Top News

New signing was surprisingly left out against Newcastle after a superb debut.

Roberto De Zerbi has explained why Savio is absent from Tottenham’s matchday squad for this afternoon’s meeting with Newcastle.

The north London side face Matthias Jaissle’s Magpies at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today as they chase their first league win of the new campaign, having been humbled 3-0 by Brentford in their opening game.

Spurs completed the signing of Savio from Manchester City earlier this week, and the Brazilian made an immediate impression from the bench in the Carabao Cup, scoring on his debut in the 5-1 thrashing of Charlton Athletic in midweek.

The winger produced a brilliant goal to instantly become a crowd favourite with the Spurs supporters, so there was clear surprise when he was left out of the matchday squad for Newcastle’s visit. That was especially the case after De Zerbi had said before the Newcastle match that Savio was in contention to make his full debut.

De Zerbi swiftly clarified the call, telling Sky Sports: “There was bad news yesterday, before training in the afternoon. He suffered muscle fatigue and the medical staff didn’t want to take a risk. I agree with them.”

The Italian is hoping to have the forward available again for Spurs’ next Premier League fixture, away to Nottingham Forest next weekend.

As a result, the 22-year-old misses out, but his former Manchester City team-mate Omar Marmoush, who joined Spurs earlier this week on an initial loan with a £60million obligation to buy, starts this afternoon and makes his full debut for his new club.

Richarlison was another unexpected absentee from the Tottenham bench on Saturday afternoon, with the Brazilian’s future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium having been under scrutiny throughout the transfer window.

There was encouraging news on the injury front, with Mohammed Kudus deemed fit enough for a place on the bench after a difficult and lingering thigh problem that had kept him out since January.