^ ^ Tottenham blow as Roberto De Zerbi rules new signing out for ‘some weeks’ with injury

Roberto De Zerbi has mixed injury news at Spurs (Picture: Shutterstock)

Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi has confirmed Savio will be out of action for ‘some weeks’ due to an injury picked up since Spurs’ last game.

The winger moved to north London from Manchester City in August for an initial £75 million and has made five appearances in all competitions so far, scoring on his debut in the EFL Cup.

The 22-year-old will miss a string of games now, though, due to a ‘muscular problem’ putting him out of action.

De Zerbi took his team to Marbella for a training camp this week, but Savio picked up a problem before they departed for Spain.

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‘Savio, unfortunately, on Tuesday, before we left for Marbella, he felt a he felt a muscular problem and we lost him for some weeks, unfortunately,’ said the Spurs manager.

On an exact prognosis, he said: ‘I don’t know, but some weeks for sure.’

Tottenham are bottom of the Premier League table after picking up just three points from their first six games.

Savio will be out of action for ‘some weeks’ (Picture: Action Images via Reuters)

They can drag themselves off the foot of the table when they host Coventry on Monday night, with two London derbies to come before the end of the month, at Chelsea and then with Crystal Palace travelling to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

De Zerbi confirmed that Lucas Bergvall is also out of action, as is Pedro Porro, although the Spanish full-back could return against Chelsea.

‘Lucas had a problem at the beginning of the game in Manchester, the first chance we created with [Dominic] Solanke, when he regained the ball, his knee… he felt pain,’ said the Spurs boss. ‘He finished the game, but the day after, (last) Sunday, he came to the training ground to our medical staff. I think two weeks.’

On Porro he added: ‘I think he’s coming – maybe in Chelsea he can play.’

Dejan Kulusevski didn’t play at all last season (Picture: Getty Images)

Monday night will see the long-awaited return of Dejan Kulusevski, who has been out of action since May 2025 due to a knee injury.

‘Yes, Kulusevski on the bench. We had a meeting with the medical staff, they gave the okay and it’s great news,’ said De Zerbi.

‘I think it’s one of the best news after Everton game last season, because Deki, he suffered too much. He deserves to feel emotion on the pitch.

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‘We are happy, we are very, very happy. It’s not football. I’m not speaking about football. Okay, he’s a special player, but we are speaking about different things. He suffered a lot and his reaction was great.’

Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert remain on the long-term injured list, while Rodrigo Bentancur is suspended after his red card against Manchester United last time out.

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^ ^ Mikel Arteta sets ambitious target for Arsenal star Kai Havertz

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (Picture: Hayters TV)

Mikel Arteta insisted he is a ‘big believer’ that Kai Havertz can be Arsenal’s 30-goal-a-season man.

Havertz is set to lead the line for Arsenal in their clash at Nottingham Forest on Sunday as he continues to be preferred to the out-of-favour Viktor Gyokeres.

Havertz joined Arsenal from Chelsea in 2023, scoring 14 goals in his first season at the Emirates Stadium before netting 15 in the following campaign.

A hamstring injury saw him miss the concluding four months of that season before both hamstring and knee problems restricted him to just 24 appearances across all competitions last term, with a return of seven goals.

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The 27-year-old has started all of Arsenal’s league games so far, scoring twice in the Premier League champions’ opening three games, but has not found the back of the net since – a barren streak of five matches.

However, speaking ahead of Sunday’s contest at the City Ground, Arteta insisted Havertz can hit as many as 30 goals a season.

‘He has that ability,’ said Arteta. ‘That is why he is playing there as well, and that is why we signed him.

Arsenal striker Kai Havertz (Picture: Getty)

‘He needs that volume of games and actions, and if you give him that, I am a big believer that yes, he can do it.

‘His football IQ is something else. He understands everything at such speed, and he can break down information better probably than anyone else on the team.

‘That’s something that’s not easy to say especially when we talk about a striker. He was out for a long period of time last season and to get back at the highest level is not easy and it can take time.

‘But Kai has done it almost immediately from pre-season and I’m not surprised because his mentality is top. I value him a lot.’

Gyokeres was handed just his third start of the season in Arsenal’s Champions League match against Lille on Tuesday night.

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The Sweden international was withdrawn midway through the second half having made little impact on the game.

