The New York Times

Try telling any Tottenham Hotspur supporter that their club has enjoyed a positive Premier League campaign and they’ll doubtless think you’re winding them up. But it is, in one sense, positively true.

Despite lying in 17th, and being fortunate that the bottom three clubs have been completely hopeless, Tottenham have a positive goal difference of +4. It’s a higher goal difference than Brighton & Hove Albion, who are eight places higher in the table and have won 17 more points. It seems statistically unlikely that Tottenham have scored more than they’ve conceded and yet have lost nearly twice as many matches as they’ve won — 20 to 11.

Is this simply statistical trivia? Or does it say something about Ange Postecoglou’s side?

As you’d expect, the relationship between goal difference and points is fairly solid. Liverpool have won the most points and recorded the highest goal difference this season. Southampton are the opposite in both respects.

The same applies to the (nearly) 33 seasons of the Premier League era: the best points tally (100) and the best goal difference (+79) were both recorded by Manchester City in 2017-18, while the team who recorded the lowest points tally (11) Derby County in 2007-08, also had the worst goal difference (-69), although this was equalled by last season’s wretched Sheffield United side.

All this is very straightforward. But the interesting elements come when there are major outliers.

The strangest anomaly were Norwich City in the inaugural Premier League campaign. They were genuine title challengers for much of 1992-93, finishing third. They did so, remarkably, with a goal difference of -4. On average, a -4 goal difference has otherwise resulted in an 11th-placed Premier League finish. The ‘secret’ was that 16 of Norwich’s 21 league wins were by a one-goal margin, whereas they suffered heavy away losses: 7-1 against Blackburn Rovers, 5-1 against Tottenham, 4-1 against Liverpool, and 3-0 against Southampton and Wimbledon.

Notably, all those heavy defeats came away from home. Norwich offered, by the standards of the time, a commitment to brave passing football that didn’t seem to work on the road when home advantage played a bigger role in football compared to today, and many teams played for a draw on their travels. Besides, away trips from the relatively isolated city of Norwich, before players were accustomed to luxury travel, were somewhat arduous.

But Norwich seems an isolated case. The other sides who recorded good finishes despite a mediocre goal difference tended to be cautious, cagey teams. The only noteworthy example came when David Moyes’ Everton finished in fourth in 2004-05 despite a goal difference of -1, although that figure is slightly skewed by a 7-0 thrashing by Arsenal in their penultimate game, when they were already assured of a spot in the Champions League qualifiers. Harry Redknapp’s West Ham United, meanwhile, finished fifth in 1998-99 with a goal difference of -7.

As for the other end of the scale, has anyone ever finished as low as Tottenham’s current position while also having a positive goal difference? Well, no — as the below graph shows.

The closest case were the Manchester City side of 2003-04, managed by Kevin Keegan, who finished 16th with a +1 goal difference. That works neatly, because Keegan was, perhaps, the Postecoglou of two decades ago, favouring all-out attacking football with little regard for the situation in the game.

City endured a run of 14 games without a win midway through that season (although they recorded possibly the most memorable comeback in FA Cup history during that period, winning 4-3 at Tottenham with 10 men, having been 3-0 down at half-time), but a 5-1 win against Everton on the final day pushed their goal difference into positive numbers.

Everton of 1999-2000 are also noteworthy, finishing in 13th despite a healthy +10 goal difference. This owes much to thumping home wins against the division’s minnows.

There has been an element of randomness about Tottenham’s numbers this season. Maybe the league table does lie a little. Earlier in the season, there was a five-game run when Tottenham recorded a trio of three-goal wins (against Manchester United, West Ham and Aston Villa) alongside one-goal defeats (against Brighton and Crystal Palace).

Ideally, Spurs would have shared their goals across the games more evenly. In the comfortable wins against West Ham and Villa, they significantly overperformed their expected goals tallies — the pattern was more about inconsistency in terms of finishing rather than performance.

But it’s also surely about a lack of tactical nuance. Postecoglou has varied his system more than critics have suggested, but his commitment to open football, almost whatever the circumstances, has often left Tottenham exposed.

Goal difference can be seen as a good indicator of a side’s natural footballing ability, whereas the points tally, in relation to goal difference, is a good measure of how canny a side is — how strategically clever they are, how they can squeeze out results.

Postecoglou might leave at the end of the campaign, and his two-year spell will inevitably be linked to Tottenham’s result in the Europa League final. But should he achieve this odd and unwanted record — the lowest Premier League finish for a side with a positive goal difference — it will somehow feel fitting.

(Graph: Conor O’Neill)

(Top photo: Ange Postecoglou by Ben Whitley/PA Images via Getty Images)

One team is 16th in the Premier League after an embarrassing season. The other is 17th after an embarrassing season.

Next week they face each other, Manchester United against Tottenham Hotspur, in the Europa League final in Bilbao.

Remarkably, it means Champions League football is on the table for whoever wins.

But who needs it most? How bad have their seasons been? And do either of them have a route to turning things around?

Our Manchester United writer Carl Anka and his Tottenham counterpart Jay Harris got together to discuss…

Carl: Mr Harris, my friend. I hope you’re doing well, and congratulations on nearly reaching the end of another season.

Let’s address the £100million elephant in the room. How badly do Tottenham Hotspur need to win the Europa League final?

Jay: I’m not sure how we have managed to navigate such a strange season, Carl. If Spurs win the final, and lift silverware for the first time since 2008, everybody is going to forget about how awful they have been in the Premier League. If they lose, then Ange Postecoglou’s position is untenable and this goes down as their worst season for decades. They have lost more than half of their top-flight games, including home defeats by relegated pair Ipswich Town and Leicester City.

Is it fair to say there is less pressure on Ruben Amorim to win this game because he only joined United mid-way through the season?

