Why Tottenham are a different team with 'special' James Maddison
James Maddison made an instant impact on his return to Tottenham Hotspur's starting XI.
The attacking midfielder was named in a starting line-up for the first time since May 2025 for the 3-1 victory over Coventry City last time out.
The 29-year-old scored a wonderful opener as Roberto De Zerbi's side won for the first time in the Premier League this season.
Maddison has been restricted to only a handful of substitute appearances since suffering a serious knee injury before the start of last season.
He will hope to be involved again when Spurs make the trip to Stamford Bridge to face rivals Chelsea for a 5.30pm kick-off on Saturday.
Spurs boss De Zerbi has been talking Maddison up before that derby clash, and he is right to be doing so.
What did Roberto De Zerbi say about James Maddison?
You could see immediately against Coventry why Maddison could be so important under De Zerbi.
Spurs have badly lacked a creative outlet in those attacking midfield areas without Maddison.
His proactivity gets Spurs on the front food, and he was always looking to create against the Sky Blues.
De Zerbi was speaking to Sky Sports News in the build up to the Chelsea game about a number of topics.
And he acknowledged that Spurs are a different team when Maddison in the line-up.
He said: "He's a special player, a different player, the team without Maddison has a big change."
It is not hard to see why Maddison can be such a difference maker for this Tottenham team.
Why James Maddison can be so crucial to Tottenham
To really understand Maddison's influence, it is best to look at data from the 2024/25 campaign, the last full season before his injury.
In that campaign, Maddison overachieved his xG (nine goals to 5.83 xG) and expected assists (seven to 5.91 xA).
He averaged 1.3 key passes per game, and had a pass accuracy rate of 87 per cent.
It is that ability to find a killer pass, and to keep the ball that makes him so importan to this Spurs team.
You sense that having Maddison back involved with help get the best consistently out of the likes of Omar Marmoush and Savio, while Dominic Solanke should benefit from having a creative outlet like that playing so close to him.
Conor Gallagher has been utilised as a makeshift '10' but that experiment needs to cease with Maddison available.
Mateus Fernandes has yet to show his best either, but he could really flourish with having someone like Maddison to combine with.
There are a lot of exciting potential possibilities with Maddison in the team, and Spurs could certainly look different with him consistently involved.