12 players to miss Tottenham vs Aston Villa after Roberto De Zerbi injury update

Tottenham Hotspur host Aston Villa in their final fixture before the upcoming international break, and as many as 12 players are to miss the Premier League game

Roberto De Zerbi and Unai Emery have confirmed that as many as a dozen players will be unavailable as Tottenham Hotspur host Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Spurs have several long-term absentees, with Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons still rehabilitating from ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments. Dejan Kulusevski also continues to recover from a knee injury that sidelined him for over 18 months up until this month.

Roberto De Zerbi spoke about the player in Friday's pre-match press conference. The head coach said: "We have to manage Deki in the best way we can, with the medical staff, physical staff.

"But it's a great thing for us because he's a good player, he's a good guy. He deserves to play again.

"We have to work day-by-day. Also, for Deki, it's important the international break, because when he will be at the top of condition and pass over the injury, I think it's a great signing, a new signing for us, another new signing."

However, there was good news regarding James Maddison, Pedro Porro and Sandro Tonali. De Zerbi said: "(They) all are available to play. Normally, we have to understand the situation in terms of physical condition, but all of them are ready."

Mykhailo Mudryk, meanwhile, remains sidelined with the ankle injury sustained in training last week. De Zerbi said of that setback before the 0-0 draw with Everton: "It was a stupid injury of Mudryk, and we hope he can be back as soon as possible, for him and for us.

"For him, because he suffered too much and for us, because we lost one player, an important player. He played 20 minutes, 15 minutes in Nottingham. He played well, but it's the normal process when one player doesn't play for a long time."

Richarlison remains ineligible to play Premier League matches.

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As for Villa, their head coach Emery provided a straightforward on their situation, saying: "We have so many players injured, so it is difficult to mention everyone.

"Marco Bizot is out, [Amadou] Onana is out, [Modou Keba] Cisse is out. Pau [Torres] and [Ian] Maatsen are out. [Leon] Goretzka is out. [Brian] Madjo is out."

However, he expects Matty Cash and Joao Gomes to be available after both missing their last Premier League match against Nottingham Forest. The former returned as a substitute for their midweek Carabao Cup third-round tie with Coventry City, but he remained unused during their 3-1 win.