Maddison Returns for Spurs Ahead of Palace Clash
James Maddison’s season has felt like a stop-start story told in physio rooms and training pitches, but Tottenham head into the weekend with their playmaker back on the right side of the treatment table.
The England international has spent months trying to reclaim full sharpness after the anterior cruciate ligament injury that wrecked the back end of last season. Just as he edged closer to rhythm, a shoulder fracture in September halted him again and forced another spell watching from the stands.
Tottenham have treated him carefully. Minutes here, cameos there, nothing rushed. Then came Coventry. Maddison marked his first competitive start since May 2025 with a goal, a reminder of the difference he brings when he is allowed to dictate.
That performance earned him a surprise place in the XI at Stamford Bridge, where Spurs finally found a rare win in a stadium that has so often suffocated them. On a historic night in west London, the sight of Maddison going off early sent a ripple of anxiety through the away end. It looked like the story might be repeating itself.
Roberto De Zerbi moved quickly to calm the noise.
“This week, Maddison didn’t work like other players, but for tomorrow he is available,” the Spurs head coach said. “He is a special player for us. He has unique characteristics.”
The message was clear: caution, not crisis. Spurs will not flog their creator back to full tilt, but they will have him on the teamsheet when Crystal Palace arrive on Saturday.
Maddison is not the only key figure Spurs are trying to manage through a fragile phase.
Destiny Udogie, another cornerstone of De Zerbi’s plans, has also been wrestling with his own fitness issues. The Italian full-back has struggled to train consistently, dropping in and out of sessions and rhythm.
“He is available,” De Zerbi confirmed. “He is another problematic player in terms of injuries now because he can’t work consistently during the weeks. After United he didn’t work with us, with the group for a long time and this season is different because we have great medical staff and we are taking the right decision for each player in the right moment and in the right situation.”
That line tells you plenty about Spurs’ approach. The temptation, with injuries biting and fixtures stacking up, is to push. De Zerbi is resisting it. Availability, yes. Recklessness, no.
Elsewhere, the absentees still stack up.
- Lucas Bergvall remains sidelined with the knee injury he picked up in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United, a setback that has stalled his integration just as he was beginning to feel his way into Premier League tempo.
- Savio continues to nurse a muscular problem, monitored rather than unleashed.
- Mykhailo Mudryk has not featured since the start of September because of an ankle issue, his pace and direct threat still missing from De Zerbi’s attacking options.
So Spurs walk a familiar tightrope: chasing points while counting bodies.
They face a Palace side who have drifted dangerously close to trouble under Pierre Sage. Since replacing Oliver Glasner in the summer, Sage has struggled to find any sustained rhythm. The Eagles sit 17th, with only two wins to their name all season, and the numbers tell their own story of a team stuck in reverse.
Palace have not tasted a league victory since a 3-1 win over Glasner’s Nottingham Forest at the start of October. Since then, the slide has been gradual but relentless, momentum leaking away week by week.
For Spurs, that makes Saturday feel like an opportunity and a trap at the same time. On paper, it is a game they should control. In reality, it is the sort of fixture that exposes any lapse in focus, any dip in intensity, any lingering physical doubt.
Maddison is back. Udogie is back. The medical staff are on high alert.
Now the question is simple: can Spurs turn fragile returns into a sustained push, or will this season continue to be played on the edge of the treatment table?