Carl: There is always pressure to deliver silverware at United, but Amorim’s seven months as head coach have been strange. There has been no new-manager bounce, but instead a series of very honest press conferences about how long the United rebuild could take. There’s only so many times a coach can talk about the need for suffering before fans wonder if the pain will be worth it in the end.

Amorim has made it clear that the club cannot continue performing this way. Winning the Europa League will help remove the sour taste of the season so the ‘project’ can begin properly.

Standing from the outside looking in, it looks like Postecoglou – and Spurs as a whole — have gone through a similar situation to United in 2023-24:

A manager in their second season, hoping to build on the success of what went before.

A tactical approach that demands a lot of hard running and focus on transitional moments.

A widespread injury crisis, including numerous muscular issues, which might be linked to the aforementioned hard running.

Performances drop off a cliff due to the manager persisting with his tactical Plan A despite missing several players who are essential to make it work.

Hope that the team will improve when players return from injury.

Dread when the team doesn’t improve when those players understandably lack the match sharpness to turn things around.

But there’s a cup run keeping everyone’s hopes up.

Jay: Does this mean I could have copied your articles from last season if I switched the names around? You are completely right, of course. Postecoglou’s training sessions and playing style are known for their intensity. Adhering to this system twice a week has taken its toll on the entire squad.

The only player in the starting XI who has avoided injury has been Pedro Porro. Dejan Kulusevski featured in all 42 of Tottenham’s games this season until he picked up a foot injury in March. Fatigue had worn him down and now he will miss the final following knee surgery.

To give Postecoglou some credit, he has tweaked his approach in the knockout stages of the Europa League. Spurs have had far less possession and scored from a set piece and on the counter in their semi-final second-leg victory over Bodo/Glimt. But why was he so reluctant to switch things up in the league?

Carl: There was a lot of speculation about Erik ten Hag’s job security in the lead-up to last season’s FA Cup final, only for the mood to shift after winning some silverware. Is Postecoglou in a similar situation?

Jay: The Athletic has reported that Postecoglou’s long-term future is in serious doubt even if he wins the Europa League. The Australian alluded to this following their quarter-final win over Eintracht Frankfurt when he told the journalists in the room: “Unfortunately for a lot of you, you‘re going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer.”

Postecoglou’s become grumpy over the last few months and it almost feels like he knows what is coming. Winning the FA Cup final temporarily saved Ten Hag. What can Spurs learn from how Man Utd handled that situation?

Carl: In March, Sir Jim Ratcliffe conducted a series of interviews in which he called extending Ten Hag’s contract a “mistake”. “With Erik, there was an emotional response,” said the INEOS CEO. “We get criticised for being unemotional and there was a bit of emotion with that.”

It cost United £21.4m ($28.5m) to dismiss Ten Hag and then hire Amorim. These are the sort of costly errors a football club only want to make once. Let’s borrow a line from one of the greatest films ever made: “Move calmly, move cautiously, and you’ll never be sorry.”

Speaking of club owners, there have been multiple fan protests before Spurs games this season, and #EnicOut seems to be one of the prevailing messages. How do you best explain these sentiments to the uninitiated?

Jay: Over the summer, Tottenham’s stadium will host a range of musical artists on tour, including Beyonce, Chris Brown, Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar with SZA. There is a feeling within the fanbase that Tottenham’s board focus too much on generating money through commercial activities and do not reinvest enough of that into the first-team squad.

The decision to “remaster their brand identity” in November, which basically means they tweaked their badge, went down poorly. There is a huge disconnect between the fans and the board.

How have United supporters reacted to the first full season under Ratcliffe?

Carl: The honeymoon period is well and truly over for INEOS. Ratcliffe has made a series of unpopular decisions this season.

He’s done away with concession prices on ticket, leading to Old Trafford crowds to chant “Sixty six quid, you’re taking the piss”. He’s sanctioned two round mass redundancies within the workforce and scrapped Christmas benefits and cut staff lunches around Carrington training ground. He’s brought a stop to payments to club legends, including Sir Alex Ferguson.

In amongst all of this is a football team that is underperforming, and a proposed new stadium design that has been compared to Butlin’s Minehead. Ratcliffe describes these decisions as difficult but necessary. United fans are wondering when things will improve.

Daniel Levy has been the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur since March 2001. Can you envisage a situation where that changes any time soon?

Jay: In April 2024, Levy released a statement to coincide with Tottenham’s annual accounts that said, “To capitalise on our long-term potential, to continue to invest in the teams and undertake future capital projects, the club requires a significant increase in its equity base.”

There have been a lot of whispers and rumours about where this prospective investment could come from but nothing concrete has emerged yet. For now, Levy’s grip on the club is tight and he is involved in all of the major decisions, including the future of Postecoglou.

Last month, Spurs announced that Vinai Venkatesham, who used to work for Arsenal, will join as their new chief executive in the summer. It will be interesting to see how he operates with Levy and if he takes on any of his responsibilities.

Carl: Manchester United have just asked fans to vote for player of the season. Who is likely to win awards at Tottenham?

Jay: Up until January there was no question that Kulusevski was their best player, but fatigue and injury have weakened his powers. Djed Spence had an excellent couple of months but Destiny Udogie has been restored to first-choice left-back. Dominic Solanke works exceptionally hard but 15 goals in 42 appearances is not an amazing return from their club-record £65m striker.

My vote would go to Lucas Bergvall. He started the season slowly after joining from Swedish side Djurgarden, but the 19-year-old midfielder has been a delight to watch in the second half of the campaign.

Is it safe to say that Bruno Fernandes walks away with United’s award?

Carl: That’s a no-brainer. He’s always been good for United, but this season has seen a shift in his approach. After finding it difficult to pass and receive the ball under pressure in deeper areas, everything clicked for him during a 2-2 draw with Liverpool. It’s genuinely unlocked another level to his game. They need to dedicate a plaque to him within the new stadium when it is finished.

Which areas are Spurs likely to want to strengthen this summer?

