De Zerbi on team fitness, Richarlison and Carabao Cup ambition

Tottenham boss Robert de Zerbi has been speaking to the media before Tuesday's Carabao Cup third-round tie against Liverpool at Anfield (kick-off 20:00 BST). Here are the key lines from his news conference: Midfielder Sandro Tonali will miss the game after he "felt a knock", while Pedro Porro remains unavailable. However, fellow defender Destiny Udogie is fit. De Zerbi said "the situation is the same" regarding Richarlison, who was left out of the 25-man Premier League squad and will not be available to face Liverpool. He added: "You already know everything and nothing changes for Carabao Cup or Premier League. At the start of this season I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn't want to. I can't go every day to pray for him to stay." Lucas Bergvall and Mathys Tel are among those being considered for the cup tie, alongside players who have not played enough. Teenager Luca Williams-Barnett could feature, with the manager saying many players need to play and suggesting "maybe not 90 minutes but 30 minutes". De Zerbi praised his options in central defence, saying Ben Davies, Marcos Senesi and Tosin Adarabioyo are "not less than Van Hecke and Van de Ven". De Zerbi accepted that the coach has responsibility for the lack of goals, adding that the team "have the qualities enough to score goals" and had "good enough chances" against Everton, but failed to make the right decisions. The Italian said he has "big confidence" in his squad despite their slow start and believes they "are very good players".On speaking to Mathys Tel at full-time against Everton, he said he was explaining the forward's "body shape" and added that the forward Tel "is a big talent". He said he wants the team to approach the cup competitions with the same mentality as the Premier League: "The attitude and spirit the same. I would like to go far in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup." You can listen to full commentary of Liverpool v Spurs on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds on Tuesday Got a question about Tottenham? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts [BBC]