James Maddison looks to have found his rhythm just in time for Tottenham’s trip to Chelsea. The 29-year-old midfielder made a strong impression in Monday night’s 3-1 win over Coventry City, starting his first Premier League game of the season and backing it up with a superb goal.
He broke the deadlock inside the opening 15 minutes. Mohammed Kudus cut in from the right and rolled the ball into his path, and Maddison turned his body and curled a shot from just outside the box over Carl Rushworth into the top far corner.
It was an emphatic return after nearly 18 months out following the anterior cruciate ligament rupture in his right knee in the summer of 2025, and it showed Roberto De Zerbi exactly what the team has been lacking.
The England international stayed confident for as long as he was on the pitch, constantly looking for the ball and trying to create. When he was withdrawn midway through the second half, only the defenders had beaten him in terms of passes into the final third and line-breaking passes among Spurs’ outfield players.
Many were surprised by how sharp he looked in his first competitive start in 536 days, but it is hardly a shock that Spurs won as soon as he took back the playmaking duties in midfield. Since joining from Leicester City for £40m ahead of the 2023/24 season, Spurs have won 52.1 per cent of the 48 games he has played, with 25 wins, 17 defeats and six draws. Without him, they have won just 17 of 73.
If De Zerbi wants to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night and end a six-game losing run against them, Maddison should keep his place and be the first name on the teamsheet for weeks to come.
After the match, Maddison told Sky Sports that he had hoped to start and had discussed it with the manager during the week, feeling it was the right time to return to the XI after a stop-start beginning to the season. He wanted to show his quality and remind everyone what the team had missed. De Zerbi told him he wanted to sit back and enjoy watching him play, and Maddison hoped he delivered on that.
He described the goal as the kind of moment you dream about during the dark days of ACL recovery, and said those moments make it all worthwhile. He also said he felt proud of Dejan Kulusevski, as he knew exactly what he was going through. On his role, he explained that he is at his best operating in the pockets of space between the lines, popping up on the left, right and through the middle, and that this is where the goal came from.
