Cartilage Free Captain

Well, that didn’t take long. One day after it was revealed that the Premier League had gotten involved in potentially moving the date of Aston Villa’s final home match of the season against Tottenham Hotspur, it’s now become official — despite Villa’s protestations, the match has been moved from Sunday, May 18 to Friday, May 16.

The match was moved at Spurs’ request so that they could have more time to prepare for the Europa League final on Wednesday, May 21 in Bilbao, Spain. Tottenham had asked Villa (nicely) to reschedule the match so that, should they qualify for the final, they would have the same amount of time to prepare as their assumed opponent, Manchester United. Tottenham had initially requested that the match be moved to Thursday evening, May 15.

Villa had declined, arguing that there was “no precedent” to move league matches for clubs participating in European competition, and that doing so would create a burden for them as they were also trying to qualify for a European place through league position. Villa also noted numerous fan activities targeting families that would be less possible if the match were moved to Friday evening.

However, the Premier League has stepped in and ordered the match to be moved, regardless of whether Spurs make the final or not.

Naturally, Villa fans on social media are FURIOUS with the decision. I suppose if the roles were reversed and we were in Villa’s situation, asked to reschedule a home match to accommodate the team currently 16th in the table we’d be pretty peeved too. But failure to do so would give United a significant advantage in preparation — the Europa League final being on a Wednesday night would mean Spurs would have a minimal amount of time to get to Spain, train, and prepare for the match in comparison to United. Now the playing field is level, though Villa might think otherwise.

If last Thursday’s 3-1 win over Bodø/Glimt in the Europa League semifinal first leg was Tottenham Hotspur’s most significant match since the 2019 Champions League final, then the return fixture in Norway is even more important. Spurs carry a two goal advantage into the away fixture, and if they can win the tie over two legs will have another chance to play for a major European trophy.

However, they are playing a team in Bodø/Glimt that lost only once at their home stadium, Aspmyra Stadion, in the competition, scoring 19 goals with a +11 goal differential in the process. Clearly Bodø/Glimt are a formidable team at home, and home advantage is a real and statistical thing in soccer. But why? What is it about them that makes them so dangerous at home, and are Spurs susceptible to any of those factors?

In looking at this season’s Europa League, there are three factors that come up again and again when discussing Bodø/Glimt’s home form in Europa League play: the weather, the pitch, and whether their opponents took them seriously. I dug into all three of them to see if Spurs supporters should be worried about any of them ahead of Thursday’s match in Norway.

Factor #1: the Arctic weather

Bodø/Glimt famously play their home football at the Aspmyra Stadium in Bodø, Norway, 150 miles inside the Arctic circle. The Arctic, you say? That’s cold! Surely there are, like, icebergs around the stadium and penguins walking around the pitch, right?

Well first of all, penguins are Antarctic birds, not Arctic. But secondly, just because a team plays in the Arctic Circle doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re playing at a frozen Lambeau field in January. Curious, I compiled the weather conditions from the Bodø airport at kick-off for each of Bodø/Glimt’s Europa League home matches, and the results were rather surprising.

Not only has it not been that cold, the weather has been quite balmy. Just for fun, I also included the temperature in central London on the same evening and Bodø/Glimt’s xG for each match.

Yes, there are a couple of cold nights in there, and that shouldn’t be fully discounted, but it’s really not that different than any number of matches played in England in December and January. And for the most part, the weather in Bodø was pretty close to the weather in London. And in case you’re wondering, the forecast this Thursday in Bodø is a chance of showers, high of 48º, low of 43º.

Interestingly, Bodø/Glimt’s xG more or less tracks with their overall score. I know this is a flawed statistic, but it does lend credence to the idea that they weren’t just lucky. The two exceptions were the loss to Qarabag, where they underperformed their xG, and the 5-2 win over Twente, which was juiced by two periods of extra time.

What COULD be a factor is the wind. The Aspmyra Stadion is on the coast, and the wind can really whip around in that small ground. Swirling winds of 20-25 mph might be a possibility and could provide another challenge. However, the wind is indiscriminate as to which team it impacts, so this could balance out.