Jay: They have a big decision to make in central midfield. Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur both only have one year left on their contracts. They are not natural defensive midfielders while Archie Gray has had limited exposure to the role this season. They need a specialist holding midfielder while Gray continues his development.

Brennan Johnson is Tottenham’s top scorer this season but he fades out of games a lot. Not too many Spurs fans would complain if they upgraded him at right wing while they need a backup striker to Solanke. Richarlison has struggled with his fitness for the last two years and it might be best for everyone if there were a clean break in the summer.

What do United need for Amorim’s system to flourish?

Carl: He needs runners. Amorim believes United go from soft-bellied prey in the Premier League to hard-running predators in the Europa League. The team needs reinforcements up front, at wing-back, in central midfield… everywhere really. But any incoming player needs to be a top-level athlete. Shin kickers and road runners form the foundation of his 3-4-3. Two-footed technicians make for a layer on top of that.

Spurs are 17th. United are 16th. Do you think this final will be an entertaining viewing experience? Or akin to two drunken men squabbling for the last minicab home?

Jay: Spurs have beaten United three times this season and they have all been different games. The 3-0 victory at Old Trafford was controlled and one of their best performances, yet with key personnel missing, it’s difficult to see them replicating that. February’s encounter was tighter and decided by James Maddison’s early goal.

What the neutrals want to see, which you have alluded to, is a repeat of December’s chaotic Carabao Cup quarter-final. Spurs were leading 3-0 before a couple of awful mistakes from Fraser Forster gave United hope. Son Heung-min then scored directly from a corner but there was still enough time for Jonny Evans to make Spurs fans nervous with a stoppage-time strike.

Cup finals tend to be cagey affairs but these teams have been so unpredictable this season that I would not be surprised if the game resembled two boxers in the 12th round of a fight, battered, bruised and out of breath, aimlessly swinging punches in the hope of a knockout blow.

Carl: Our brilliant co-worker Anantaajith Raghuraman has written this piece on what those three matches can teach us. I suspect this may be a mudfight. Twenty minutes trying to figure each other out. Twenty minutes of arm wrestling for supremacy, and then the rest is the rest.

What’s your biggest hope for Spurs in 2025-26?

Jay: They avoid another injury crisis and, buoyed by winning the Europa League final, impress on their return to the Champions League.

Carl: I’d quite like United to have a decent season of steady growth and a nice run in the Champions League knockout stages.

Unfortunately, one of us will have our hopes dashed next week. Good luck… but not too much.

(Top photos: Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur forward Dejan Kulusevski has undergone knee surgery and will miss the Europa League final.

Tottenham confirmed Kulusevski, 25, had surgery on Wednesday after suffering an injury to his right patella during Sunday’s defeat to Crystal Palace. No timeframe has been given for his return, but he will not be available to face Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium on May 21 as Spurs bid to win a first major trophy since 2008.

The Sweden international was substituted in the 19th minute of Tottenham’s 2-0 Premier League loss against Crystal Palace and did not train with the squad the following day.

Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou said after the game that Kulusevski “should be OK.”

“The medical team is not too concerned with him,” said the Australian. “It’s more of a knock than anything else. We are hoping he should be OK.”

Kulusevski has featured heavily under Postecoglou this season, but sustained a foot injury in March that caused him to miss seven games for the club.

Capable of operating on the right side of the front line or in an attacking midfield role, he has made 50 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring 10 times and providing 11 assists. He featured in all 42 of Tottenham’s prior to the foot injury.

Spurs have dealt with an extensive injury crisis that has seen players in every position miss significant amounts of time this season.

Kulusevski’s latest issue is a blow to the side’s creativity ahead of the Europa League final against Manchester United, with midfielders James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall already ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

Tottenham visit Aston Villa on Friday in their penultimate league game of the season.

‘Kulusevski injury devastating for Spurs’ – analysis

The news that Dejan Kulusevski will miss next Wednesday’s Europa League final after knee surgery is devastating for Tottenham Hotspur.

Kulusevski was Spurs’ best player in the first half of this season and was recovering his sharpness after missing one month with a stress fracture in his left foot. He only played against Crystal Palace last weekend because he needed more minutes to continue that process.

His injury means that Spurs will be without their three best creative midfielders for next Wednesday’s game in Bilbao. Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison went down with ankle and knee injuries respectively the week before last, meaning that Ange Postecoglou will have to find a new combination in midfield against Manchester United. Pape Matar Sarr would be the likely beneficiary, alongside Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur.

(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

It has been clear for a couple of months that Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League fixtures are an unnecessary distraction from their pursuit of Europa League glory.

It was no surprise, then, that for the match against Crystal Palace, Ange Postecoglou made eight changes from Thursday night’s victory over Bodo/Glimt in the semi-final second leg and threw fringe members of the squad together.

Nobody was particularly surprised either when they lost 2-0 to Palace on Sunday. Nobody was particularly bothered that West Ham United’s victory against Manchester United meant Spurs dropped to 17th in the table. There was no anger from the stands or the players at a 20th league defeat — everybody stopped being too concerned by their league form a long time ago.

This game might have been immediately forgotten about if Spurs beat Manchester United in the Europa League final in Bilbao on May 21. But something concerning happened in the 19th minute.

Dejan Kulusevski had already been bruised by a challenge from Will Hughes, but he stayed down after a tackle by Palace captain Marc Guehi. A member of Tottenham’s medical staff rushed onto the pitch and rubbed Kulusevski’s right knee for a couple of minutes. The Sweden international stood up on the touchline and tried to run, but ended up hobbling in pain. He was replaced by Mikey Moore and walked straight down the tunnel with a staff member and team-mate Yves Bissouma.

Tottenham’s season has been disrupted by a crippling injury crisis, so maybe we should not be surprised. It would be a disaster if Kulusevski is unavailable for the final. With Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison ruled out, Spurs are already desperately low on creativity in midfield.

