The 23-year-old suffered the injury during the second half of our Premier League fixture at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Xavi will undergo surgery in the coming weeks and, following that, will then begin his rehabilitation with our medical team.
One of the many fascinating stories surrounding our history-making FA Cup success 125 years ago is the tale of how the famous old trophy found its way to a small Ayrshire village in Scotland.
Glenbuck was the birthplace of Alexander ‘Sandy’ Tait and Alexander ‘Sandy’ Brown, two players who were instrumental in our success at the start of the 20th century. Once a thriving coal-mining community, whose population never exceeded around 1,700 people, the village was known as ‘the nursery of footballers’ and produced an extraordinary roll call of around 50 professional footballers, including our two Sandys and Liverpool legend Bill Shankly.Shortly after our 3-1 win over Sheffield United in 1901, which made us the first and still only non-league club to lift the FA Cup, it is said that Tait and Brown returned home to Glenbuck with the trophy itself.
According to local tradition, the cup was placed on display in the window of the village Co-operative store for the community to admire. While some details of the story are difficult to verify with complete certainty, contemporary newspaper reports support the account of the trophy being taken to Scotland.
There is, however, no doubt about Glenbuck’s remarkable footballing heritage. The local side, first known as Glenbuck Athletic and later as the Glenbuck Cherrypickers, produced seven Scottish internationals, while the village as a whole turned out around 50 professional players, including four FA Cup winners. Among them were Brown and Tait, who both played their part in one of the most celebrated triumphs in our history.
Glenbuck also produced Bill Shankly, who would go on to become one of Liverpool’s greatest managers, winning three league titles, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup. Remarkably, all five of the Shankly brothers played professionally.
The life and times of Shankly and Glenbuck are told in the excellent book Shankly’s Village: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Glenbuck and its Famous Sons by Adam Powley and Robert Gillian, which also includes material on Brown and Tait.
Brown’s goals went a long way towards helping us lift the FA Cup in 1901. He became the first player to score in every round of the competition and netted 15 times that season, including in both final matches. He had first made his name with Glenbuck Athletic, where he earned the nickname ‘The Glenbuck Goalgetter’.
Tait, meanwhile, was one of 13 children and also began his footballing life with Glenbuck Athletic, combining the game with work as a pitboy in the coal mines. After spells with Ayr, Motherwell and Preston North End, he joined Tottenham in 1899. Known as ‘Terrible Tait’ for the force of his tackling, he played in all eight of our FA Cup ties in 1900-01.
Although Glenbuck is no longer the thriving mining village it once was, the site is now home to the Glenbuck Heritage Village, which includes a sign dedicated to Sandy Tait and Sandy Brown and their role in Tottenham’s 1901 FA Cup triumph. Brought forward through the efforts of the THIS IS GLENBUCK group and funded by East Ayrshire Council and SMRT, the sign helps preserve that connection and gives Spurs supporters in Scotland a place where this remarkable shared history can still be discovered.
Striker Will’s impressive shift for Oxford United in their 4-1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday unfortunately proved too little, too late as the hosts’ relegation after two years in the Championship was confirmed prior to kick-off following Charlton Athletic’s win over Hull City.
Nevertheless, the 21-year-old did his best to give the Oxford fans something to cheer by netting his 11th and 12th goals of the season to put his side 2-0 up inside 27 minutes, adding to a clever flicked effort at the near post with a sumptuous curler from distance – a fine strike.
Later in the game, with the hosts leading 3-1, he set up Myles Peart-Harris to complete the scoring. Will played the full game, while Jamie Donley also started before being substituted in the 63rd minute while it was still 2-0.
Elsewhere, fellow forward Oli stepped off the bench to score Mansfield Town’s final goal in their comprehensive 4-1 win at Huddersfield Town in League One.
The 19-year-old was introduced in the 57th minute and took only eight minutes to hit the back of the net, bursting in behind the home side’s defence and outfoxing goalkeeper Nik Tzanev from a tight angle. It was Oli’s first goal since netting a brace on his debut for Mansfield in January.
Having fallen behind inside the opening minute on the south coast, we fought back and found an equaliser just after the half hour mark, Rania Oukriss netting her second goal in as many games in the league to put us on level terms as we headed in the break.
We were more controlled in the second half in what was an evenly battled contest with the Saints, but we just lacked conviction in the final third as we settled for a point in normal time before a penalty shootout followed to determine the bonus point.
Oukriss and Eloise Summers-Mee were denied in our first two spot-kicks while the Saints calmly converted and, although Grace Bellwood scored our third penalty of the afternoon, the home side were clinical from 12 yards out and won the shootout 4-1 to claim the extra point.
More details to follow…
Having enjoyed 58% of possession throughout the game in N17, we registered 22 shots on target, five of those on target and doubled the amount of touches (42) in the opposition box compared to United’s, we just couldn’t find the breakthrough on the day but the point in the Women’s Super League brought an end of four straight defeats in all competitions.
There will obviously be disappointment to not leave north London with two extra points, especially with the opportunities we created, Lenna Gunning-Williams and Ella Morris going the closet in the second half.
While, at the other end, it was our first clean sheet since January 11, 2026 – a 1-0 win over Leicester City at Brisbane Road – after a superb performance from our shot stopper Lize Kop when called upon.
“I thought we were very good," Martin told us, speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game. "I couldn't have asked any more as they've pushed a really good side today. In the first half and second, we had some big chances and it just won't go in, but we have to look a lot of the progressive play, a lot of really good attitude and mentality - a really good performance. We've pushed them all away but it just didn’t want to go in.
“We've built off the performance against Chelsea; I think we were very good in that game. Now, we've come into this game with the same mentality, same confidence and wanting to really put things right. We've been asked a lot of questions, naturally, which we accept as a team and I think we responded well.
