Tottenham Faces Injury Crisis Ahead of Carabao Cup Clash with Liverpool
Tottenham’s build-up to their Carabao Cup trip to Liverpool has been hit hard, their plans ripped up by a fresh wave of absences and a deepening stand-off with one of their biggest names.
Tonali and Porro ruled out, Udogie returns
Sandro Tonali and Pedro Porro will both miss the tie, leaving Roberto De Zerbi without two key pieces of his starting puzzle.
Porro is still battling the muscular problem that kept him out of the goalless draw with Everton, and the Spaniard has not recovered in time. Tonali, meanwhile, became the latest name on the treatment table after picking up a knock in that same 0-0 at the weekend.
The double blow strips Tottenham of control in midfield and thrust from right-back just as the fixtures begin to pile up.
There was at least one shaft of light. Destiny Udogie is back.
The Italy international left-back, absent against Everton, is set to return to the matchday squad and should restore some balance to a back line now missing Porro’s attacking raids from the opposite flank. For a side still waiting for its first Premier League goal of the season, any extra thrust from deep matters.
Richarlison frozen out – even for the cup
Injuries might have dominated the early part of De Zerbi’s press conference, but the conversation quickly veered towards Richarlison – and the manager’s stance could not have been clearer.
Despite being omitted from Tottenham’s 25-man Premier League squad, the Brazilian remained technically available for the Carabao Cup, which operates under different registration rules. On paper, Anfield could have offered him a route back into the fold.
De Zerbi shut that door immediately.
Asked directly if Richarlison might feature against Liverpool, he cut the speculation down with a blunt reply: “You already know everything. Nothing changed for the Carabao Cup or Premier League. The situation is the same. I can’t say anything more because it’s not my job. I can answer about the results, the players in the squad, the offensive space, the defensive space, but not for the other things.”
The message was simple: as far as De Zerbi is concerned, Richarlison is out of the picture.
Contract talks, rejection and a broken relationship
De Zerbi then laid out how the situation had spiralled to this point. He revealed he had tried to keep the forward at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, even going as far as personally proposing a new contract at the start of the summer window.
“What I’ve done, at the beginning of this season, was to speak with him, and to propose an extension of the contract,” he said. “If he said no thank you, I have finished my job.”
That refusal set the tone. The Italian made clear this is no heat-of-the-moment fallout but a breakdown that has been brewing for weeks.
He hinted at serious tension behind the scenes, while refusing to spill every detail. “I said in the last press conference, I know what happened in the last 45 days. It’s not right if I explained. It’s not my behaviour, it is the relationship and the problem is with [between] the player and the club. And I stay inside of the club. It’s coach and club together because at the start of this season, I spoke with him many times to convince him to stay and he didn’t want to.”
The line was drawn. De Zerbi stands with the club, not the unsettled striker.
A big loss for Liverpool – and for Spurs
On the pitch, Richarlison’s exile hurts. Badly.
The Brazilian has been a persistent menace to Liverpool in the past, scoring four times in seven appearances against the Reds during his time with Spurs. That record, that edge in big games, would have been invaluable in a knockout tie at Anfield.
Tottenham travel there still searching for their first league goal of the campaign. To go without one of their most proven finishers, and one who relishes this particular opponent, underlines the scale of the rift.
Richarlison started the league opener at Brentford but was soon told he could leave. A return to Everton never materialised, links to Trabzonspor went nowhere, and he rejected a move to Vasco da Gama on Friday. Every possible exit route has either collapsed or been turned down, leaving the club with a high-profile forward in limbo and a manager who has no intention of forcing the issue.
“I can’t go every day to pray for him to stay,” De Zerbi concluded.
Tottenham now head to Anfield short of key players, short of goals and without a striker who once thrived on nights like this. The question is no longer whether Richarlison will play for them in the cup – it’s whether he will play for them again at all.