Maddison is responsible for dropping deep and pinging passes into dangerous areas, while Kulusevski and Bergvall are excellent ball-carriers. Brennan Johnson is their leading scorer in the top flight this season with 11 goals, but he is closely followed by Maddison (nine), Dominic Solanke (eight), Son Heung-min and Kulusevski (both seven). It would be damaging to lose Kulusevski and Maddison’s runs from deep and they both excel at drawing multiple defenders towards them, opening space for team-mates to exploit.

They are senior figures in the dressing room, too. Kulusevski started and won the Coppa Italia final with Juventus in 2021 and Maddison lifted the FA Cup with Leicester City that year. Their experience and ability to hold the ball under pressure have been crucial to this team’s progression in multiple cup competitions this season.

Too many people have forgotten Kulusevski was Tottenham’s best player in the first half of the campaign, when he regularly appeared in a central attacking role. He was directly involved in nine goals in 19 matches and inspired September’s victory against United at Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old’s relentless energy and technical ability ripped teams apart. Since January, his powers have been weakened by fatigue and a foot injury. Kulusevski initially hurt his foot in February but continued playing for a couple of weeks. He was so integral to Postecoglou’s plans that he featured in all of Tottenham’s first 42 games this season.

Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace was supposed to give Kulusevski valuable game time. He has not scored in his last eight appearances and has looked sluggish. Even if he makes a rapid recovery, this was a lost opportunity to build up sharpness.

Postecoglou seemed optimistic afterwards about Kulusevski’s injury. “He should be OK, just talking to him after,” the Australian said. “The medical team is not too concerned with him. It’s more of a knock than anything else. We are hoping he should be OK.”

Fans will understandably be cautious about those words, though. Maddison limped off in the second half of the semi-final first leg against Bodo/Glimt and Postecoglou said it did not appear to be “anything serious”. A couple of days later, he admitted “it’s not looking promising”. Maddison will not require surgery but has suffered suspected ligament damage and his recovery could take up to three months.

If the worst-case scenario happens and Kulusevski is unavailable, who will be Spurs’ playmaker against Manchester United in Bilbao? A midfield trio containing Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur feels too functional. Moore has played as a No 10 in Tottenham’s academy, but it would be a huge gamble starting the 17-year-old winger in a fixture of that importance. Wilson Odobert played off Son in the second half against Palace, but there was not enough evidence to draw any firm conclusions on whether the Frenchman could flourish centrally. You can make a strong argument that Kulusevski was the least ideal player to suffer an injury before the final given the lack of proven alternatives.

“Guys had an opportunity today to put their name forward and put some pressure on the guys who played the other night, (it’s) fair to say there wasn’t any compelling evidence of that,” Postecoglou said.

“That’s what I’m trying to push with these guys, that sometimes in football you’ve just got to take the opportunities there before you. They’re never going to be perfect. We made eight changes, but there is an opportunity there and you’ve just got to take it when presented to you, and I’m disappointed more didn’t step forward today.”

The only positive to emerge was Son’s return from a foot injury. This was the South Korea forward’s first appearance since the quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

But it feels typical of Spurs’ chaotic season that on the same day one of their key players returned, they potentially lost another one.

(Top photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur fell to a ninth defeat in their 18 home games in the league so far this season and dropped to 17th in the table as Crystal Palace completed the Premier League double over their London rivals in a dominant 2-0 win.

These two clubs have little to play for in the final weeks of the league campaign and, with them both having cup finals coming up over the next 10 days, there was not much jeopardy about Sunday’s game — other than the possibility of key men picking up injuries. As if to ram home that point, Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou made eight changes from the side that sealed a place in the Europa League final with victory away to Bodo/Glimt of Norway on Thursday.

Palace, FA Cup finalists next Saturday, were the more attacking side throughout and had two goals disallowed before Eberechi Eze scored two that did count either side of half-time.

That final against fellow Premier League strugglers Manchester United a week Wednesday is the priority for Tottenham, so Dejan Kulusevski going off in the first half here will be a worry for Postecoglou. One positive was the return of Son Heung-min, who made his first appearance since the beginning of April.

Jay Harris breaks down the match.

What did Postecoglou learn from the changes?

Postecoglou’s starting XI looked very different from the one that beat Bodo/Glimt in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final a few days ago.

Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky made his first appearance since a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on February 9 and ahead of him, the entire back four from Thursday were rested, apart from Pedro Porro. Archie Gray made only his third midfield start for the club, with Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert and Kulusevski forming a dysfunctional front three.

Kinsky made some good saves to deny Chris Richards, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eddie Nketiah but looked awkward in possession. When he joined in January, Kinsky looked to have a far superior passing range to their first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario — but today the 22-year-old kept putting himself in trouble with bad touches and misplaced passes.

Gray also had a difficult afternoon, the latest part of a strange debut season for the 19-year-old, during which he has been shifted about to fill gaps when other players have been injured. He started brightly, anticipating a loose pass into Eze, striding forward with the ball and finding Tel on the edge of the box, but after that, he struggled to make an impact. When Gray was moved to play right-back after Porro’s substitution midway through the second half, he looked shaky under pressure and booted multiple passes out of play.

Centre-back Kevin Danso produced an erratic performance, too, but maybe we should not be surprised. This group of players are thrown together sporadically without a chance to perform as a unit regularly and build chemistry.

It has been clear for weeks who makes Postecoglou’s preferred XI.

None of the fringe players who featured on Sunday did anything to enhance their claims for an unexpected start in that final in the Spanish city of Bilbao.

Fears over Kulusevski’s fitness

Some players are more important than others in Spurs’ squad because there are no quality alternatives if they are out.

Dominic Solanke is integral at leading the line and defending from the front, Micky van de Ven’s incredible recovery pace is crucial to Postecoglou’s high-line game and Kulusevski provides the creativity.

With Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison already ruled out of the Europa League final due to injury, it was crucial that Kulusevski built up match sharpness as he continues his comeback from almost two months out with a foot issue while coming through this game unscathed.

