Tottenham's Injury Woes Ahead of Carabao Cup Clash with Liverpool

Tottenham’s build-up to their Carabao Cup trip to Liverpool has been thrown off course, with Roberto De Zerbi losing two key starters and drawing a firm line under the Richarlison saga.

Tonali and Porro ruled out, Udogie returns

Sandro Tonali and Pedro Porro will both miss the tie after picking up problems around Saturday’s goalless draw with Everton.

Porro, already struggling with a muscular issue that kept him out of that 0-0, has not recovered in time. His absence strips Spurs of one of their main attacking outlets from right-back, a constant source of width and delivery under De Zerbi.

Tonali joined him on the treatment table after taking a knock in the same game. For a side still hunting their first Premier League goal of the season, losing the Italian midfielder’s control and bite in the middle is a significant setback.

There was at least one welcome piece of news. Destiny Udogie is back.

The Italy international left-back, missing from the squad entirely against Everton, is set to return to the matchday group. His comeback offers badly needed balance to a back line that will be without Porro on the opposite side and should restore some of the aggression and drive Spurs have lacked down the left.

Richarlison frozen out despite cup loophole

Injuries, though, were quickly overshadowed by one name: Richarlison.

The Brazilian has already been left out of Tottenham’s 25-man Premier League squad, but the Carabao Cup operates under different registration rules, meaning he remained eligible to play at Anfield.

De Zerbi shut that door immediately.

Asked directly whether the former Everton forward could feature against Liverpool, the Spurs manager cut off any hope of a surprise recall. “You already know everything,” he told reporters. “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 clear: Richarlison is out, and not just for league fixtures.

Contract rejection and a broken relationship

De Zerbi then laid out how the rift had unfolded.

He revealed that at the start of the summer window he had tried to keep Richarlison at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, going as far as proposing a contract extension himself. The offer went nowhere.

“What I’ve done, at the beginning of this season, was to speak with him, and to propose an extension of the contract,” De Zerbi said. “If he said no thank you, I have finished my job.”

From there, the relationship never recovered. Richarlison started the Premier League opener at Brentford, but was subsequently told he could leave. A return to Everton collapsed, links to Trabzonspor failed to materialise into a move, and the striker also turned down a switch to Vasco da Gama on Friday.

While the transfer window closed without a resolution, De Zerbi made it plain he will not keep chasing one.

“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,” he said.

Spurs lose a proven Anfield threat

On the pitch, the decision bites hard.

Richarlison has been a persistent menace to Liverpool, scoring four times in seven appearances against the Reds during his time with Spurs. That record, combined with Tottenham’s current struggles in front of goal, makes his absence feel even heavier.

His sharp movement, his knack for timing runs into the box, his edge in big games – all of it will be missing when Spurs walk out at Anfield still searching for their first Premier League goal of the campaign and trying to spark their season through the cups.

De Zerbi, though, is not for turning. Asked about the prospect of a late reconciliation, he drew a firm line.

“I can't go every day to pray for him to stay,” he concluded.

Tottenham will go to Liverpool short of Tonali, Porro and their most proven Liverpool specialist. The question now is whether those who remain can turn a fractured build-up into a statement night, or whether this saga will come to define the early weeks of De Zerbi’s reign.