Tottenham Faces Liverpool in Carabao Cup Clash
Tottenham walk into Anfield tonight already limping.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side, searching for both goals and confidence, will have to do it without Sandro Tonali and Pedro Porro in their Carabao Cup clash with Liverpool. Richarlison, still exiled after his failed summer escape, stays at home as well.
For a club that has gone 15 years without a win at Anfield, the timing could hardly be worse.
Spurs arrive short-handed and short of rhythm
Two straight 0-0 draws against Nottingham Forest and Everton have sucked the air out of Tottenham’s early-season optimism. The football has been neat enough, but blunt. Now comes a knockout tie under the lights, at a stadium that feeds off any sign of weakness.
De Zerbi’s preparations have been hit again.
Tonali, a central pillar of Spurs’ midfield rebuild, picked up a minor knock in the Everton stalemate. Porro, whose energy and delivery down the right have become key to the way Tottenham build attacks, continues to battle the muscular problem that already ruled him out at the weekend.
Both are out of the squad. Both leave sizeable holes.
There is at least one piece of good news. Destiny Udogie returns after being left out against Everton as a precaution. His athleticism at left-back, and his ability to step into midfield, gives De Zerbi a little more freedom with his shape and pressing.
Richarlison frozen out as stand-off drags on
If the injury list is frustrating, the Richarlison saga feels self‑inflicted.
The Brazilian is eligible to play in the Carabao Cup. He is not injured. He is simply not wanted.
After pushing hard to leave in the summer and failing to secure a move, Richarlison found himself omitted from Tottenham’s Premier League squad. Nothing has changed since. De Zerbi confirmed he will not travel to Merseyside, underlining that the situation remains exactly as it was before the season started.
For a side struggling for goals, it is a stark stance. A proven Premier League finisher sits in limbo while Spurs juggle minutes and fitness elsewhere.
Dejan Kulusevski, another potential difference-maker in the final third, remains a long-term absentee and is “not available”, as De Zerbi put it. The options narrow again.
De Zerbi’s balancing act
Tottenham are expected to rotate, but only up to a point. This is Liverpool away in a cup tie, not a pre-season friendly.
De Zerbi has already admitted he is wrestling with the dilemma: go close to full strength to chase a statement win, or protect key players who are still playing catch‑up physically.
Mateus Fernandes, Conor Gallagher and Mohammed Kudus are all short of full match sharpness. They need minutes. They also need protection. That tension will shape the XI.
There could be a glimpse of the future, too. Academy winger Luca Williams-Barnett is in De Zerbi’s thoughts. The head coach floated the idea of handing the youngster some involvement, even if only a 30‑minute burst, describing that sort of cameo as “a real game” for a player at the start of his journey.
It would be a bold call in this environment, but not out of character for a coach who trusts youth when the talent is there.
Predicted Tottenham XI
De Zerbi’s likely line-up reflects both necessity and ambition:
Dubravka; Gray, Tosin, Senesi, Udogie; Bentancur, Bergvall, Gallagher; Kudus, Solanke, Marmoush.
It is a team that can keep the ball, press with intensity and hurt Liverpool in transition, but it is also one patched together by circumstance. The absentees tell their own story: Simons, Odobert, Kulusevski, Tonali, Porro and Mudryk are all injured. Richarlison remains unavailable by choice rather than by fitness.
The bench will matter. So will nerve.
Anfield, on a Carabao Cup night, has a habit of exposing uncertainty. Tottenham arrive with questions over their form, their fitness and the future of one of their biggest names. By the end of the night, they will know whether this competition offers a lifeline to their season, or just another harsh lesson on a ground that has punished them for a decade and a half.
