De Zerbi gives fitness updates on Spurs trio

Roberto De Zerbi revealed that Mohammed Kudus is ready to start for Spurs, but James Maddison will remain on the bench.

James Maddison has not started a match for Spurs since suffering a serious knee injury against Arsenal in August 2025. He has also only played once this season, against Everton last weekend, after injuring his shoulder against Brentford on the opening week of the season.

Kudus made his Spurs return in their 2-0 loss at home to Newcastle earlier this season, but is yet to start a match in over eight months because of a quad injury he picked up against Sunderland in January.

De Zerbi gave updates on the pair ahead of Spurs’ EFL Cup tie against Liverpool on Tuesday.

“Kudus can start because he’s better in terms of physical condition. James, not yet,” he said.

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Dominic Solanke is another Spurs player who spent last season plagued by injury. The striker missed 21 games through a combination of ankle and muscle injuries last year, but made his first Premier League start of this season against Everton at the weekend.

Although he has not found the net in the league since February, De Zerbi was full of praise for the Englishman.

“I spoke with him and I would like to manage him in the best way I can,” he said. “Management in physical aspect and in mental aspect because he’s a sensitive guy, he needs to feel full confidence and from myself he has big, big confidence.

“I believe he can score 10, 15 goals for sure. He already scored for Bournemouth why can’t he score for Tottenham? It’s the same sport, different stadium, no pressure because in our stadium, if we push, if we play well, the fans are with us.

“Like all other stadiums, if you lose or if you don’t score, you can receive criticism, but it’s normal, it’s a normal situation in football. Dominic is crucial for us, like Savio, like Maddison. The attackers are capable of giving us quality.”

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