De Zerbi defends Spurs medical staff as nine absentees loom; Alonso credits emotional control for Chelsea discipline
Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi said his medical team should not be blamed for a series of injuries that could leave Spurs without nine players ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Saturday, while Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso attributed the club’s improved disciplinary record to greater emotional control.
De Zerbi confirmed Pedro Porro has returned from injury and described Andy Robertson, Omar Marmoush and Dominic Solanke as “good” amid fitness concerns, but said Destiny Udogie remained out and Tosin Adarabioyo was a doubt. He reported James Maddison did not train for three days after the home win over Coventry on Monday and may not be ready, and that Dejan Kulusevski had played his first minutes since May 2025 against Frank Lampard’s side. De Zerbi warned longer-term absentees such as Lucas Bergvall and Savio would also be factored in and noted Rodrigo Bentancur is suspended; he added the club appointed Dan Lewindon as performance director last season and carried out new performance hires in July. De Zerbi said the club would produce a “total report” on injuries at the end of the season and stressed, “so far we can’t say anything bad about the medical staff.”
Explaining individual cases, De Zerbi detailed Porro’s World Cup-related issues, Bergvall’s knee problem and Robertson’s fatigue, asking rhetorically about medical responsibility. He said: “Pedro won the World Cup with Spain,” and added that Porro “felt it in training and played anyway against Aston Villa [on 29 September] because he pushed to come back before the right time and he suffered another injury.” On Bergvall he said: “Bergvall turned his knee and felt pain in the first minute against Manchester United [on 10 October]. He finished the game and the day after he felt pain. What is the responsibility of the medical staff? Nothing.” About Robertson he explained: “Robertson played four games in a row for Scotland [during the recent international window] and after that felt a small problem and did not play in Manchester. He played 65 minutes against Coventry and was fatigued. It’s normal fatigue for a player who played [so much].” On Spurs’s record at Stamford Bridge he added: “What is the problem? We didn’t play in the past for Tottenham and I was not the Tottenham coach in the last seasons. We have already many problems and this is not a problem.”
Alonso pointed to emotional control and experience as reasons for Chelsea’s turnaround from the 11 red cards they received last season, noting his side have not had a red card this season and showed “intelligence” in their 2-0 win at Everton last weekend. He said: “For me it comes a lot with emotional control, with the control of the game,” and added: “This is a fundamental part of the game, to have that emotional control. The momentum is coming – we keep calm, I don’t lose my head and I don’t get stupid yellow cards, make stupid penalties.” Alonso also commented on recruitment: “I think it helps. Absolutely. It helps for that composure that you need in certain moments.”
Alonso warned of the difficulty of maintaining control amid Premier League atmospheres and stressed his influence from the touchline is secondary to the players’ leadership, saying: “It is people on the pitch. I can say many things but sometimes I don’t reach [the players], I don’t control. I can do it in advance. I have from the touchline some kind of input but the real one is from the players. Normally the most experienced ones. It’s the ones that feel it.” He confirmed Chelsea are without Emiliano Martínez after the goalkeeper broke his jaw against Everton, that Mike Penders will start, and reported he had spoken to Thibaut Courtois about the young Belgian: “I spoke with Thibaut as well when he was in the World Cup, asking about Mike, and he even said that he could see resemblances with Mike.”
Andoni Iraola cautioned against overburdening Liverpool teenager Rio Ngumoha after the 18‑year‑old’s role in the Champions League comeback against Villarreal, saying it is “a privilege” to coach him but warning expectations must be managed. Iraola noted it was only Ngumoha’s fifth start under him and recalled the winger became the third-youngest player to make his competitive debut for England, “after Wayne Rooney and Jude Bellingham.” He said: “I feel very lucky to have him but this is a moment when, because he has played well, we cannot straight away put expectations on him super high because it is not fair for him,” and added: “We cannot straight away put demands on Rio that are impossible to beat. No, we have to help him in this process knowing that he will have good games and probably some games when it is not so good.” The coach also said Ngumoha remains focused on training and improvement and that the club expect to reward him with a new deal.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke reported several injury doubts ahead of Sunday’s trip to Sunderland, naming Dominic Calvert‑Lewin, Anton Stach and Noah Okafor as “major doubts” after they missed training this week; Calvert‑Lewin’s fourth league goal had earned Leeds a 1-1 home draw with Manchester United. Farke confirmed Daniel James is in restraint after recovering from his recent injury and highlighted Lukas Nmecha’s contributions from the bench, saying: “Overall you have to say for a back-up striker, Lukas has scored I think seven goals last season.” Fulham head coach Alvaro Arbeloa, meanwhile, said “Nothing has changed for us” as his side seek to build on a 1-0 home win over Hull and prepare to face Coventry on Saturday.
The independent football regulator (IFR) has proposed a levy that would cost the 116 clubs across the top five divisions £20.3m in its first year of licensing in 2027-28, rising to £20.9m in 2028-29, with Premier League clubs expected to cover around 85% of the total. The IFR said the highest-earning Premier League clubs will pay up to £1.8m in year one while most Premier League teams would pay £600,000, and confirmed set-up costs for the regulator ran to around £45m with only £1m being recovered in 2027-28. David Kogan, the IFR chair, confirmed last week that clubs would ultimately foot the bill for any legal action it may be involved in against Manchester City, depending on the outcome of their Premier League disciplinary case; City “have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules over a nine-season period, but have appealed against the verdict.” Richard Monks, the IFR chief executive, said: “I am aware of the £10m figure [originally estimated by the government] and, to be clear, that is not a number we believe reflects either the current financial reality or the task ahead of us. The levy we are proposing today represents a fair and balanced approach and will ensure that most clubs pay around 0.1% of their annual revenues.”
Tottenham will attempt to win for only the second time in 42 matches in all competitions when they visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday, a game that Chelsea will contest without Emiliano Martínez and with Mike Penders set to start.