Instead, disaster apparently struck.

When Kulusevski took a shot in the 12th minute under pressure from Will Hughes, he looked in pain for a few seconds but continued. A couple of minutes later, though, he was caught late by Palace captain Marc Guehi. Kulusevski dropped to the turf and received treatment from Tottenham’s medical staff on his right knee.

Standing up, the 25-year-old tried to run but signalled to the bench that he could not continue. He walked straight down the tunnel, accompanied by a member of the backroom staff and team-mate Yves Bissouma.

Kulusevski has only returned to the starting line-up this month and today’s match was supposed to give him valuable game time. Now, Spurs face the prospect of competing in a major final without their three most creative midfielders.

Maddison and Kulusevski both offer a goal threat, and have scored three times between them against United this season. As for Bergvall, he has been the team’s most consistent performer since Christmas.

Injuries have disrupted Tottenham’s season all through it, so perhaps it was inevitable that the curse would strike them again.

Left-sided weakness exploited

Daniel Munoz was a constant menace for Palace. Whenever the visitors’ right wing-back received the ball, he darted forward into space and whipped dangerous crosses into the box.

Munoz was up against Djed Spence, who was Tottenham’s best player for a couple of months at the start of the year. Spence had been defensively solid, despite predominantly being playing at left-back when he is right-footed, and composed on the ball when he moved into central areas.

Spence has started the past nine Premier League games in a row but you get the suspicion that being overlooked for Destiny Udogie in the club’s Europa League ties has knocked his confidence.

Postecoglou encourages his full-backs to push forward but Spence was punished every time he did so on Sunday.

For Palace’s second goal, Eze received the ball in the centre of the pitch and poked it through for Ismaila Sarr, who was completely free on their right wing. Spence raced back and was able to block the forward’s shot but Sarr then set up Eze for a simple finish.

Spence is not completely to blame.

Palace manager Olivier Glasner’s 3-4-3 formation is designed to overload the opposition and too many times today Spence followed Sarr without anybody then picking up Munoz. The 24-year-old needed more help from Tel, substitute Mikey Moore and Tottenham’s central midfielders.

Ruben Amorim will have noted how much Spurs struggled to deal with Palace’s formation. Manchester United’s head coach uses a similar system, and Postecoglou has just over a week to devise an effective counterplan.

What did Postecoglou say?

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Postecoglou said: “It was disappointing, we never really got into the game and we didn’t control it at any time. I’m disappointed. It’s clear we’re not anywhere near the level we need to be. We’re making changes and the guys are getting opportunities.”

What next for Spurs?

Friday, May 16: Aston Villa (Away), Premier League, 7.30pm UK, 2.30pm ET

(Top photo: John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)

For so much of this season, Tottenham Hotspur have appeared to be falling apart at the seams. But not here, up on the Arctic Circle, where Spurs pulled together to overcome unique conditions, making it through to the final of the Europa League, right to the brink of history.

The overwhelming impression was of unity, joy and pride after the 2-0 win at Bodo/Glimt secured a 5-1 aggregate victory. Mathys Tel sprinted bounded over the hoardings and into the arms of the Spurs fans, freezing cold, soaked through, but ecstatic to be heading to Bilbao for the final in two weeks. The rest of the Tottenham squad caught up with Tel, celebrated with the fans as Yves Bissouma climbed onto the advertising hoardings, twirling a scarf around his head.

The players joined arms and sang, ‘When the Spurs go marching in.’ And Ange Postecoglou, whose recent relationship with the crowd has been up and down, to put it mildly, lingered in front of them, warmly applauding, being applauded back, soaking up the moment.

The story of Spurs’ European campaign has been one of inversion. Everything that has been seen and said about Spurs’ season has been turned on its head. As Tel hurdled into the fans’ embrace, it was impossible not to think back to Craven Cottage two months ago when he tried to go up to the away end after a 2-0 defeat against Fulham, and found himself on the receiving end of a frank assessment of where Spurs were going wrong. But this was a different competition, a different energy and ultimately a very different Spurs.

No one has confounded his reputation more than head coach Postecoglou. For every Europa League game, there has been a new plan, perfectly tailored to Spurs’ strengths and the opposition’s weaknesses. We saw it in Frankfurt, where Tottenham surprised their hosts by sitting deep, counter-attacking, scoring a penalty then shutting down the game. We saw it in the first leg of this semi-final, where Spurs played direct, relied on their physical edge and controlled the game.

Even more impressive in the second leg was that Tottenham had to play not just the opponent but the conditions too. Everyone knows about the artificial surface here. Bodo/Glimt saw it as their trump card. It was soaked beforehand, not just by hours of heavy rain but by the sprinklers. Porto, Besiktas, Twente, Olympiacos and Lazio had all come here and lost this season. This sleepy port town, penned in by snowy mountains on one side and endless freezing sea on the other, could have been where Spurs’ European dream died.

It should not be forgotten that Spurs came here facing the latest episode in their injury permacrisis that has blighted their season. Last week, they lost Lucas Bergvall on Wednesday and James Maddison on Thursday to injuries (ankle and knee respectively) that have ended their seasons. They had been Spurs’ two best players in recent months, particularly at keeping and progressing the ball. And now Postecoglou needed to build a team without them.

So, what do you do when you have lost your midfield and the opponent’s secret weapon is the surface itself? Take them both out of the equation. Spurs went long throughout, even more than they did in the first leg. No qualms about booting goal-kicks upfield, aiming for Dominic Solanke and Richarlison up front. No reluctance to fire a diagonal ball whenever Pedro Porro or Cristian Romero had some free possession. And with Solanke and Richarlison working as hard as they did, the ball almost always stuck.