“Defensively, I thought we were very good and offensively, I thought we were very good also. There's some very good individual performances within that, but you just want one of those chances to go in and that maybe we win the game at that point.”
Asked about the strong defensive performance from his backline and goalkeeper Lize, he added: “We don't go out into any game to want to concede goals or want to concede so many. We go in with the mentality of making sure we keep a clean sheet and we defend the box well.
“I thought we'd done that very well today. I thought we limited them to some really small chances, not clear cuts, and then we put ourselves in a position to push the game. I thought if one team were going to win, it was probably going to be us.”
Vote for your Player of the Match | Spurs 0-0 Man Utd
We enjoyed several spells in the ascendancy over the course of the game but just couldn’t find that final, decisive final ball, Ella Morris, Matilda Vinberg, Julie Blakstad and Drew Spence all going close, while Lize Kop was superb at the other end, making smart saves when required and bravely coming for a number of deliveries into our box.
Ultimately, the 0-0 draw yielded our first clean sheet since January and ended a run of four straight defeats in all competitions for Martin Ho’s side.
More to follow...
Making his third successive league start, all under Head Coach Roberto De Zerbi, the Czech shot stopper continued his fine form between the sticks.
Having endured mixed fortunes before the arrival of the Italian this term, first appearing and keeping a clean sheet in September's League Cup win over Doncaster Rovers before he returned to the side in March for our trip to Atletico Madrid in March, his recent run in the side - and the impressive performances he has produced - has been just tremendous to see.
While he hasn't had too much to do with his hands since coming into the side - he has made just four saves across his three outings - his ability on the ball plus his command of his area has been impressive.
Enjoying a 77 per cent pass success rate - the highest we've seen since Guglielmo Vicario recorded 78 per cent against Newcastle United in February - plus showing impressive reactions to push the ball away from danger, most notably as Adam Armstrong bore down on goal late on at Molineux, the arrival from Slavia Prague last January enjoyed a fine afternoon in the West Midlands.
Add to that his stunning save to deny Joao Gomes from a free-kick in the final seconds of the game - which match-winner Joao Palhinha described as just as important as his goal in the win - the Czech goalkeeper is really finding his feet in the Premier League.
Picking up his second clean sheet in the competition with that stunning save, his efforts have seen him named your Player of the Match for the win at Wolves, taking the most votes in an exclusive poll ran on tottenhamhotspur.com and the our official app.
Taking 67 per cent of the vote, Toni edged out substitutes Joao Palhinha (15 per cent) and Mathys Tel (6 per cent) to take the crown for the second time in three games.
Highlights | Wolves 0-1 Spurs
Player of the Match | 2025/26
Paris Saint-Germain 2-2 Spurs - Micky van de Ven
Spurs 3-0 Burnley - Richarlison
Manchester City 0-2 Spurs - Joao Palhinha
Spurs 0-1 AFC Bournemouth - Guglielmo Vicario
West Ham 0-3 Spurs - Lucas Bergvall
Spurs 1-0 Villarreal - Lucas Bergvall
Brighton 2-2 Spurs - Mohammed Kudus
Spurs 3-0 Doncaster Rovers - Joao Palhinha
Spurs 1-1 Wolves - Joao Palhinh
Bodo/Glimt 2-2 Spurs - Micky van de Ven
Leeds United 1-2 Spurs - Mohammed Kudus
Spurs 1-2 Aston Villa - Joao Palhinha & Mohammed Kudus
AS Monaco 0-0 Spurs - Guglielmo Vicario
Everton 0-3 Spurs - Micky van de Ven
Newcastle 2-0 Spurs - Brennan Johnson
Spurs 0-1 Chelsea - Guglielmo Vicario
Spurs 4-0 FC Copenhagen - Micky van de Ven
Spurs 2-2 Manchester United - Wilson Odobert
Arsenal 1-4 Spurs - Richarlison
PSG 5-3 Spurs - Randal Kolo Muani
Spurs 1-2 Fulham - Mohammed Kudus
Newcastle 2-2 Spurs - Cristian Romero
Spurs 2-0 Brentford - Xavi Simons
Spurs 3-0 Slavia Prague - Xavi Simons
Nottingham Forest 3-0 Spurs - Randal Kolo Muani
Spurs 1-2 Liverpool - Djed Spence
Crystal Palace 0-1 Spurs - Archie Gray
Brentford 0-0 Spurs - Micky van de Ven
Spurs 1-1 Sunderland - Ben Davies
Bournemouth 3-2 Spurs - Mathys Tel
Spurs 1-2 Aston Villa - Joao Palhinha
Spurs 1-2 West Ham - Cristian Romero
Spurs 2-0 Dortmund - Xavi Simons
Burnley 2-2 Spurs - Cristian Romero
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-2 Spurs - Xavi Simons
Spurs 2-2 Man City - Dominic Solanke
Manchester United 2-0 Spurs - Guglielmo Vicario
Spurs 1-2 Newcastle - Archie Gray
Spurs 1-4 Arsenal - Randal Kolo Muani
Fulham 2-1 Spurs - Richarlison
Spurs 1-3 Crystal Palace - Archie Gray
Atletico Madrid 5-2 Spurs - Pedro Porro
Liverpool 1-1 Spurs - Richarlison
Spurs 3-2 Atletico Madrid – Archie Gray
Spurs 0-3 Nottingham Forest – Archie Gray
Sunderland 1-0 Spurs – Antonin Kinsky
Spurs 2-2 Brighton – Xavi Simons
Wolves 0-1 Spurs - Antonin Kinsky
Player of the Match awards | 2025/26
