James Maddison Cleared for Crystal Palace Clash

James Maddison will be in the squad for Tottenham’s meeting with Crystal Palace on Saturday, despite the latest jolt in a career that has become a running battle with the treatment room.

The 29-year-old limped off early in the second half of Spurs’ 2-0 win at Chelsea, a sight that sent a familiar shudder through the club after his long lay-off with an anterior cruciate ligament injury last season. For a few minutes at Stamford Bridge, it felt like the story might be starting again.

Not this time.

Roberto De Zerbi confirmed that his playmaker is available for selection, even if this week has been about careful management rather than full-throttle training.

“This week he didn't work like the other players, but for tomorrow he is available and he is a special player for us,” the Tottenham manager said, underlining just how central Maddison has already become to his plans.

The numbers back that up. Since returning to the starting XI earlier this month, Maddison has helped Spurs to back-to-back league wins over Coventry and Chelsea, easing the club away from immediate danger and up to 14th in the Premier League after a spell in the relegation zone. His comeback goal – a spectacular strike in the 3-1 victory against Coventry – felt like a statement that he was ready to drag Tottenham forward again.

The journey to this point has been anything but smooth. Maddison missed the bulk of last season with that serious ACL injury, then saw his latest campaign disrupted almost immediately when he fractured his shoulder in the opening-weekend defeat at Brentford. Two major setbacks before autumn had properly settled in.

De Zerbi knows that history means Spurs must treat their creator differently.

“For James Maddison or the players who are coming from a long injury, they have to work more than the other players, but he has already four or five weeks – he is working very hard and consistently,” he explained. “So, I think it's not a problem if he loses two days [training], but then we have to analyse if we take the risk or not.”

That is the balance now: Tottenham need Maddison on the pitch, but they cannot afford to break him again. His influence is obvious. Since arriving from Leicester City in 2023 for £40m on a five-year deal, he has produced 17 goals and 21 assists in 85 appearances, the kind of end product that changes seasons and softens pressure on managers.

Palace arrive with Tottenham still trying to put daylight between themselves and the bottom three. With Maddison fit enough to feature, De Zerbi has his most inventive midfielder available at a time when every point feels heavy. How much risk he is willing to take with his “special player” may say plenty about how he sees the months ahead.