Tottenham Faces Liverpool in Carabao Cup with Key Injuries

Tottenham face a daunting Carabao Cup trip to Anfield on Tuesday night stripped of two key starters and with a high-profile striker still frozen out.

Roberto De Zerbi will be without Sandro Tonali and Pedro Porro for the third-round tie against Liverpool, a double blow for a Spurs side already short of rhythm and confidence after a stuttering start to the season.

Injury blows before Anfield

Spurs head to Merseyside on the back of successive 0-0 draws against Nottingham Forest and Everton, results that have stalled momentum and piled on the pressure ahead of a visit to a ground where they have not won in 15 years.

They needed a clean bill of health. They got the opposite.

Tonali picked up a minor knock in the draw with Everton, De Zerbi confirmed, ruling the Italy international out of the midweek cup tie. Porro, meanwhile, is still battling the muscular problem that kept him out at the weekend and has not recovered in time.

The squad has already been playing catch-up after a disrupted pre-season. Losing two more first-team regulars only stretches the group further at a moment when Spurs desperately need a performance as much as a result.

There is at least one positive. Destiny Udogie is back. The left-back, left out against Everton as a precaution, has been passed fit and will return to the squad for Anfield.

Richarlison remains in limbo

If the injury list is frustrating, the Richarlison situation is simply awkward.

The Brazilian is eligible to play in the Carabao Cup but will not travel. De Zerbi made that clear. The forward wanted to leave in the summer, Spurs left him out of their Premier League squad, and despite late efforts from both player and club, no move materialised before the transfer window closed.

So he stays. But he does not play.

“Richarlison, you already know everything, nothing changed for the Carabao Cup or Premier League. The situation is the same,” De Zerbi said on Monday, drawing a firm line under any suggestion of a short-term recall.

Long-term absentee Dejan Kulusevski is also still unavailable, removing another attacking option from De Zerbi’s thinking.

De Zerbi weighs rotation and risk

The Italian head coach is expected to rotate at Anfield, but only up to a point. Spurs want a run in the Carabao Cup, and the manager must balance that ambition with the need to protect several players who are not yet at peak condition.

Among those still short of full match fitness are Mateus Fernandes, Conor Gallagher and Mohammed Kudus, all important pieces in De Zerbi’s evolving side. Managing their minutes, while trying to compete with a strong Liverpool squad away from home, is the puzzle he must solve.

There could be a glimpse of the future, though. Academy winger Luca Williams-Barnett is in contention for some involvement, with De Zerbi hinting at a possible cameo rather than a full outing.

“Many players need to play,” he said. “Maybe not 90 minutes, but 30 minutes, a real game is important.” Tonali’s absence, he admitted almost as an afterthought, only underlines how stretched the options are.

Predicted Tottenham XI vs Liverpool

Dubravka; Gray, Tosin, Senesi, Udogie; Bentancur, Bergvall, Gallagher; Kudus, Solanke, Marmoush.

Injured: Simons, Odobert, Kulusevski, Tonali, Porro, Mudryk

Unavailable: Richarlison

Kick-off is at 8pm BST on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, under the Anfield lights. For a Tottenham side chasing both a result and a spark, this is exactly the kind of night that can either ignite a season—or expose how fragile it really is.