Tottenham Faces Injury Crisis Ahead of London Derby

Tottenham’s season starts with a London derby and a headache. A big one.

Roberto De Zerbi takes his new Spurs side to Brentford on Saturday evening with expectation high after a frantic summer, but his first Premier League teamsheet is already being ripped up by injuries. As many as 13 players could miss out, and most of them are his.

This is a club trying to drag itself away from back-to-back 17th-place finishes. The rebuild has been aggressive, the messaging bold. Yet the opening day reality is brutal: key men are either out, touch-and-go, or being wrapped in cotton wool.

De Zerbi’s defensive dilemma

The clearest call came on Friday. No Micky van de Ven. No Pedro Porro. Two pillars of the back line, both ruled out.

“No, Micky is not on the list for tomorrow, like Pedro Porro and the other players are all inside,” De Zerbi said. “James Maddison is inside, Dominic Solanke is inside, Udogie is inside, Mateus Fernandes is inside.

“Pape Sarr, no, because he felt pain two days in his hamstring. Nothing important, but we don’t take risk with him and especially in this moment.”

Van de Ven had been back in training, part of the main group, but De Zerbi is refusing to gamble. The Dutch defender picked up an issue during Spurs’ pre-season trip to Australia.

“Today he worked with us, with the group and he is going very well,” the Italian explained. “He suffered a problem during the pre-season of Australia, I don’t know if it was the flight, but not a big problem.

“We have Senesi, we have Ben Davies and in the right condition to play the game tomorrow.”

So the message is clear: Van de Ven is close, but not close enough. Porro is out. Sarr is out. The likes of Maddison, Solanke, Destiny Udogie and Mateus Fernandes are “inside” the squad, yet how many of them are fully ready for a high-intensity Premier League opener is another matter entirely.

Star quality stuck in the treatment room

The short-term concerns stack on top of a longer, more worrying list. Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert, Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus remain unavailable, stripping Spurs of some of their sharpest attacking edge.

“I think it’s important also the management of the players, when the players have some problem, we have to stay calm, don’t take risks,” De Zerbi said.

“We have Kulusevski, we have Odobert, we have Xavi Simons, injuries. Kudu is almost ready, that is a big point for us, but these three players are top players for us, and we’re looking forward to watch them on the pitch.”

“Kudu is almost ready” is the line Spurs fans will cling to. But the wider picture is stark: De Zerbi’s blueprint for a more dynamic, more ruthless Tottenham is being tested before a ball has been kicked in anger.

Brentford bruised, but not broken

Across London, Brentford’s problems look far more manageable. Keith Andrews has his own absentees, but the list is shorter and less dramatic.

Antoni Milambo is still working his way back from an ACL injury, although the signs are encouraging.

“Antoni is a few weeks behind with the [ACL] injury,” Andrews said. “It’s not an exact science, naturally, but he’s had a really positive couple of weeks. He’s been training with the group for a number of weeks - sometimes modified, sometimes full training. He’s making really good strides.”

Sepp van den Berg is the other concern, sidelined by a groin issue after a stuttering pre-season.

“We’ve had to manage that in a certain way,” Andrews admitted. “He needs a little bit more rest, unfortunately. He’s had a disjointed pre-season - it hasn’t flowed as well as we’d have liked - so we’re going to have to look after him in the short term. He’ll miss the first few weeks of the season.”

Brentford, then, are inconvenienced. Tottenham are patched up.

For De Zerbi, who has been hired to change the club’s direction and its mood, this is an unforgiving first step: a tricky away day, a squad already thinned out, and a fanbase desperate to see signs that 17th place is no longer their ceiling.