Tottenham are back in European action next season and their matches in the Europa League, as well as FA Cup and Carabao Cup ties, will have a huge impact on their Premier League 2024/25 calendar and the need for Ange Postecoglou to have a big squad.
Postecoglou took Spurs back into continental competition with their fifth place finish in the league last season and the Australian will be looking to have a bigger impact in the domestic cups this time around after early exits in both tournaments in his first campaign as well as taking on the expanded Europa League, which features eight group stage matches alone.
The first cup competition that arises next season is the Carabao Cup, which Tottenham will enter in the third round and those ties are currently pencilled in over two weeks but the club's Europa League involvement would ensure they would need to play their game in the September 17/18 week.
So after the first international break, that would mean a Carabao Cup fixture just a few days after the first North London Derby of the season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 14. Then after a home Premier League game against Brentford on September 21, Spurs will begin their busy expanded Europa League schedule with the first match on either September 25 or 26, with that opening round the only one that currently offers a potential Wednesday night fixture rather than a Thursday one.
That will come just a couple of days before a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the Premier League on September 28.
Matchday two in the Europa League arrives the following week on October 3, in between the game at United and the trip to Brighton on October 5. After the second international break, matchday three in Europe is on October 24, which places it between Tottenham's home match against West Ham and trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace.
The following week of October 29/30 brings the Carabao Cup fourth round should Postecoglou's men progress in that competition this time.
Europa League football returns ahead of yet another international break, with matchday four on November 7, placing it between Spurs' home games against Ipswich Town and Aston Villa. Matchday five arrives on November 28, scheduled in the middle of a week with Premier League games at Manchester City and at home against Fulham.
A fortnight later and matchday six comes on December 12, placing it between the home derby against Chelsea and journey to Southampton. The next midweek brings the return of the Carabao Cup with the fifth round, or quarter-finals if you prefer, on the dates of December 17/18 if Tottenham have reached that stage, ahead of a home clash against Liverpool.
The first leg of the semi-finals are scheduled to take place in the midweek of January 7/8, in between a home game against Newcastle United and the FA Cup making its first appearance for Premier League teams with the third round coming on the weekend of January 11 ahead of an unusually scheduled midweek North London Derby at the Emirates Stadium.
That expanded Europa League group stage continues into 2025 for the first time with matchday seven on January 23, in between a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton and a home fixture against Leicester City. The following midweek brings the conclusion of the group stages of the Europa League with matchday eight on January 30, stuck between that home game against the Foxes and the short journey to Brentford.
The Carabao Cup semi-final second leg then arrives, if Spurs make it that far, on February 4/5, which would be between that game at Brentford and any potential FA Cup fourth round tie on the weekend of February 8.
The Europa League knockout stages then have a different look as the top eight overall advance directly to the round of 16, while the sides finishing from ninth to 24th will take their place in the knockout round play-offs. If Tottenham could do well in the group stages and avoid that two-legged play-off round in February 13 and 20, it would really help ease their fixture schedule.
The FA Cup firth round comes on the weekend of March 1, before the Europa League round of 16 legs arrive on March 6 and 13. The latter date would come either just days before a Premier League trip to Fulham or a potential Carabao Cup final if Tottenham went all the way to Wembley.
After another international break, the next potential cup match would be an FA Cup quarter-final in the weekend of March 29. Should Spurs continue to progress in the Europa League then the quarter-finals would be played across two legs on April 10 and 17.
The FA Cup semi-final weekend is the same one that Spurs are currently slated to play Liverpool in on April 26. The business end of the season brings with it the potential of Europa League semi-final legs in May 1 and 8.
The two finals then are the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday May 17, in the penultimate weekend of the season when Spurs are scheduled to travel to Aston Villa and then the Europa League final will be played at the Estadio de San Mames in Bilbao, Spain, on May 21 in midweek before the last game of the Premier League campaign at home against Brighton.
One thing is for sure and that is that Postecoglou will need a big squad at Tottenham in order to compete in the first half of this season, with 27 matches in around 17 weeks - if you only take a week off each for the three international breaks - before 2024 ends and 29 if they get through the Carabao Cup third and fourth rounds. That's before even contemplating what potential knockout matches would mean at the business end of the campaign.
Here is what the packed fixture schedule will look like with the confirmed and potential cup fixtures added in bold:
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