Tottenham take on Everton on Sunday with a late decision set to be made on a change that will impact the huge Premier League clash
Tottenham could see their huge relegation showdown with Everton halted in each half for water breaks if before kick-off, the temperature looks set to exceed 30 degrees celsius. Extremely hot temperatures are expected in the capital on Sunday which means West Ham's match against Leeds United could also be impacted.
A win or draw for Spurs will see them avoid Premier League relegation but defeat and a victory for West Ham will see them drop down to the Championship for the 2026/27 campaign.
While the inclusion of water breaks would be to protect player welfare, it could also be an opportunity for Roberto De Zerbi and Nuno Espirito Santo to deliver tactical instructions.
As revealed by Sky Sports, the Premier League Matchday Operations manual states that "the breaks must be agreed by the referee and communicated to both clubs at the match officials briefing in the lead up to the game". It has also been claimed the potential breaks will last two minutes and be added as stoppage time.
FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE! Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
De Zerbi has confirmed that all of Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Djed Spence are available. That is despite the latter suffering a broken jaw against Chelsea, in the same week he was confirmed as being part of Thomas Tuchel's 26-man England squad for the World Cup.
Speaking on the attacking duo, the Spurs boss said: "Solanke is available. We have to decide if he starts in the first 11 or not, and Maddison is available. It is always tough to decide before the game how many minutes he can play.
"Of course, he is a different player, a top player for us. But we have to analyse the physical condition, the weather and a lot of things. But both are available.
With a very specific scenario facing Tottenham, the Italian was also asked during his pre-match press conference if his side will play for the win or try to protect a draw.
He said: "We can't change our style, our mentality, we have to play with order, with the right behaviour with the ball and without the ball, but we can't change ourselves.
"If we change ourselves or what we have done in my time, because I can't speak before I came here, normally we have to be focused on the counter attack because we are very good in this part of football.
"We have to be focused on their qualities because they have very good players, especially wingers and strikers, but I think also we have the qualities and the players good enough to play a good game and to stay up."
Tottenham supporters have organised a coach meet to welcome the players on their arrival at the stadium. The game is set to get underway at 4pm with it also ensured the second half will start at exactly the same time as West Ham's game against Leeds.