Roberto De Zerbi has been handed a timely fitness boost ahead of Tottenham's Premier League meeting with Aston Villa on Saturday, with Sandro Tonali, Pedro Porro and James Maddison all cleared to feature at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tonali, signed from Newcastle for a club-record £100million, missed the midweek Carabao Cup exit at Liverpool having picked up a knock. Porro had been sidelined for two matches with a muscular problem, while Maddison came off the bench in the final quarter of an hour at Anfield after spending around a fortnight working his way back to fitness with the squad.
De Zerbi confirmed all three on Friday. "Porro, Tonali, Maddison, all are available to play," he told reporters. "Normally, we have to understand the situation in terms of physical condition, but all of them are ready."
The news arrives as Spurs search for their first top-flight goal of the campaign after four matches. It is the first time in their 144-year history they have failed to score in the opening four league games of a season. The only precedent for such a prolonged blank at any point in a campaign came across six matches between December 1985 and February 1986.
Dejan Kulusevski offered another source of optimism, returning to first-team training this week following a complicated knee injury sustained during the defeat to Crystal Palace in May 2025. The 26-year-old has not played a competitive match since and is not expected to feature on Saturday. His comeback has already suffered one disruption, forcing a temporary halt after what De Zerbi described as a small problem, and medical staff are expected to manage his reintegration carefully.
De Zerbi described what the international break could mean for Kulusevski's progress: "We have to manage Deki in the best way we can, with the medical staff, physical staff. But it's a great thing for us because he's a good player, he's a good guy. He deserves to play again. We have to work day by day. Also, for Deki, it's important the international break, because when he will be at the top of condition and pass over the injury, I think it's a great signing, a new signing for us, another new signing."
Spurs remain without Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert and Mykhailo Mudryk, the latter sidelined until after the break with an ankle injury.
Villa arrive having won three of their last four fixtures at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Unai Emery confirmed on Friday that he will be without seven players. Left-back Ian Maatsen damaged his ankle in last Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest and joins goalkeeper Marco Bizot, Amadou Onana, Modou Keba Cisse, Pau Torres, Leon Goretzka and Brian Madjo on the absentee list.
Emery can, however, call on midfielder Joao Gomes, who returns to Premier League duty for the first time since receiving a red card for violent conduct during a 4-0 opening-day defeat at Brighton. Gomes contributed an assist in Villa's 3-2 Champions League win away to Club Brugge. Right-back Matty Cash, who typically receives a hostile reception from the home crowd, is also expected to be available after serving as an unused substitute at Coventry in midweek.
Former Blackburn and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton is not convinced the fitness returns will be enough to lift Spurs, predicting another defeat and suggesting De Zerbi's appeals for patience are beginning to lose their persuasive power.
Seventeen-year-old academy forward Luca Williams-Barnett was not named in the matchday squad at Liverpool, having instead scored off the bench for Spurs' under-21s against Dinamo Zagreb. De Zerbi acknowledged the teenager's potential but stressed the importance of timing his introduction carefully, adding that both Williams-Barnett and Malachi Hardy remain in his thinking.
Reporting: TeamTalk, Football.London, Evening Standard, GiveMeSport, CaughtOffside.