Spurs could be without 11 vs Liverpool as 'heartbreaking' decision explained

SportPaul Wheelock Head of sport10:56, 11 Mar 2026Updated 11:13, 11 Mar 2026If it was a bad night for Liverpool in the Champions League, then it was a horrendous one for Tottenham Hotspur, their visitors to Anfield on Sunday in the Premier League.

Liverpool will still be favourites to progress to the quarter-finals despite losing their round of 16 first-leg tie to Galatasaray 1-0 in Turkey. But for Tottenham, their time in European football's top club competition looks almost certainly over after they were thrashed 5-2 by Atletico Madrid in Spain.

It was freefalling Spurs' sixth straight defeat in all competitions and if that wasn't bad enough, they are facing the prospect of now being without 11 first-team players for the showdown with the Reds this weekend.

Tottenham are not being helped by an injury crisis and they already have attackers Wilson Odobert, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Mohammed Kudus sidelined along with midfielders Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall and defenders Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie.

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Another defender, Micky van de Ven, will also miss the Liverpool match. He is suspended after being sent off in Tottenham's 3-1 home loss to Crystal Palace, which left Spurs just one point above the Premier League relegation places and in very real danger of going down for the first time since the English top flight was rebranded in 1992.

And to make matters worse, captain and centre-back Cristian Romero and midfielder Joao Palhinha are also doubtful for the encounter.

They clashed heads toward the end of the loss to Atletico and new manager Igor Tudor, who has now lost his opening four games in charge of Tottenham, admitted afterwards he could not confirm whether they would be allowed to play under FA concussion protocols.

He said: "I don't know. We will see. I don't know.

"Also, an example of the moment. It is incredible. It is incredible. We finished the game and we see the two players and there is Micky (Van de Ven), who is out with a red card.

"Sometimes it is difficult to explain. It looks like everything is against us. Incredible things."

Another question Tudor will have to answer is who starts in goal against defending Premier League champions Liverpool after his decision to drop first-choice Guglielmo Vicario for Antonin Kinsky backfired spectacularly against Atletico Madrid.

The 22-year-old was substituted after just 17 minutes after conceding four goals, two of which came from his direct errors.

Tudor said: “In my 15 years coaching, I never do that. It was necessary to preserve the guy, to preserve the team.

“Incredible situation, nothing to comment, you will see. It was, before the game, the right choice to do in the moment like we are.

“Pressure on Vicario, another competition, Toni is a very good goalkeeper. So, it was, for me, the right decision.

“I explained to Toni, also speaking after, that he is the right guy and a good goalkeeper. Unfortunately, it happened in this big game these mistakes.

“He was sorry. He made an excuse for the team. The team is with him. Me too. I was speaking with him, he understands the moment.

“He understands why he (had to) go out. So, as I said before, he is a very good goalkeeper. We are all together. It is not about one player, so, it has happened.”

Tudor's decision to haul Kinsky off and bring on Vicario was roundly criticised by former goalkeepers - particularly Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel, who said on CBS’ coverage of the Champions League tie: “He substitutes him, that is going to have ramifications for the rest of his career. He’s absolutely killed his career.”

Commentating for the BBC, former ex-Tottenham No.1 Paul Robinson described Tudor’s decision to substitute Kinsky as “confidence-destroying” and added: “I have never seen that on a football pitch.”

Speaking on TNT Sports, another former England goalkeeper, Joe Hart, said: “My heart is absolutely broken for him (Kinsky). He had a horrible 14 minutes, that slip and the third goal. I don’t know what to say. I am just heartbroken for the lad. This Tottenham team is all over the place.”

Ex-Manchester United keeper David De Gea, now in Serie A with Fiorentina, offered his support on X when he said: “No-one who hasn’t been a goalkeeper can understand how difficult it is to play in this position. Keep your head up and you will go again.”