‘He is the only one’ – Jamie Carragher says Tottenham survival hopes rest on one player
Jamie Carragher believes Tottenham’s hopes of completing a great escape and avoiding relegation could rely entirely on just one man.
Spurs continue to be hamstrung by serious injuries, with Xavi Simons becoming the latest Tottenham star to tear his ACL.
The attacking midfielder joins a long list of injured players on the treatment table at Hotspur Way, and his absence comes as a huge blow to Roberto De Zerbi’s men, who are running out of games to secure their Premier League status.
| Injured player | Injury | Potential Return |
| Wilson Odobert | Knee | November 2026 |
| Dejan Kulusevski | Knee | May 2026 |
| Mohammed Kudus | Quad | Unknown |
| Ben Davies | Ankle | Mid April 2026 |
| Guglielmo Vicario | Hernia | May 2026 |
| Cristian Romero | Knee | June 2026 |
| Destiny Udogie | Muscular | May 2026 |
| Pape Matar Sarr | Sholulder | May 2026 |
| Xavi Simons | Knee | 2027 |
| Dominic Solanke | Hamstring | Unknown |
Spurs find themselves two points off West Ham in 17th place with four games left, and a Sky Sports pundit believes that only one man can get them out of trouble.
Jamie Carragher claims James Maddison could save Tottenham from relegation
James Maddison was an unused substitute against Brighton and Wolves as the 29-year-old steps up his recovery after missing the entire season with an ACL injury.
Reports indicate that Spurs are hopeful that Maddison could feature for them before the end of the season, and Carragher believes the former Leicester City star is the only one who can provide the creativity and spark that the Lilywhites need to get out of trouble.
The former Liverpool centre-back told Sky Sports: “Spurs have been really unfortunate with injuries. 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. 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.”
Carragher explains why he fears for Spurs ahead of final run-in
Carragher is not too hopeful that De Zerbi’s men can pull themselves out of the bottom three in the remaining four matches.
The pundit suggested that, unlike their relegation rivals, who have plenty of quality in the forward areas, it is difficult to see how Tottenham are going to find the back of the net.
He added: “It’s going to be really tough for Spurs. 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.
“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? 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.”
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