Roberto De Zerbi’s relegation rescue mission continues this afternoon as Tottenham host Brighton in the Premier League .
Spurs’ fears of the drop are now more rational than ever after defeat at Sunderland last time out left them 18th in the table, with the news that both Cristian Romero and Mohammed Kudus are set to miss the remainder of the season through injury doing little to comfort anyone around the club.
Tottenham are two points adrift of safety and, thus, require nothing less than a win if they are to have any hope of leaving the drop zone this weekend.
They have their work cut out for them, though, as Fabian Hurzeler’s soaring Seagulls head north.
Brighton have five wins in their last six league matches, with that impressive run of results taking them back into contention to qualify for Europe this season.
Tottenham vs Brighton latest news
Danny Welbeck starts for Brighton today, and he seems an outside contender to serve as Harry Kane’s understudy in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad this summer.
He has 12 goals in 31 Premier League appearances this season, three of which have come in his last six appearances.
“James is one of the leaders, one of the most important players in the squad.
He can give us energy, quality, because when he will be available to play, his quality is amazing.
In this moment we need everyone.
We need all players focused on Tottenham, especially one player as important as James.”
No great surprise that it is Micky van de Ven wearing the captain’s armband this afternoon, with Cristian Romero out for the season.
Spurs have not fared well with the Dutchman leading them out this season, though.
He defaulted as captain during Romero’s four-match suspension earlier this campaign and oversaw defeats by Newcastle, Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace, conceding 11 goals in the process.
And De Zerbi doesn’t seem terribly confident in him, either.
He said on Friday: “I would like all players to be a captain, especially in this moment, it's not important if you play in the first eleven, if you play 30 minutes or 90 minutes or you can't play, we have to feel the responsibility of this situation.
“And we can't cry, otherwise we have to push and be stronger to come out of this situation because we are able to do that.”
Twists at both ends of the table
A win for Leeds and a goalless draw in the west London derby will spice things up in both the relegation scrap and the race to qualify for Europe.
Here are all the day’s results so far, with Tottenham vs Brighton and Chelsea vs Man Utd to follow in the evening’s action.
We all know what is at stake for Spurs here.
They need a win if they are to escape the relegation zone this weekend, though they also need West Ham to either lose or draw with Crystal Palace on Monday night to keep their heads above water.
For Brighton, a win could send them as high as sixth in the table, pending various results elsewhere.
This is Roberto De Zerbi’s second match as Spurs boss and he is already coming up against his former club.
He managed the side from 2022 to 2024, winning 38 of his 89 matches at the helm.
This will be his first time playing against the Seagulls, though.
Maddison is making an impressive comeback tonight after nearly a year on the sidelines, but so too is midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.
He last appeared for Tottenham in a 3-2 loss to Bournemouth on January 7 - 101 days ago.
James Maddison could make his first competitive appearance since last season’s Europa League semi-finals today.
He played 64 minutes in a 3-1 defeat of Bodo/Glimt.
That match was some 352 days ago.
Sam Tabuteau at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Well, that is not quite what we expected from Roberto De Zerbi.
Bentancur, Simons and Bissouma all come into the starting lineup.
Maddison, meanwhile, makes the bench.
It would be some story if he came off the bench to contribute to a Spurs victory.
Huge evening in store.
Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Van Hecke, Minteh, Hinshelwood, Welbeck, Boscaglli, Kadioglu, Gomez, Ayari, Wieffer, Gross
Subs: Steele, Igor Julio, Georginio, Baleba, Kostoulas, Mitoma, De Cuyper, O’Riley, Veltman
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Source: This article was originally published by Evening Standard
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