Dominic Solanke Set for Spurs Start as De Zerbi Challenges Forwards
Roberto De Zerbi is ready to turn to Dominic Solanke at last – and has thrown down a blunt challenge to the rest of Tottenham’s forwards to prove they belong at this level.
Solanke has managed just 114 minutes of football this season. For a side that hasn’t scored a single league goal in three matches, that statistic feels damning.
Long wait for a key man
The 28-year-old has not started a game for Spurs since April, when he limped off with a hamstring problem just 40 minutes into a vital 1-0 win away at Wolves. That night underlined his importance. It also marked the start of another long spell on the sidelines.
A recurring ankle issue then wrecked the rest of his campaign. Solanke missed the final four games entirely, reduced to watching from the bench as Tottenham clung on to their Premier League status on the final day.
The plan was simple over the summer: full pre-season, full reset. Instead, the club’s revamped medical department, working closely with De Zerbi, chose caution. With Solanke’s injury history and concerns over jet lag, Spurs refused to rush their No9 back.
Under performance director Dan Lewindon, Tottenham have taken a harder line on players with patchy fitness records. Solanke has been one of the main test cases for that new approach.
The cost has been obvious. While Spurs toiled in front of goal, their main centre-forward watched on.
Everton or Liverpool – but the wait is nearly over
That wait is almost done. De Zerbi confirmed Solanke is now on the brink of a first start of the season and could be unleashed when Everton visit north London on Saturday evening.
Asked directly when Solanke would be ready to start, De Zerbi was clear: it is now a matter of days, not weeks.
“I think he is close. He’s a crucial player for us, Dom Solanke. For the characteristics, personality, level of the player. He’s very close after two times on the bench – Newcastle and Nottingham – he could start the game. Or, anyway, Tuesday, he can start the game,” the Spurs head coach said, pointing to the Carabao Cup third-round tie against Liverpool as the other obvious option.
Two games. Two doors. Either way, Solanke is about to walk through one of them.
Goals dry up as Spurs search for a spark
Tottenham remain winless in the Premier League, though their performances have not been as bleak as the table suggests. The problem is brutally simple: they cannot put the ball in the net.
The 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest last weekend summed it up. Territory, possession, pressure – and almost nothing to show for it. De Zerbi’s side looked short of ideas and even shorter on conviction in the final third.
That attacking void has been made worse by the club’s transfer decisions. Brennan Johnson, top scorer in the 2024/25 campaign, was allowed to leave for Crystal Palace in January. On Saturday night, he is expected to line up for Everton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs are also working on an exit for last season’s leading marksman, Richarlison, with Vasco da Gama pushing hard to take the Brazilian back home.
Add the earlier departures of Heung Min-Son and Harry Kane, and the volume of goals that has walked out of the building in recent years is striking.
De Zerbi, though, is not flinching.
De Zerbi’s message: prove you belong
The Italian insists there are enough goals in this squad – but only if his forwards raise their game.
“Solanke didn’t play many games. I hope Solanke can be available this season more than last season. Marmoush didn’t play for Tottenham last season,” De Zerbi said, underlining how much of his attacking plan remains largely untested in a Spurs shirt.
“Savio didn’t play last season for Tottenham. And then all players they have to… Mathys Tel has to improve. Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray. Now he is 22 years (old) and he has to push, to show.
“Because the level of football is you show who you are and what you can do, or you lose the level. I think we can score goals with this squad, but we have to see.”
That is the crux of it. No more hiding behind fitness timelines, adaptation periods or potential. De Zerbi wants evidence.
Solanke’s return offers a focal point, a reference, a striker built to occupy centre-backs and drag a team up the pitch. Around him, the message is unmistakable: step up, or be left behind.
Everton on Saturday. Liverpool on Tuesday. For Tottenham’s forwards, the excuses are running out.