Some teams come here and get overwhelmed by the speed of Bodo/Glimt’s possession, the relentless attacks roared on by the home crowd. Spurs were happy to run down the clock, taking their time over every single restart, earning the fury of the home fans and the frustration of the referee. Guglielmo Vicario was eventually booked for it halfway through the second half. But it worked. Glimt never got any momentum with any ball. And with Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson doing disciplined defensive jobs — Kulusevski almost man-marking Patrick Berg — there was never any rhythm to the hosts’ play. The home crowd lost belief as much as the players did.

People will say that a club of Tottenham’s means should always be able to win here. But the story of this season is that big European clubs with better players than Bodo/Glimt have always tripped up. Spurs’ success lay in their ability to build a platform for their superior individual quality to tell. Solanke, Romero, Micky van de Ven and Porro could show how good they are.

Postecoglou has faced plenty of criticism in recent months for how he has rotated his team in the league to keep players fresh for Europe. It has not been easy to do, as the defeats have added up, contributing to a league record so poor it probably means that this season will be Postecoglou’s last at Spurs. It might have been easier to go strong in the league and relieve some pressure, at least for a while.

But who could argue with that rotation policy watching Spurs play like this? Van de Ven and Romero have both started Spurs’ last five straight European games, ever since the AZ second leg that effectively re-launched this campaign when it was already looking over. They were both at their best here, Romero rising to the role of captain, talking his team-mates through the game, keeping them calm and patient throughout. Solanke has been managed too, rotated out for two recent league games. He ran heroically tonight, pressing from the front, and has now scored in his last three European appearances. Destiny Udogie and Porro have more energy now than they have in months. Only because they have not always played in the league.

This European campaign has been a tightrope walk for Postecoglou. Ever since Spurs went out of the domestic cups in early February, this has been the only way to save their season. And with the league form so historically bad, there has been no safety net. Exiting this competition would mean the season was written off as a failure, and Postecoglou with it. The stakes could not have been higher.

And yet every time it looked like Postecoglou and his team had lost their balance, and were about to fall from the tightrope, they re-established their footing and moved further on. The wins against Hoffenheim and Elfsborg after going three games without a win in the league phase. The second leg against AZ after a disastrous 1-0 defeat in the Netherlands. Winning in Frankfurt after only drawing at home. And now this, the penultimate step, making Europe’s hardest away trip look like a breeze.

The final step on the rope takes them to Bilbao. Beat Manchester United and it would be Spurs’ first trophy for 17 years, first in Europe for 41 years. It would be the most thumping vindication for Postecoglou, whatever happens to him at the end of this month. He would upend the modern story of the whole club. Just like he has been upending the story of his own management every step along the way.

(Top photo: David Lidstrom – UEFA/Getty Images)

Manchester United are heading to the Europa League final where they will face Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Ruben Amorim's men brought a 3-0 lead into the second leg after winning well in Bilbao a week ago and, although Mikel Jauregizar cut the deficit down to two, it was ultimately light work for the hosts.

Mason Mount starred for United off the bench with two goals that bookended Casemiro's header and Rasmus Hojlund's close-range finish.

It meant they won 7-1 on aggregate and secured their return to Bilbao for the final against Tottenham on May 21.

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Ernesto Valverde must wonder how on earth his side have been beaten 7-1 on aggregate over those two legs. They certainly didn't deserve to go through but, equally, they didn't deserve to lose that heavily in either game.

He spoke to TNT Sports:

💬 “The tie wasn't a walk in the park for United in either the first or second leg.

“It was much more even than the scoreline suggests, but we can't allow those final 10 minutes to give the fans cause for celebration, much less the opposition.

“Playing in Europe requires a lot of focus. We're not a team like the classic Champions League teams, who can win at 70 per cent, we have to fight, run a lot, and play very close.”

Ruben Amorim, as he has done all season, reiterated to TNT Sports that this European campaign is nothing but an irrelevance if they don't lift the trophy.

💬 “I'm just worried about the next game, trying to not get any injuries for the final. If we don't win the final, it means nothing for us.

“We have to have a full squad (in the final), stay in the game and have a bit of luck and we have to be clinical.

“It's quite similar for me and Ange (Tottenham manager Postecoglou). It is a tough moment (for us both) and one of us is going to win. It's going to be a big final and we will try to win.”

There will be something of a salvation for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United if they can end their wretched domestic season with a major European trophy.

The United boss is the first manager to reach a major European final in his first season in charge of an English club since Thomas Tuchel in the 2020-2021 Champions League.

And the last United manager to do that was Jose Mourinho in the 2016-17 Europa League.

Both Tuchel and Mourinho won those finals...

Mason Mount will steal lots of headlines, and rightly so, but the introduction of Amad really changed the game.

The 22-year-old looked like he had never been away and, once again, showed why him staying fit is of paramount importance to United in the short — and long — term.

Amad should be the second name on Ruben Amorim's teamsheet, after Bruno Fernandes, if he is fully fit for the final on May 21.

Unsurprisingly, Amorim was asked about Mount's influence off the bench.

💬 “I'm so happy for him. He is such a player. He works really hard, he has quality.

“I really like Kobbie Mainoo, just 10 minutes but everything he did was really good and sometimes you're on the bench and can change the game.

“When you see that kind of guy like Mason working hard every day, eating well, having ice baths, when you have this kind of player you just want to help him.

“He is perfect for this position as he can be a midfielder, but also runs like a winger so I'm really happy for him.”

Like Mount before him, Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim also picked out the support of the United fans when he spoke to TNT Sports after the match.

💬 “It's the least we can do for these fans, for the support they have given us in this tough season. I'm stressed already because of the final. If we don't do it, it means nothing, but we're happy to be there so let's see.

“I know I should be a better manager and the team should be better at this moment but we're trying. We did quite well in Europe but we are struggling in the Premier League.”

It really will be Bilbao or bust for Manchester United, who will chance their arm at saving their season against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final later this month.

They will go toe-to-toe with Spurs at Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium on Wednesday, May 21, after they swept aside Bodo/Glimt.

