Tottenham face Everton at home on Sunday in a Premier League match with their status in the division at stake, kick-off at 4pm and Sky Sports Main Event coverage beginning at 3pm.
Roberto De Zerbi has been forced into late decisions over selection after a season of attrition, but he confirmed the strings are no longer completely frayed. "Solanke is available for tomorrow," he said, adding, "We have to decide if he starts in the first 11 or not."
The simple arithmetic is brutal: Tottenham would go into the Championship only if they lose at home to Everton and West Ham beat Leeds at the London Stadium. That single scenario is the only permutation that ends their Premier League life; everything else keeps them in the division.
The stakes have a sharp edge because of what the club has been this season and what it was a year ago. A year ago Spurs celebrated Europa League glory with more than 220,000 fans at the trophy parade. This season has been a collapse by comparison — Tottenham became the first side in top-flight history to lose 22 games in a 38-game season and not be relegated — and the consequences have already included managerial churn: Ange Postecoglou was not kept on after Tottenham finished 17th, and Thomas Frank was described as Postecoglou's successor and as not the right fit for the club.
Injuries have thinned the squad, but De Zerbi insisted on availability. "Maddison is available," he said, while discussing minutes for the midfielder: "It's always tough to decide before the game how many minutes he can play." James Maddison has only just returned from an ACL injury and has made a 16-minute and a 28-minute substitute appearance against Leeds and Chelsea, respectively. Dominic Solanke missed Tottenham's last three matches against Villa, Leeds and Chelsea after a hamstring injury suffered on 25 April in the 1-0 win against Wolves at Molineux, yet De Zerbi repeated, "He's available, he's available" about Djed Spence and later concluded directly about another player, "So, obviously, he can play."
That availability adds immediate weight to a selection headache. De Zerbi will need to balance the short-term necessity of points with the long-term risk of exposing recently returned players to heavy minutes. He noted of Solanke specifically the dilemma managers face: "We have to decide if he starts in the first 11 or not." The choice matters beyond Sunday — it will shape whether Tottenham attempt a reset inside the Premier League or are forced into rebuilding in the Championship.
There is tension between the optimism of returning personnel and the reality of the season's ledger. Tottenham have lost Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Mohammed Kudus to injury over the campaign, and Heung-Min Son left the club in the summer, all factors that left a depleted side fighting to survive a season that has already set unwanted records. De Zerbi also addressed incidents on the pitch that could have distracted the team, saying: "I think it was another situation bad for us because I think it was a red card for Delap, but I have to repeat, I have no time and energy to lose thinking about red card, yellow card - we move on thinking just on the game."
What happens next is straightforward and uncompromising: De Zerbi must pick a side and decide how much risk to take with returning players. If he starts Solanke and hands minutes to Maddison and Spence, he is betting that freshness can win a game that will decide the club’s short-term future; if he holds them back, he accepts a smaller immediate chance of victory but aims to preserve fitness. Either way, the selection on Sunday will tell whether Tottenham will mount their reset inside the Premier League or be forced into the one narrow scenario that would send them into the Championship.