In short, weather really isn’t, and probably won’t be, a factor.

Factor #2: Aspmyra Stadim’s artificial turf

This one is a lot harder to quantify. Bodø/Glimt, famously, play on a field with an artificial turf surface with undersoil heating at the Aspmyra Stadium. This was installed in 2006 when it was determined that keeping a grass field in decent condition was near impossible inside the Arctic Circle.

There’s been a lot of talk about Bodø/Glimt’s home record and how much the turf surface impacts visiting teams. The biggest concern is that playing on an artificial field could be detrimental to players unused to it, particularly players who are prone to hamstring injuries like Micky van de Ven and Richarlison. That said, while modern turf pitches play differently on grass, they’re not statistically less safe than grass fields — just ask any NFL player.

For what it’s worth, Tottenham have only played two matches on an artificial surface in the time I’ve been a fan — the 3-0 extra time win over Tamworth in this fall’s FA Cup, and a 3-2 loss to Young Boys in the 2010 Champions League playoff first leg. Ange Postecoglou has experience playing against Bodø/Glimt in Norway, with his Celtic team losing 2-0 in the Europa Conference League in 2022. There’s reporting that Spurs players struggled with the turf at Tamworth, with Dan Kilpatrick saying on The Tottenham Way podcast (via TBR Football) that it took some players a few days to recover, though it was noted the Tamworth pitch might have been of lower quality.

“So, you know, they’ve got opportunities to prepare. And in that sense, they’ve obviously had the Tamworth game that you mentioned. I imagine the Bodo/Glimt pitch is significantly better than Tamworth’s was. A lot of the Spurs players were feeling that game for days and days afterwards. So you kind of hope that’s not the case next week.”

Bodø/Glimt are certainly more familiar playing on an artificial surface than visitors, and are said to take advantage of a faster playing field to facilitate quicker passing than what is capable on a grass field.

That’s certainly what Lazio head coach Marco Baroni thinks. Lazio went to Norway on April 10 in the quarterfinals and lost 2-0, with Baroni quick to attribute the plastic pitch to their defeat.

“They had speed in their exchanges because of the artificial pitch. I believe that the second leg will be a different game and qualification is still open. They are a fresh, brilliant team. We will rebalance at the Olimpico in the second leg, and we believe that we can still secure qualification.”

Lazio came achingly close to knocking Bodø/Glimt out in the return fixture in Italy but lost the tie in a penalty shootout despite winning the match 3-1.

On that same Tottenham Way podcast, Terje Flateby reiterated that a match on Bodø/Glimt’s turf absolutely plays faster than a match on grass.

“Yeah, let’s take the pitch first. It’s a first-class artificial pitch. So it’s not a bad pitch in that way. But the ball goes really, really fast, especially when it rains and it’s wet. They, of course, water the pitch before it starts. But the ball, if you speak to professional players in Norway who plays a lot on artificial pitches and also on grass, it’s almost a different game.

“So it’s very difficult to set the press because the ball goes so much faster at the artificial pitch. And the Bodo/Glimt, they are a great team, but they’re also a reason why they’re so good at home. It’s also because of the pitch. So that will be a big challenge for Spurs and how to attack this game. But if they go gung-ho pressing, Bodo/Glimt will, of course, just carve them open.”

In the first leg, Tottenham had great success by staying compact defensively, not pressing especially high, letting Bodø/Glimt have the ball, and taking advantage of their superior athletic ability. I expect they’ll play in a similar way in Norway to try to neutralize any inherent speed advantage and keep the ball in front of them. It’s a challenge, but the 2-0 first leg lead will help significantly.

Factor #3: Rotation

The other question I had when considering Bodø/Glimt’s strength at home was whether their opponents were playing full strength sides, or rotated ones. Bodø/Glimt played very strong teams in each of their home Europa League matches, but I wondered whether their opponents were taking this match as seriously.

