De Zerbi urges Spurs players to ‘silence the voice inside’ ahead of another huge game in battle for survival | OneFootball

Roberto De Zerbi has delivered a stirring rallying cry ahead of his Spurs side’s clash with Aston Villa as they continue to battle Premier League relegation.

Tottenham secured their first win of 2026 last week with a 1-0 victory over Wolves, yet they still remain two points behind West Ham who are 17th.

Their victory was, however, marred by injuries to Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons, and Spurs could enter this game five points adrift if West Ham beat Brentford on Saturday.

They travel to fourth-placed Aston Villa on Sunday night, facing a side looking to bounce back from a league defeat to Fulham last week and a loss to Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.

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Despite Spurs’ precarious situation, manager De Zerbi issued a defiant message before the clash.

He said: “We have to die on the pitch and to die on the pitch we have to lose the game. Before losing the game, we have to play and we have to fight. We have two points less than West Ham and they have to play a difficult game as well.

“It is not the best moment for us; it is a tough and difficult moment. But the losers cry, the losers think negatively. I don’t want people close to me to be crying or think in a different way from me.

“The most important challenge now is to silence the voice inside of us. Inside of the players, the staff, the fans. This voice produces negative thoughts and it says we are unlucky, we have too many injuries, we lost Xavi Simons, he was in the last two games one of our best and most important players. Our medical staff is not good enough, the pitch of the stadium and the training ground is not good, it is impossible to win two or three games in a row because we have not won too many games in 2026.

“I think these are all negative things and it’s rubbish because I want to keep my focus on ourselves and the quality of my players.”

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