Tottenham have been given a boost ahead of their vital Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest this weekend.
Sunday’s home game against Forest was already the most significant fixture of Tottenham’s season before this afternoon.
One point separates the two sides in the Premier League table, with Spurs in 16th and Forest directly below them in 17th. Win and Tudor’s side open up a four-point cushion on their visitors, heading into the international break with real breathing room.
Lose and Forest leapfrog them, the gap narrows, and the mood around N17 darkens again after the lift provided by the draw at Anfield and Wednesday’s spirited 3-2 win over Atlético Madrid.
Tudor will have plenty of options available — Richarlison, Dominic Solanke and Joao Palhinha all back in contention, Cristian Romero leading the defence, Xavi Simons providing the attacking spark.
The squad looks better than it has done at any point during the Croatian’s brief tenure, and the timing of the break immediately after Sunday’s fixture means whoever is picked will be fresh and rested for the run-in.
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It is significant.
James Maddison can also feature before the end of 2025/2026, as confirmed by Tudor today.
But the day took a significant turn late on Friday afternoon.
Sharp-eyed supporters had already noticed something unusual earlier in the morning — Guglielmo Vicario was absent from the Italy squad announced for this month’s international fixtures.
The 29-year-old has been Italy’s regular second-choice keeper for the best part of two years, and his omission from a squad gathering for crucial World Cup play-off ties raised immediate questions.
Italy face Northern Ireland on March 26, with the winner going on to meet either Wales or Bosnia in a one-legged final on March 31. Not a window you would voluntarily miss.
Hours later, Tottenham confirmed the reason.
The club released a statement confirming that Vicario will undergo surgery on a hernia next week — a procedure timed, they said, “to have as minimal impact on our season as possible.”
He is expected to return to action within a month, which given Spurs do not play again after Sunday until April 11, limits the number of games he will miss.
Antonin Kinsky, who missed the Czech Republic’s own World Cup play-off squad, will remain at the club over the break and is primed to step in.
Guglielmo Vicario set to play against Forest despite Tottenham announcement
What makes this story genuinely remarkable, though, is what Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge revealed shortly after — the full picture of what Vicario has been putting himself through in recent weeks.
“We can also reveal that Vicario will be involved on Sunday,” Bridge said on Sky Sports.
“He’s been playing through the pain barrier, with this hernia, but we do understand he will feature for Spurs.”
To clarify, Vicario will play against Forest, and then undergo surgery the next day.
That is an extraordinary act of commitment from a player who has gone about his business at Tottenham this season with minimal fuss and maximum professionalism.
While the chaos has swirled around him — Tudor arriving, the injury list growing, the Kinsky calamity in Madrid — Vicario has quietly kept showing up.
The fact he has been doing all of that with a hernia that required surgery puts an entirely different frame on it.
Sunday may be his last game for a month, and this could even be his last season amid reports Vicario has green-lit a summer move to Inter Milan, but it is a twist to say the least.
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