Historical lineup information for some teams (e.g. Qarabag) was difficult to find, and as I’m not an expert in Glimt’s opposition I’m not going to pretend to be definitive in this section. But I did compare lineups from the Europa League matches with those from matches before and afterwards, and from what I can tell, most teams traveled to Norway and played fairly strong sides — mild to moderate rotation, but with some starters coming on as substitutes. And except for Qarabag, Bodø/Glimt beat them all, sometimes handily.

Now, can we look at this and definitively say that teams like Besiktas, Olympiacos, and Porto came in and underestimated Bodø/Glimt? Not really. But the data does suggest that while there was some rotation, none of them expected to waltz into Norway and beat the brakes off them.

Tottenham will be playing their strongest available lineup, because the Europa League is now the only competition that matters to them. While the Bodø/Glimt that takes the field will be different than the one that played in London — all five of their missing players, including club captain Patrick Berg, should be back and available — there’s little chance that Spurs will be looking past their Norwegian opponents

Conclusion

Of the three issues highlighted above — the weather, the pitch, the rotation — only one would appear to be potentially significant. The artificial turf field will likely be a challenge, but only in the sense that the match could be played at a much faster pace, and with the home side more familiar with the intricacies of their home field. Indications are that Bodø/Glimt’s pitch is a high quality one (unlike at Tamworth) which should alleviate some injury concerns. Otherwise, Spurs won’t be looking past their opponents at all, and the weather shouldn’t be a significant factor.

Instead, if Tottenham Hotspur struggle in Norway it will almost certainly be because Bodø/Glimt are simply a very good team playing in a small league. Their making it this far is not an anomaly. Bodø/Glimt deserves to be here every bit as much as Tottenham does, and Spurs will need to play at least as well as they did last Thursday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to ensure progression to the final.

Want some pure, weapons-grade managerial rumor slop on a Monday morning? Well, I gotchu fam. Did you know that Ange Postecoglou is on the hot seat and that there’s a decent chance he could leave the club at the end of the season even if Spurs win the Europa League trophy? I know! This is totally new information!

Well, should that happen, Spurs will need a manager. This is also a profound insight. And according to Italian blog InterLive.it (via SportWitness), one of the options to come in as Spurs’ next manager is Internazionale manager Simone Inzaghi.

Yes, that’s right — the man currently managing that Inter team that’s three points behind top in Serie A and one win away from the Champions League final. Inzaghi’s contract expires at the end of next season, and while the idea of a contract extension is considered “a formality” by Inter, the thought is that he could consider leaving the club at the end of the season because he apparently wants to manage in the Premier League, and all the big jobs ahead of Spurs are already taken — Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool. Spurs would also be able to pay Inzaghi a top wage to come and finish the Tottenham rebuild. InterLive.it goes as far as to call Inzaghi “the ideal choice” for Tottenham after Ange walks.

Now, look. Truthfully, I’d gnaw my right arm off at the elbow for a chance to sign Simone Inzaghi should Postecoglou depart. (Fabio Paratici, are you reading this? Do your thing.) But I’m gonna be real with you — the source is garbage, and the whole thing seems to rely on a) Inzaghi ready to give up control of an exceptionally good Inter squad potentially after winning a Champions League to come to the Premier League, b) Tottenham being the literal best Premier League job available despite the club finishing near the bottom of the table, and c) Inzaghi wanting to get his hands dirty rebuilding a Spurs that has significantly underperformed.

The ONLY way this would happen is if Spurs were to win the Europa League, thereby qualifying for Champions League football next season. And even that feels like a super big stretch, considering Inzaghi hasn’t managed in England before.

But I guess it’s good to have dreams? Look, rumors are fun, that’s why we do this sometimes. But come on.