The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell, Anantaajith Raghuraman and Thom Harris break down the main talking points from United’s semi-final success, below.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will meet for the fourth time this season when they face off in the Europa League final in Bilbao on May 21 after both came through their respective semi-finals on Thursday.

All three games between the sides so far this season — two in the Premier League and one in the Carabao Cup — have ended in Tottenham wins. United have not beaten the club from north London since October 2022. Tottenham have won four of the last six meetings in all competitions, outscoring United 14-7.

It is never easy to glean takeaways from earlier matches during the season, especially in this case, given their fourth meeting of 2024-25 will be in a final that could salvage otherwise disappointing seasons. But their most recent clash — a 1-0 Tottenham home win in February — contained tactical elements we can expect to see in Bilbao.

Both had injury concerns. Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin, Richarlison and Dominic Solanke were out for Spurs, even as Guglielmo Vicario and Wilson Odobert returned. United were without Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez, Amad, Altay Bayindir and Jonny Evans.

With only Alejandro Garnacho available as an out-and-out winger, United set up with him on the left and Joshua Zirkzee as the right-sided No 10 behind Rasmus Hojlund. Without the ball, they adopted a 5-3-2 shape with Hojlund and Zirkzee leading the press.

The issue this raised was in tackling Spurs’ fluid rotations on the left with Djed Spence, James Maddison and Son Heung-min. In the example below from the third minute, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot are outnumbered by the trio.

Having a spare man was a theme in the first half and United’s passive approach meant Spurs could dominate possession in different ways.

In the fifth minute, Lucas Bergvall carries the ball to the left from the right while Spence inverts to draw out Noussair Mazraoui. Son holds his width, commanding Dalot’s attention, giving Maddison multiple passing options and Spurs the chance to chip away at United.

In this example from the 26th minute, Fernandes pushing high forces Mazraoui to step forward. The Moroccan is reluctant to move too far out of the defensive line, though.

With Son occupying Dalot again, Maddison and Spence are both line-breaking options with space and indecision to feed on.

This move ended with Maddison receiving and passing over the top to Son, who crossed for Mathys Tel, with the Frenchman forcing a save from Andre Onana.

Throughout the first half, Fernandes could be seen asking Dalot to push up to create the 4-4-2 shape that United often use now out of possession. Dalot was initially hesitant, but in the 23rd minute — with United 1-0 down after Maddison’s 13th-minute opener — he jumps up to dispossess Maddison after Patrick Dorgu advances on the other flank to force Dejan Kulusevski into a risky switch of play.

Fernandes flicks on Dalot’s header to the dropping Zirkzee, who pulls makeshift centre-back Ben Davies away from the middle. Pedro Porro tries to cover for Davies, which results in a haphazard defensive line and United finding Garnacho open on the left side of the box after some neat one-touch passing.

Garnacho skies the chance — United’s best of the first half — but the strategy allowed them to limit Spurs’ chances in the 15 minutes before the break.

The same move provided a glimpse of what United needed to do in attack too: get Zirkzee and Hojlund to unsettle Spurs’ centre-backs.

In the 55th minute, Zirkzee drops and United pass to him, with Davies closing him down.

United work the ball to Fernandes and Hojlund comes across, dragging Kevin Danso with him, while Davies drops off Zirkzee. That opens a massive gap at the heart of Spurs’ defence.

Zirkzee, receiving from Fernandes, uses that exact gap to find Garnacho in behind and he forces a save from Vicario.

They had an alternate strategy too: getting Hojlund and Zirkzee to drop in unison to drag the centre-backs with them and enable a pass over the top to a runner from wide like Dalot in the example below…

Dalot also forced a save from Vicario but was flagged offside.

While the strategy forced a more transitional game at times, United were largely in control, a sign of progress that they built on to use to their advantage in the Europa League knockout ties against Real Sociedad and Lyon.

The way United’s and Spurs’ seasons have unravelled has meant their September clash at Old Trafford — which Spurs won 3-0 — has long been forgotten.

With Erik ten Hag still in the home dugout, Micky van de Ven left half the United team in his wake to assist Brennan Johnson in the third minute. United were lucky not to concede more before Fernandes’ 42nd-minute red card (which was later rescinded) for scraping Maddison’s calf with a raised boot.

Kulusevski and Solanke scored in the second half, though 10-man United could have scored a couple too.

Ahead of their League Cup quarter-final meeting in December, Spurs were caught in an injury crisis. United, just a month into the Amorim era, were only missing Shaw and Mount but played a rotated side.

United looked very much like a team transitioning from one style to another and were down 3-0 by the 54th minute — all three goals a result of errors.

There was no meek surrender this time, though, as two Fraser Forster mistakes led to goals from substitutes Amad and Zirkzee. Son then beat Bayindir with an ‘Olimpico’ before another substitute, Evans, scored as the game ended 4-3.

Ahead of the final, both teams are missing key players but also have a majority of their squad fit.

Maddison, Bergvall and Son could all miss out for Spurs. Destiny Udogie is likely to start ahead of Spence, along with Romero, Van de Ven and Porro. Van de Ven’s pace when recovering could be crucial in situations similar to what United created during the February fixture. Richarlison and Solanke should be fit too.

For United, Dalot and Zirkzee are ruled out, but Amad is available. If deployed at right-wing back, his pressing could stifle Spurs’ left-sided combinations while adding an offensive punch. Ugarte and Casemiro have played well in tandem in recent weeks, barring an early stumble against Athletic Club, and their positional interchanges with Fernandes have been fluid.

Both teams have shown signs of evolution in Europe. United are better accustomed to Amorim’s system compared to the previous two meetings. Spurs’ performances in Europe have seen them embrace the defensive side instead of relying on transitional football and high pressing.

That — and the stakes involved — should make for an intriguing final.

This Tottenham Hotspur season has been defined by injuries, so perhaps it was fated that they would suffer another two right at the end, when Ange Postecoglou’s side were just a few games away from writing their place in the club’s history books.

