Jamie Carragher has a feeling James Maddison may have a role to play if Tottenham are going to avoid relegation and stay in the Premier League.
Spurs were hit with yet more injuries to attacking players in their 1-0 win at Wolves – their first victory of 2026 – with Xavi Simons ruled out for the rest of the season and the World Cup in a major blow to the north London club’s survival hopes.
The absence of £52m Simons is just the latest injury blow for Spurs, who sit two points adrift of safety with four games to go, after seeing summer signing Mohammed Kudus and captain Cristian Romero ruled out for the rest of the season in the first month of De Zerbi’s time in charge. They have also been without Dejan Kulusevski and Maddison, who has been sidelined since last August due to a torn ACL.
Xavi Simons receives medical treatment before being stretchered off
He has been included in the previous two matchday squads, but hasn’t been deemed fit enough to make a long-awaited return to action, but Carragher, speaking on Monday Night Football, thinks Maddison has the ability to “produce the magic Spurs need as they bid to avoid dropping into the Championship.
“Spurs have been really unfortunate with injuries,” Carragher told Sky Sports. “If they didn’t have this injury record they wouldn’t be in this position.
“However, they have had ACL injuries to three players in the same position, Kulusevski, Maddison and now Simons.
“But now I feel Maddison, who is returning from injury, may have to play a role in terms of keeping Tottenham up.
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Tim Sherwood feels Spurs need to review why so many players are getting injured as it could cost them a place in the Premier League
He added: “He is the only one I can think of in terms of doing something special. He’s got that quality I mention in terms of Jarrod Bowen and Morgan Gibbs-White.
“He is coming back from a big injury and we might only be talking about 15 to 20 minutes off the bench, but he is the only one when I look at that squad and think he could produce that little bit of magic Spurs need, especially in the away games at Aston Villa and Chelsea.
“When I think of the Spurs players and that little bit of fear of going down, and it may have gone a little after the win at Wolves, but Maddison would continue to take the ball. He’d still want to take it no matter what the situation.
“For Spurs to stay up, I feel he has a role to play.”
‘Who is going to score the goals for Spurs?’
It is as you were in the relegation battle after the weekend as Tottenham and West Ham matched Nottingham Forest’s victory last Friday evening with all three relegation-threatened sides desperate to avoid joining Burnley and Wolves in the Championship next season.
Spurs have four games left, two at home against Leeds and Everton and two away at Aston Villa and Chelsea, and Carragher believes Spurs could struggle, despite their win at Wolves, because of a lack of goals compared to Forest and West Ham, who have players with the quality of Gibbs-White and Bowen.
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Tim Sherwood admits he is ‘deflated’ despite Spurs’ win at Wolves in their fight to avoid relegation
“It’s going to be really tough for Spurs,” Carragher said.
“The fans will now be thinking they have won a game of football – they haven’t won a game of football all year and it’s hard to comprehend that. However, their rivals West Ham and Nottingham Forest both won also.
“If you add that to the injuries they got at the weekend, even though they have won a game, they are actually in a worse position than last week because they’ve got the easiest game on paper out of the way.
“West Ham and Nottingham Forest have difficult fixtures on paper, there’s no doubt about that, but when you look at the players they both have and with both playing with a front four, Morgan Gibbs-White or Jarrod Bowen, Spurs don’t have a player in the attack that can even come close to either of those players.
“That is what worries me for Spurs.”
He added: “After watching the Wolves game and also the injuries in attack, who is going to score a goal for Spurs? Who is going to create something?
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur
“I look at the games they’ve got at Aston Villa and at Chelsea. They are tough games no matter how you are playing or how good a team you’ve got.
“But I can’t see them scoring a goal. If they do score I can only see it being one so they have to then keep a clean sheet to win the game, so I find it difficult to make a case for them in those two games.
“That then puts huge pressure on the home games against Leeds and Everton.”