If Tottenham Hotspur are going to lift their first trophy since 2008 and first European trophy since the 1984 UEFA Cup, they’ll need to do it without James Maddison. Following up on pessimistic comments by Ange Postecoglou after Spurs’ 1-1 draw at West Ham on Sunday, the BBC’s Sami Mockbel is now reporting that Maddison will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

This isn’t surprising news — it’s what most people expected to hear after Maddison left the pitch during last Thursday’s Europa League semifinal first leg against Bodø/Glimt. Now we’re just getting confirmation. Maddison walked off under his own power last Thursday but it was revealed that he was going to have a scan of his knee, which if you know anything about sports injuries is generally a bad sign and usually indicative that it’s something more than just a knock.

With Lucas Bergvall also out for the season with a foot injury, this means that Spurs have lost two of their most in-form and creative midfielders within the span of two days. It’s a pretty significant blow, but not an insurmountable one, as we saw in the first leg that the pairing of Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur CAN put together a good performance under pressure. I suspect that’s what we’ll see again, even though Bissouma played 90 minutes yesterday against West Ham.

The creative burden now falls on Dejan Kulusevski, who has been shaking off the rust since his own return from injury. I would surmise we’ll see Deki slot into Maddison’s attacking midfield 10 role again, with Brennan Johnson and one of Richarlison or Wilson Odobert playing on either side of Dom Solanke.

Spurs still have progression to the Europa League finals firmly in their own hands with a two goal lead heading into Thursday’s return match in Norway. Now they have to get the job done under slightly harder circumstances. Hopefully that will have a galvanizing effect on the squad.

Tottenham Hotspur went the four miles to the London Stadium in Stratford to play West Ham in an away London Derby, and came away with a 1-1 draw with a rotated side. Wilson Odobert opened the scoring with his first Spurs goal, but Jarrod Bowen leveled before halftime and neither team could come up with a winner by the final whistle.

Ange Postecoglou made just one sub — Mikey Moore for Richarlison — and managed to get his key players a rest before the trip to Norway on Thursday. Mathys Tel played well, Moore looked bright in his cameo, and Guglielmo Vicario made a huge one-handed stop on a free kick from James Ward-Prowse. All things considered, it’s not a terrible result.

It’s time to rate the players.

Rate the players from 1⁄2 to 5 stars. If the player doesn’t deserve a rating due to minutes played, DO NOT RANK. I will round the stars up/down to the nearest half-star for the player ratings later this week.

With focus firmly on European progression, Tottenham Hotspur still had a London Derby with which to contend. A trip to the other side of town to take on West Ham United was the task, and one which Spurs managed without any hint of excelling.

Ange Postecoglou rotated heavily as expected, with eight changes from Spurs’ win over Bodø/Glimt. Some of these seemed enforced, with some familiar faces missing through injury: neither James Maddison, nor Dominic Solanke made the matchday squad following knocks picked up in that match.

Things weren’t exactly silky smooth at the London Stadium, either. Both sides played like their positions on the table, and after a messy start during which it seemed like West Ham had the upper hand, the Hammers instead turned provider for the Lilywhites. Max Kilman failed to deal with a long ball down the left under pressure from Mathys Tel, with the Frenchman stealing possession and knocking a pass across the 18-yard box. His compatriot, Wilson Odobert, was on hand to gleefully accept and take a touch before passing it into the net past West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola.

It wasn’t long before a defensive calamity, this time from Spurs, resulted in another goal. Aaron Wan Bissaka strode forward with the ball in space, before playing a simple pass into Matt Bowen, whose run had been completely lost by Ben Davies. Bowen made his way to the right-hand corner of the six-yard box before knocking a shot through the legs of Vicario and bringing the scores level.

The second half felt even more pointless than the first. Both sides were playing like teams who didn’t really want to be there, but the stupor was occasionally interrupted by moments of brightness from both teams. Spurs’ best chance of the second 45’ stemmed from an excellent pass from Tel into Richarlison, who passed the ball across the face of goal with no fellow attacker making the run to meet it.

West Ham would have thought they went ahead late as well, with a James Ward-Prowse set piece curled into a dangerous area catching Guglielmo Vicario in two minds. A stooping Bowen flicked on the free kick towards goal, and Vicario was forced into a brilliant reaction save to keep things all tied up. Michael Oliver decided enough was enough and put the fans out of their misery with the final score 1-1.

