It’s all eyes on the Europa League in your Monday morning Tottenham Hotspur round-up.
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Aston Villa have ‘objected’ to a request from Tottenham Hotspur to move their upcoming Premier League meeting in May in order to aid the London outfit should they reach the final of the Europa League.
In a somewhat audacious request, given that Ange Postecoglou’s side have not yet beaten Bodo/Glimt in the upcoming semi-final, Spurs hoped to bring the match against Aston Villa forward to Thursday, May 15. The current date for the match is Sunday, May 18.
The Europa League final will take place in Bilbao on Wednesday, May 21. That is currently just three days after the meeting at Villa Park. In a statement released on Sunday, the club said: "We should like to inform supporters that we are in discussions with the Premier League regarding a change in date to our away Premier League match against Aston Villa, currently scheduled for Sunday, 18 May."
Aston Villa ‘object’ to Tottenham Hotspur request
BBC Sport now claims that Villa have ‘rebuffed’ the request with sources indicating that there is no precedent set for the Premier League to move matches to help clubs succeed in European competitions. The Midlands side has played every three to four days during April due to their involvement in the Champions League and the FA Cup.
Aston Villa are also said to have pointed to a number of pre-organised family activities already being in place for that would be the last home match of the season for the club.
Meanwhile, Postecoglou and Spurs are dealing with another potential Europa League blow with news that captain Son Heung-min may not be fit for the first leg against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday evening. The forward has missed the side’s last three matches due to a foot injury, sitting out of the win over Eintracht Frankfurt and then the Premier League defeats to Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
Ange Postecoglou provides Son Heung-min injury update
Speaking after the match at Anfield, which saw the hosts crowned Premier League Champions, Postecoglou said: "It’ll be touch and go for Thursday. He’ll try hard. If [he’s not ready] for the first game we think he’ll be ready for the second game.”
When provided an update on the specifics of Son’s injury earlier this month, Postecoglou had outlined that it was a persistent problem for the winger. He said: "He's been dealing with a foot problem for a while, so now is as good a time as any to give him the right time to to get over it. He'll definitely miss Monday.
"It's been something he's been dealing with for a little while and it got to the point where not only it wasn't improving, but it was deteriorating, and it's one of these things where rest is going to be as important as anything else with that kind of injury. So, we'll give him that time. Sonny is the kind of guy who always wants to train, so we'll put him on ice for the next few days and see how he responds to that."
In other news, Former Tottenham star says 'fragile' Spurs to blame for Dominic Solanke form.