Tottenham's Xavi Simons confirms ACL injury with season and World Cup hopes over

The Dutch star was left in agony after twisting his knee as he fell awkwardly in the 63rd-minute of the clash at Molineux as De Zerbi's side earned a first win under his tenure - and indeed Tottenhamâ˜s first Premier League success of 2026 - to give their hopes of survival a much-needed kick boost.

But they will need to pull off their escape without the services of arguably their most inspirational player in recent weeks, who now faces up to having to watch their survival scrap from the sidelines, but also having to miss out on the World Cup finals with the Netherlands.

Simons has been fired up in recent weeks and looked like the man most likely to lead his side to survival, thanks to some inspired displays.

Indeed, the Dutch playmaker, a 51.8 million pounds signing from RB Leipzig in August, has scored six goals and added seven assists this season, looking like their go-to player as the season reaches its climax.

But now they will have to do without his goals and creativity through their remaining four matches as they look to claw themselves clear of 18th place and a first relegation from the top flight since 1977.

Confirming the cruellest of blows on his Instagram account, Simons said: "They say life can be cruel, and today it feels that way.

"My season has come to an abrupt end, and I'm just trying to process it. Honestly, I'm heartbroken. None of it makes sense.

"All I've wanted to do is fight for my team, and now the ability to do that has been snatched away from me, along with the World Cup."

The loss of their star man for the remainder of the season is yet another cruel blow in a season of injuries at N17.

De Zerbi was without nine first-team players during Saturday's win - and also lost striker Dominic Solanke during the game to a muscle injury.

While the England striker will hope his injury is not too serious, he is an early doubt for Sunday's vital clash against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

And should he miss the game, he will join the likes of Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies, Cristian Romero, Pape Sarr, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and Wilson Odobert in having to watch from the sidelines.

James Maddison has not played a competitive minute of football for Spurs since picking up his own ACL injury for Spurs in South Korea last year, and, while he has been back on the bench in recent games, De Zerbi will have to decide whether to re-integrate him over the remaining games.

De Zerbi explained how he can cover for his absences following Saturday's win at Wolves.

"We can play with Mathys Tel on the left. Kolo Muani on the right. Souza on the right. (Lucas) Bergvall on the left. We have to create," he said.

"I don't want to change too much (like) three defenders or four defenders, I don't want to put more confusion on the players, especially this season, because they changed a lot of tactical disposition. I want to be clear and simple, but for your question, we need to stay strong in the head and positive in ourselves."

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