Reactions

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club are 90 minutes and change away from a European final. And yet, there are still other matches to play, namely, West Ham United’s London derby™.

West Ham hate Spurs with a passion, and seem to view Spurs as the annoyingly more successful big brother who looks down on them. Which, ya know... we do. Intriguingly though, the way this season has played out doesn’t find the two clubs at opposite ends of the table as is often the case; instead, it’s a rare case of both clubs being a single point apart in 16th and 17th position.

West Ham will therefore really want to win this: bragging rights are all they have to play for. Spurs will want to win this as well, though the motivations will be slightly different: some consistency and form heading into midweek, as well as an opportunity for some players to shake off some rust and stake a claim for the starting XI for said European tie.

Let’s see how this one plays out. I’m sure there’ll be fireworks.

COYS!

Lineups

Lineups will be posted closer to kick-off.

Live Blog

How to Watch

West Ham United vs. Tottenham Hotspur

London Stadium, London, UK

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Time: 9:00 a.m. ET, 2:00 p.m. UK

TV: Not televised in USA or UK. Check international listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming: Peacock

Match thread rules

The match thread rules are the same as always. To any visitors coming here for the first time, welcome! We’re glad you’re here! Wipe your feet, mind the gap, and be sure to check out the other pages at this outstanding site. While you’re here, though, we have a few rules and regulations:

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Treat other people in the match thread the way you would want someone else to treat your grandmother. Be nice. This is a community of fans, not an un-moderated message board.

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Have fun, and COYS!

To be clear, Tottenham Hotspur is never excited to see West Ham United, a constant thorn of a derby that is far from the club’s most important. However, there is some good irony this weekend as the sides meet; after mocking West Ham for years about this fixture being its cup final, Spurs are now focused on reaching a legitimate final of their own.

As a result, this contest between the 16th and 17th-placed Premier League sides has even less meaning than it would normally feature. Ange Postecoglou’s group is preoccupied with Thursday’s trip to Bodo, and while the home team would surely like to take this one, it is for bragging rights only. A loss would be annoying, but it is hardly worth the attention.

West Ham United (17th, 36pts) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (16th, 37pts)

Date: Sunday, May 4

Time: 9:00 am ET, 2:00 pm UK

Location: London Stadium, London

TV: Peacock (US)

West Ham escaped relegation but is having its worst season since going down nearly 15 years ago. Both ends of the pitch have been pretty bad, but not as bad as the bottom three, making this a forgettable campaign but not one that ends in disaster. The Hammers have alternated losses and draws since the start of March, making this Sunday set for shared points — an outcome that would surprise no one.

The reverse fixture was a strong outing for Spurs, winning 4-1 despite going down inside the first 20 minutes. Dejan Kulusevski leveled the match by halftime, while Yves Bissouma and Heung-Min Son bookended a West Ham own goal which boosted Tottenham ahead by three goals across an eight-minute span early in the second half.

Weekly spotlight: The select few

I have begged for heavily rotated lineups in the Premier League for quite some time, and this Sunday seems like as sure of a bet as any given the narrow lead to protect in Norway. Postecoglou will rest anyone on the fence health-wise, but there could be a few names who will double dip domestically and in the Europa League.

At the top of the list has to be Bissouma, who was simply excellent in the first leg against Glimt. It has been a rocky season (and Spurs tenure) for the midfielder, but another strong outing could earn him a second-leg start as well. Richarlison also made a convincing argument for more minutes after Postecoglou surprisingly selected him next to Dominic Solanke. The Brazilian is likely to drift back to the No. 9 this weekend, but any contributions he makes will be noticed.

Finally, one player I am definitely curious to see more of is Kevin Danso. He has made just 10 appearances for Spurs, but is someone who could end up with a bunch more playing time in the near future. While hopefully he is not needed for the rest of the Europa League, he could be a late substitute to see out the lead in Bodo — or to replace a sent-off Cristian Romero or an injured Micky van de Ven — so some good minutes this weekend would not hurt.