Gyokeres scored 97 times across 102 appearances for former club Sporting Lisbon, but he is yet to find the back of net in his seven games this season.

‘That’s a very personal question,’ said Arteta when asked if Gyokeres, who struck 21 times in his debut campaign for the Gunners, is low on confidence.

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‘What he transmits to me is an incredible will and determination and work-rate to improve and help the team.

‘That’s Viktor every single day, regardless of his position, whether he scores a goal or not, and that’s why he’s always an option to play.

‘We are trying to help him as much as possible. He has some very good moments, but it’s very small margins, and scoring, or not scoring, changes the narrative.’

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^ ^ ‘Terrific’ – Danny Murphy heaps praise on Chelsea duo after Everton win

Chelsea wing-backs Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato were ‘terrific’, according to Danny Murphy (Picture: BBC)

Danny Murphy reserved special praise for Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato after Chelsea moved into the top four with a 2-0 victory over Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Pedro Neto scored at either end of the second half to make it two wins from two for Chelsea after the international break, with Xabi Alonso’s men netting seven times and conceding just once in that time.

Emiliano Martinez’s serious-looking head injury took some of the gloss off an otherwise positive afternoon for the Blues, but Alonso confirmed the goalkeeper was conscious when facing the media shortly after the final whistle.

Saturday’s result represented Everton’s opening defeat of the Premier League season and also Chelsea’s first clean sheet of the 2026/27 top-flight campaign.

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The west London giants will look to pick up where they left off when they return to action at home to bitter rivals Tottenham – who sit rock-bottom of the table – in a week’s time.

However, Alonso was keen not to get overly carried away with his side’s recent showings, insisting his players were still in the ‘early days’ of their development as a unit.

‘You need a lot of clean sheets to win trophies,’ the Spaniard told reporters.

Neto scored two second-half goals in a comfortable victory for Chelsea (Picture: Galloway/ProSports/Shutterstock)

The Blues moved up to fourth with the result (Picture: Images/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

‘But you need to score a lot of goals. So it’s about being strong in defence, being good in attack and we are in that process.

‘We are still early days. This first part we’ve been doing good things, other things to be improved.

‘To do a very deep analysis, it’s too early probably.’

Murphy was impressed with Acheampong’s performance at wing-back (Picture: Reuters)

Analysing the match in the Match of the Day studio, Murphy was similarly reluctant to wax lyrical when it came to Chelsea’s overall performance on the day.

However, the former Liverpool, Tottenham and England midfielder believes the clean sheet will have done Alonso’s men ‘the world of good’ after their up-and-down start to the season.

‘They’re improving,’ Murphy said.

‘It was a big thing getting a clean sheet, there had been a lot of talk about their defensive fragility and they will be pleased to have put that to bed today.

Pickford will be ‘disappointed’ to have let in Neto’s opener (Picture: Images/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

‘I thought the wing-backs, Acheampong and Hato, were terrific, both of them. There was a composure about them in the second half.

‘I thought they managed the game well and they’ve got strength in depth.

‘That clean sheet will do the players at the back and the goalkeeper the world of good.’

It was Chelsea’s first top-flight clean sheet since the Alonso regime began (Picture: Getty)

There was a contentious moment towards the end of the first half as James Garner and Morgan Rogers flew into a 50-50 challenge near the touchline on Merseyside.

The Toffees felt Rogers should have been given his marching orders for the tackle given the England international had already been booked.

However, Murphy was adamant that referee Paul Tierney made the correct decision in allowing the match to continue after what he described as a ‘really fair tackle’ between two ‘honest’ competitors.

‘No, it doesn’t [look great],’ Murphy said.

Rogers and Garner were both left in a heap following their challenge on the touchline (Picture: MI News/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

‘But I think that’s two honest lads going in with a really fair tackle, neither of them trying to stitch each other up by rolling around.

‘We didn’t hear any screams when it happened, I think that’s credit to them.

‘Also, we’re always quick to jump on the officials when they make mistakes… I thought the refereeing of that game was really good from Paul Tierney and his team.

‘That also helped the enjoyment of the game for us watching it and the crowd. We saw a tough, competitive game there and that was partly down to the good officiating so well done.’

Murphy was less than impressed with Pickford’s goalkeeping for Neto’s opening strike after the England international allowed the ball to roll underneath his outstretched left arm.

‘I think a goalkeeper of his quality and consistency would be disappointed letting that in,’ he said.

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