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
After the Brazilian was not involved against Newcastle, De Zerbi has now explained the reason behind the winger’s absence.
“There was bad news yesterday, before training in the afternoon. He suffered muscle fatigue and the medical staff didn’t want to take a risk. I agree with them,” De Zerbi said (h/t Alasdair Gold on X).
The Italian tactician insisted Savio will be back for Tottenham’s next game against Nottingham Forest. Indeed, De Zerbi and our fans will hope Savio’s absence from the squad is short-lived. The South American gave a glimpse of his potential against Charlton in midweek, and while many are arguing that Charlton is a Championship club, one cannot deny the positive influence he had on his Spurs debut.
A versatile attacker, Savio’s pace, dribbling, directness and creativity were royally missed by De Zerbi’s side vs. Newcastle. The 22-year-old would have given more threat and penetration in the final third, something that was missing in Tottenham’s play. He could have exploited the spaces behind the Magpies’ high defensive line and provided a different flavour to Spurs’ attack.
Hopefully, Savio’s injury is not serious, and he returns to the side against Nottingham Forest at City Ground next weekend.