Tottenham player ratings vs Sunderland - Romero tears, Xavi wasted as De Zerbi debut falls flat

Here are our Tottenham player ratings after the Premier League defeat against Sunderland in Roberto De Zerbi's first game in charge on Sunday

Tottenham fell to a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland in Roberto De Zerbi's first game in charge of the club in the Premier League on Sunday and here are our player ratings for the north London side.

Spurs came into the game in big trouble in 18th place in the table after West Ham's win at home against Wolves. De Zerbi is the club's fourth head coach in nine months and took on a team yet to win a league match in 2026 and visiting Regis Le Bris' Sunderland side, who have impressed back in the top flight.

Antonin Kinsky came in between the sticks with Guglielmo Vicario in the final stages of recovering from his hernia operation and the 23-year-old Czech stopper was looking to put his 17-minute nightmare at Atletico Madrid behind him.

De Zerbi restored Conor Gallagher to his starting line-up, alongside young midfielders Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, among five changes from Spurs' last game under Igor Tudor.

The visitors thought they had a penalty 20 minutes in when the bright Randal Kolo Muani went down in the box through a combination of challenges from Omar Alderete and Luke O'Nien. Referee Rob Jones pointed to the spot bit was called over to his monitor by the VAR officials and ruled it out.

Both teams had chances in the first half with Brian Brobbey and Dominic Solanke denied by close range saves at different ends of the pitch.

Sunderland took the lead in the 61st minute after Nordi Mukiele drifted inside from the right and hits a shot that deflected heavily off Micky van de Ven and sailed into the net with Kinsky wrong-footed.

Spurs then lost their captain Cristian Romero after the centre-back was pushed into Kinsky by Brobbey. The skipper left the pitch in tears perhaps fearing for his involvement in Tottenham's relegation battle and the World Cup this summer.

Tottenham could not find a way back into the game despite 12 minutes of added time after the treatment required by Romero and Kinsky.

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Here are our Spurs player ratings:

Antonin Kinsky

Tipped an awkward early corner over his crossbar. Made a big save to deny Brobbey in added time at the end of the first half. Couldn't anything about Mukiele's heavily deflected goal. Needed plenty of treatment after Romero was pushed into him. Could have been more confident in coming out to claim set pieces but this was a solid enough return after that difficult night in Spain. 6

Pedro Porro

Had an early effort held comfortably by Roefs. Struggled down his flank with Sunderland's left-sided duo. Had a powerful shot tipped over in added time. 5

Cristian Romero

Got a key touch to stop Brobbey in the Spurs box early on. Picked up a first half yellow card. Came off in tears after being pushed into Kinsky by Brobbey and getting injured. 6

Micky van de Ven

Like Romero picked up a first half booking, his ironically for a shove on Brobbey. Still doesn't look in his stride although he did make a good sliding block in the 80th minute. 6

Destiny Udogie

Brought some good balance to the left for Spurs but could have been used more in attack. 6

Conor Gallagher

Plenty of huff and puff with very little to show for it. 5

Archie Gray

At the hub of the midfield but didn't get the opportunity to do much with the ball before coming off after the Sunderland goal. 5

Lucas Bergvall

Started in the number 10 role and mixed some energetic moments with some loose touches and poor decisions. It was an experiment that didn't really work and would have suited Xavi better in this formation. 5

Randal Kolo Muani

Went on a couple of early dangerous runs, one leading to a Richarlison chance. Thought he had a penalty 20 minutes in only for VAR to advise the referee otherwise. Was probably Spurs' most dangerous attacker but that's not saying much. Spent plenty of time on the floor throughout the encounter. 5

Dominic Solanke

Pulled a good ball across the six-yard box in the opening exchanges that nobody attacked properly. Had a chance saved by Roefs just before half-time from close range. Sent a header at the keeper from Tel's cross with 15 minutes to go. 4

Richarlison

Hit a tame effort at the keeper after a good early Spurs break. Other than a link-up with Udogie late in the first half, the Brazilian kept messing up the execution of his passes and decisions, including another tame effort after a swift Spurs move in the second half. 4

Subs

Pape Matar Sarr

Didn't bring much to proceedings when he came on. 5

Joao Palhinha

Tried to inject some energy into the midfield but wasn't able to do much with the ball. 5

Mathys Tel

Should have started the game and was brighter than all of Spurs' attackers combined during his 30 minutes or so on the pitch, set up a chance for Solanke with a good cross. 6

Kevin Danso

Replaced the emotional Romero and battled away in his usual style with Brobbey. 6

Xavi Simons

Bewilderingly came on with only five minutes of normal time remaining. Tried to make things happen around the box but his team-mates were rarely on the same wavelength. N/A