Ange Postecoglou isn’t the only Tottenham Hotspur manager who lost their top assistant to another program. Today, the club and the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) announced that Robert Villahamn’s top assistant at Spurs Women, Vicky Jepson, is leaving the club to become the new head coach of the U-20 United States Women’s National Team.

While the club’s release doesn’t mention Jepson’s new job, the USSF posted a press release announcing the hiring of Jepson on the federation website.

Jepson has served as a top assistant under both Vilahamn and Rehanne Skinner, and was also interim head coach after Spurs sacked Skinner a few years ago. She was also head coach of Liverpool from 2018-21. Jepson will now take over one of the primary youth national teams that will eventually feed into the full USWNT under head coach Emma Hayes. Hayes, who led Chelsea to numerous WSL titles and is considered one of the best English coaches in the women’s game, is also a massive Tottenham Hotspur fan.

Jepson said she was pleased to be joining the USA U-20s, but admitted it was difficult to leave Tottenham Women.

“I’m truly honored and excited to start my next chapter with the U.S. Soccer Federation. I’m well aware of the great work that has been done in the past, that is being done currently under Emma and Tracey, and I know there are some ambitious plans for the future. I’m passionate about developing this next generation and I look forward to providing them with challenging and valuable experiences to help them grow as people and players. There is such a rich pool of talent in the USA and I’m so proud to be part of the players’ journey to senior international football.

“It’s hard leaving Tottenham Hotspur after four memorable years at the club, but I’m moving on to work for the most progressive organization in the world for women’s football. Working alongside the incredible leadership of Tracey, (U.S. Soccer Sporting Director) Matt Crocker and of course a serial winner in Emma Hayes is an amazing opportunity. I can’t wait to get started.”

It’s a great opportunity for Jepson, who will have an important role in helping develop the next generation of USA women’s soccer talent. Jepson takes charge just in time to lead Team USA in the 2025 U-20 World Championship this summer in Costa Rica. She’s also arguably joining a much better supported organization in the USSF; while interest in women’s soccer is increasing and the WSL is becoming bigger and better stocked with talent, there’s still a long way to go to make the league more competitive top to bottom.

Good luck, Vicky!

Earlier this week, Matty wrote about how Aston Villa had rebuffed Tottenham’s request to potentially reschedule Spurs’ match at Villa Park on May 18 to give them a little extra time to prepare for a potential Europa League final. After Spurs’ 3-1 win over Bodø/Glimt yesterday, reaching the final in Bilbao, Spain now seems like a distinct possibility, maybe even a likelihood.

But Villa don’t want to play ball for good reasons and rejected Tottenham’s request. Now, according to the Standard, the Premier League is getting involved and are in negotiations with both clubs to potentially shift the match up to Thursday, May 15.

Villa aren’t happy about this proposal because they are in the running to make a top five finish and secure Champions League qualification themselves. Unlike Tottenham, the league is still pretty critical to them. The other reason they don’t want to move is that the May 18 match is their home finale, and Villa have a bunch of fan activities that involve players and their families that couldn’t happen if the match is moved to a Thursday evening. According to the Standard, Villa also are arguing that there’s “no precedent for moving league games to aid English clubs in Europe.”

That said, there’s plenty of precedent for moving matches to accommodate domestic cup matches and finals. The Standard notes that the league has already moved Palace’s home closer against Wolves to accommodate the FA Cup final, and it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to do something similar for the Europa League final. Especially since it appears there’s a good chance there will be two Premier League teams playing in that match.

I’m clearly biased, and while I think Villa have a point about rescheduling a match they think is important for their own qualification, the reality is that if the match isn’t rescheduled, Spurs would have three days to prepare for the most important match since the 2018 Champions League final, while United will have five days. Spurs have repeatedly had less time to prepare for matches this season than their opponents due to quirks in the schedule. That said, Villa have no real reason to do Tottenham a solid, so hopefully the Premier League will force them to.