Tottenham Morning Round-Up, Saturday 24th October 2026: De Zerbi Addresses Injury Crisis Ahead of Chelsea Trip

Spurs head to Stamford Bridge this afternoon with the squad stretched thin by injuries. Roberto De Zerbi has insisted the club's medical staff are not to blame for the growing list of absentees, describing the situation as "normal" despite nine players being affected (Football.London) (The Guardian). Football.London report that as many as 11 players across both squads could be missing for the derby, with updates given by both De Zerbi and Xabi Alonso (Football.London). Tosin Adarabioyo has been added to the doubts list for the trip (TottenhamHotspur.com).

Despite the injury concerns, De Zerbi also used his pre-match briefing to clarify his stance on £85million midfielder Mateus Fernandes (Football.London). Football.London have taken a look at how De Zerbi might line up his side for the derby, with a decision reportedly made over James Maddison's involvement (Football.London).

On the punditry front, BBC Sport's Chris Sutton has predicted another difficult afternoon for Tottenham in his score prediction for the Chelsea clash (Spurs Web). Elsewhere, a manager who has taken charge of both Chelsea and Tottenham reflected on feeling no connection to one of the two clubs (Football.London).

Looking further ahead, BBC Sport have previewed next weekend's north London derby against Arsenal, with both sides said to be out of form and in need of a win when that game is shown live on BBC One (BBC Sport).

For now, though, all focus is on today's early kick-off against Chelsea, with De Zerbi expected to confirm his starting line-up before heading to Stamford Bridge (Football.London) (Football.London).

This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.