Tottenham expected to receive big injury boost for huge Chelsea clash
Tottenham Hotspur's reduced schedule and a change in approach from the medical team hasn't yet drastically altered the club's fortunes on the injury front.
Spurs' previous two Premier League campaigns have been compromised by major injury crises, and although we haven't ventured into that territory just yet, a clean bill of health has so far escaped the Lilywhites—and that's excluding the long-term absentees.
We recently celebrated the return of Dejan Kulusevski after more than 500 days on the sidelines, and have received positive updates over the past month regarding the recoveries of Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons from their ACL tears.
However, De Zerbi has continued to lose bodies in recent weeks. Niggling, nagging issues are proving a source of frustration.
For Monday's must-win encounter at home to Coventry City, Destiny Udogie, Lucas Bergvall and Sávio joined the treatment table, convincing De Zerbi to switch to a hybrid back three. We're now operating on a 'short week', with a daunting trip to Stamford Bridge upcoming.
The bulk of those sidelines are expected to remain out of action this weekend, but there could be one significant return to the Tottenham team.
Pedro Porro pushing for Spurs return vs. Chelsea
Pedro Porro's season hasn't got going since he returned to Hotspur Way a World Cup champion. The right back, who turned it on down the stretch last season to help the club stay up, played an unexpected leading role for Spain in North America.
While the club committed to a significant summer overhaul, Porro remained one of the key figures entering 2026/27. However, multiple injury issues have limited the Spaniard to just 224 minutes of action across all competitions. He's been out of action since picking up a hamstring injury 19 minutes into the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa before the international break.
Porro was expected to miss weeks rather than months as a result, and he teased an imminent return on his Instagram last Friday. "Almost back," he captioned a video of him working in the gym.
Porro didn't make the matchday squad on Monday, but there's fresh hope that the right-back will make his return this weekend against Chelsea.
De Zerbi opted against deploying a right-back at all against Coventry, and although the tactical switch helped return our first Premier League win of the season, I'd fear for us if we opted for such an approach in west London.
I'm looking forward to a world when Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie are marauding down the Tottenham flanks again.
