Tottenham's Premier League Kickoff: Defender Absences and Captaincy Issues

Tottenham’s new Premier League campaign will kick off without two of their most important defenders – and their captaincy structure in tatters for opening day.

Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro have both been ruled out of Saturday’s trip to Brentford, with Pape Matar Sarr a late addition to the absentee list after feeling hamstring pain on Friday.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi confirmed the blows when he faced the media.

“Micky is not on the list for tomorrow, like Pedro Porro,” he said. “Pape Matar Sarr no, because he felt some pain in his hamstring today. Nothing serious, but we don’t take risks.”

Van de Ven’s issue stems from pre-season.

“Today, he worked with the group, and he is going very well,” De Zerbi explained. “He suffered a problem during the pre-season of Australia, I don’t know if it was the flight, but not a big problem.”

The timing, though, is brutal. With Van de Ven and Porro both out, Spurs head to west London without their new captain and first vice-captain for the curtain-raiser.

De Zerbi pointed to the depth still available at centre-back.

“We have [Marcos] Senesi, we have Ben Davies and in the right condition to play the game tomorrow.”

Yet even the leadership pecking order is under strain. Ben Davies, third in line for the armband, is not expected to start. James Maddison, fourth in the hierarchy, is short of match fitness.

That opens the door for Archie Gray. Fifth on the leadership list and likely to deputise for Porro at right-back, the teenager could walk out at Brentford wearing the captain’s armband on the first day of the season.