Maddison saga: predicted XI, bench role and De Zerbi's explanation vs Palace
James Maddison has been the central talking point around Tottenham's clash with Crystal Palace, from team-selection guesswork beforehand to boss Roberto De Zerbi explaining his decision afterwards.
Before kick-off, Football.London put together their predicted XI for the Premier League match, flagging a "James Maddison surprise" and a call to make over Destiny Udogie's involvement (Football.London). That surprise element hinted Maddison might not be a certainty to start despite his quality.
Around the same time, Sports Mole reported that Gus Poyet had voiced "concern" over a "shocking" stat showing Maddison's struggles to complete 90 minutes in the Premier League, pointing to his recurring injury problems as a worry for Spurs (Sports Mole).
Football.London then confirmed the actual starting line-up, revealing Maddison was left out and named among the substitutes as De Zerbi made one change to his side for the trip - sorry, home tie - against Palace (Football.London).
After the match, which Spurs won 2-0, Spurs Web reported that De Zerbi addressed exactly why Maddison stayed an unused substitute throughout, with the manager citing "considerable uncertainty" surrounding the midfielder going into the game (Spurs Web).
Taken together, the picture is consistent across the outlets: pre-match uncertainty over Maddison's fitness and game-time, as highlighted by Poyet's comments via Sports Mole (Sports Mole), translated into him being left out of the XI as per Football.London (Football.London), and De Zerbi later confirmed via Spurs Web that fitness-related caution was behind the call (Spurs Web). With Spurs next in action against Leeds United, fans will be hoping Maddison's situation is resolved sooner rather than later so he can return to the matchday squad.
Written with the help of AI, using the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