Losing Lucas Bergvall to an ankle injury the day before the Bodo/Glimt first leg was bad enough. Bergvall has been the surprise find of the season, arguably the best player since he broke into the Premier League side just before Christmas. In difficult circumstances, he has performed heroically, Spurs’ best and bravest ball-carrier, an obvious future superstar.

But then, just over an hour into that first leg on Thursday evening, James Maddison went down clutching his knee. He was taken off and sent for scans. While the full extent of the damage was unclear even on Tuesday afternoon, the overall picture is bleak. Postecoglou was downbeat about it on Sunday afternoon, saying that it was “not looking promising”.

Put these two injuries together and it means Spurs will have to play in Bodo on Thursday night, their biggest game for six years, without their two most in-form midfielders. It could not have happened at a worse time, as Spurs try to defend a two-goal first-leg lead, with a place in the final at stake. If they successfully make it out of Aspmyra Stadion, they will set up the most thrilling climax to the strangest Spurs season in recent history. If they lose, they will fly home with very little to show for this season other than a historically bad league finish.

The job of the head coach is to find solutions and Postecoglou will have to come up with something. For the first leg against Bodo/Glimt, it was Yves Bissouma, perhaps surprisingly, stepping into Bergvall’s shoes. He did well, especially defensively, giving his best Spurs performance of the season. If Spurs want to make life difficult for their hosts on Thursday and stop them turning possession into shots, then having the double-protection of Bissouma and Bentancur in front of the defence could be invaluable again.

But in a sense, that is the easy bit. Spurs were very good without the ball in the first leg. The challenge will be how they move it forward under pressure, in uncomfortable conditions, without their two most important players in that area. No one at Spurs drives forward with the ball like Bergvall. No one can pause, turn and fire a clever forward pass like Maddison. (And then there is Maddison’s forward movement beyond the front line, a secret weapon of sorts that led to Spurs’ winner in Frankfurt and second goal in the Bodo/Glimt first leg.)

The fear is that if Spurs just have Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur sit in front of their defence on Thursday, then they could get so badly penned in that they never get out and that the north Norwegians put so much pressure on Tottenham that they eventually wilt. They need to find a way to get out.

That leaves two options, assuming that Bissouma keeps his place: Dejan Kulusevski and Pape Matar Sarr. While Sarr’s energy and movement are excellent, he feels like more of a bench option for this game. The hope must be that Kulusevski, with his extra experience and technical skill, is ready to perform as well as he did in the first half of the season.

It feels like a long time ago now, but Kulusevski was head and shoulders above his team-mates in the first half of this exhausting season. (Thursday will be Spurs’ 56th competitive game, meaning that if they reach the final, they will play 60 over the whole year.) Remember that for the first few months of the season, he largely played as a central midfielder, outshining Maddison at times, driving Spurs forward, creating chances and scoring goals. In December and January, he was generally deployed wide on the right — the position he played last season — rather than in the midfield three. Even on bad days, he scored brilliant individual goals, the perfect chip at Goodison Park in a disastrous 3-2 defeat the ultimate example.

Kulusevski is a physical machine and he had been involved in every single one of Spurs’ games by the time he reported the pain in his left foot after the defeat to Manchester City on February 26. The scans revealed that he had a stress fracture. Under normal circumstances, he would be expected to stay in a protective boot for two months before he could even start running again. That would have meant a return to training and playing around now, in early May.

But Kulusevski was desperate to play as big a role as possible in the climax of Spurs’ season. He wanted to get back out there alongside his team-mates as fast as he could. He has always been obsessive about fitness and recovery. He measures the pH value of water before he drinks it and weighs his food. He worked especially hard on his rehab and even had a hyperbaric treatment chamber installed at his home to help his foot recover. His target was always the second leg against Frankfurt, but he made it back before then, coming on at Wolves a few days before.

Since returning from injury, Kulusevski has been steadily heading in the right direction. He did not start in the first leg against Bodo/Glimt, but did start at West Ham United on Sunday. That was his second start since returning from the stress fracture, although it was such a poor game that even he struggled to lift it.

Perhaps the biggest question going into Thursday night is whether Kulusevski is now closer to being back to his physical best. Because if he is, and if he can push Spurs forward, carry the ball upfield, create chances, and shoot from the edge of the box, then he could transform the whole dynamic of the game by himself.

Tottenham cannot play the football that you might associate with them at their best, but they showed in the first leg that they had the physicality and individual ability to win the game. A fit Kulusevski in Bodo on Thursday could help them do that again.

(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Aston Villa’s match against Tottenham Hotspur has been moved to Friday, May 16 following discussions with the Premier League.

The game had originally been scheduled for Sunday May 18.

Tottenham announced a week ago that the club was discussing moving the fixture, which was slated to take place three days before the Europa League final. Spurs are in the semi-finals of the competition and defeated Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in the first leg on Thursday.

The Athletic reported on April 28 that Villa had objected to the idea, fearing that a rescheduling would mean a shorter turnaround between matches and could affect the team’s preparations for a crucial stretch of fixtures as they continue to battle for European qualification.

The Premier League’s decision followed consultation and consensus with the two clubs involved.

The move now means that the match will take place on the same day as Manchester United’s visit to Chelsea. United are also in the semi-finals of the Europa League and won the first leg 3-0 against Athletic Club.

It means the game at Stamford Bridge will avoid a clash with the Women’s FA Cup final, which will be contested between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley on the same day, with kick off at 1:30pm.

Tottenham’s match at Villa Park will kick-off at 7.30pm GMT, with the United game at Chelsea getting underway at 8.15pm.

Villa face trips to Bournemouth and United either side of the Spurs fixture to round out their season. Unai Emery’s side are seventh in the league, only outside of the top five on goal difference as they seek to qualify for the Champions League for the second year in a row.

Tottenham are 16th in the table and complete their league campaign with matches against Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion. They take on Glimt in the second leg on May 8.

(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)