Roberto De Zerbi has made many decisions regarding the availability of numerous Tottenham players for the Premier League derby at Chelsea.
Spurs have won just once at Stamford Bridge in their last 41 attempts in all competitions and will travel to London on Saturday night to change that unfortunate record. De Zerbi has eight potential players and several others on the bench that he is unsure whether to start or stay.
Savio and Mykhailo Mudryk, as well as Destiny Udogie, Lucas Bergvall and long-term sidelines Xavi Simons and Wilson Odober, are in doubt for the Italian summer, while fellow summer signing Tosin Adarabioyo is a doubt.
James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski did not train with the team in the days following Monday’s win against Coventry, making their first starts and appearances in 18 months respectively, but are expected to be fit for the game at Chelsea.
“I don’t know if they start on the pitch or on the bench, but they are both ready to play. We have to manage them both as well as we can because they are different players, qualities, personalities in terms of experience and we need them,” De Zerbi said in an interview with the club after weaker press conference responses to the duo. football.london.
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If Maddison is fit to play, De Zerbi is likely to give the 29-year-old the nod as his quality on the ball makes a huge difference to Spurs’ attacking play.
The rest of the squad will then depend on what balance the Italian wants to strike between trying to attack and keeping Chelsea’s frontline out, with Xabi Alonso’s men scoring 11 more goals than Tottenham.
Conor Gallagher will bring energy to his old side, while Omar Marmoush and Andy Robertson looked injured against Coventry but are available according to De Zerbi. Pedro Porro is fit again and could go straight back into the starting line-up.
The Spurs boss must decide whether to go with a back three or a back four at Stamford Bridge to field either Marcos Sene or Tosi.
Here’s the team we think De Zerbi will pick:
(4-2-3-1) Kinsky; Porro, Van Hecke, Van de Ven, Robertson; Gallagher, Tonali; Kudus, Maddison, Marmoush; Solanka.