The Athletic

The Premier League has scheduled matches featuring Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur for 7pm GMT (2pm ET) this Sunday after both clubs played in Europe on Thursday night.

Tottenham travelled from London to Glasgow to play Rangers in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night. They drew 1-1, leaving them ninth in the table.

Chelsea have cruised to the top of the table in the UEFA Conference League while fielding heavily rotated teams. Their latest win came on Thursday when they travelled 3,500 miles to Kazakhstan to face Astana, a match which ended 3-1.

The next Premier League fixtures for both teams will now take place on Sunday at 7pm GMT, meaning the schedule for December 15 now looks like this:

Brighton vs Crystal Palace (2pm GMT, 9am ET)

Manchester City vs Manchester United (4.30pm GMT, 11.30am ET)

Chelsea vs Brentford (7pm GMT, 2pm ET)

Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur (7pm GMT, 2pm ET)

Why 7pm?

Neither match could be played on the Saturday as both Chelsea and Tottenham were involved in matches on the Thursday night.

Chelsea requested a later kick-off on the Sunday as it is an eight-hour flight back to London from Kazakhstan.

The Premier League then offered Spurs a later kick-off, despite their trip to Glasgow being just 340 miles away.

The 7pm slot is unusual but is a league contingency when other kick-off times are unavailable or unviable.

Neither fixture could be moved to midweek next week as Chelsea play in Europe again, against Shamrock Rovers on Thursday, while Chelsea’s opponents on Sunday, Brentford, play against Newcastle in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday. Tottenham play Manchester United in the League Cup on Thursday, while Southampton play Liverpool in the same competition on Wednesday.

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Have Sunday games been played this late before?

There have been 35 Premier League games kicking off at 7pm or later on a Sunday (29 of them in 2020-21, a season of many adjustments due to the impact of Covid-19). The first was Everton v Liverpool in June 2020. The most recent was West Ham v Manchester United in May 2023.

Usually, Sunday games occur at 2pm and 4.30pm as part of Sky Sports’ ‘Super Sundays’ coverage.

Will they be on TV?

Tottenham vs Southampton will be on TNT Sports, which is another reason it ended up in the 7pm slot on Sunday — Sky will be showing the 2pm and 4.30pm matches, so the Spurs match could not clash.

Chelsea’s match against Brentford won’t be on television.

Premier League fixtures are amended throughout the season to accommodate domestic and European cup competitions, as well as broadcasters. The expanded European competitions, taking up extra weeks in the calendar, have meant further pressure on the Premier League schedule.

What’s the impact on fans?

Sunday 7pm kick-offs are controversial.

Southampton are to host Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary’s on Sunday, which means any Spurs fans who make the trip will face a late journey, but the United Kingdom’s public transport organisations run reduced services on Sundays. This is even more of a problem when many will have work on Monday morning.

“Fans have already gotten used to so many random kick-off times, on random days, that this is just another one to add to the list, Ben Stansfield, founder of Southampton fan media Total Saints Podcast, tells The Athletic. “Fan convenience is clearly irrelevant.”

The backlash against a 5.30pm kick-off for the 2023 Community Shield between Manchester City and Arsenal led to it being rescheduled for 4pm.

The fact that fans may be unable to travel can also lead to reduced ticket sales, and a worse atmosphere in the stadium.

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(Top photo: Stamford Bridge during Chelsea v Newcastle last season; Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty Images)

Chelsea produced a brilliant comeback away to Tottenham Hotspur to move second in the Premier League and add to the pressure on Ange Postecoglou.

Tottenham took an early two-goal lead thanks to Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski but Chelsea reacted superbly, pulling a goal back through the impressive Jadon Sancho before half-time.

Cole Palmer added two penalties after the break, either side of Enzo Fernandez firing past the Tottenham goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

A goal late in added time from Son Heung-min made it 4-3, but that was too little too late, and the result leaves Tottenham in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Liam Twomey, Jay Harris and Jack Pitt-Brooke analyse the key talking points from Chelsea’s 4-3 victory…

Chelsea played with a confidence verging on arrogance

Last season, Chelsea won 4-1 at this stadium and somehow managed to emerge from the experience bruised, even figures of fun in some quarters.

Postecoglou’s volatile Tottenham were flying high then, and appear to be on a very different arc now. But the nature of this comeback at the home of their arch-rivals — when was the last time Chelsea even fought back to win a game? — ensures they will get every inch of the credit they deserve.

Chelsea under Graham Potter or caretaker Frank Lampard would likely have collapsed completely in the face of Tottenham’s early storm. But Enzo Maresca’s side are made of considerably sterner stuff, and while they rode their luck at times here, they felt on track to turn the tide against Spurs long before Moises Caicedo won the penalty kick that tied the game.

Jadon Sancho gave them life with a sublime intervention in the 17th minute, silencing the home crowd with a sharp run infield from the left and a shot like a dagger in off the far post.

From then on, Chelsea applied sustained pressure, and with every extended stretch of defending Tottenham’s audible anxiety grew.

Maresca’s half-time reshuffle solidified their dominance. Romeo Lavia had produced some brilliant passes in the opening 45 minutes but introducing Malo Gusto and shifting Benoit Badiashile over to the left side of central defence removed the corridor of uncertainty that Spurs had exploited to such great effect in the opening minutes.

Chelsea played with a confidence bordering on arrogance from then on, pinning Spurs back and pulling them into uncomfortable areas that, eventually, led to fatal mistakes.

Fernandez’s emphatic half-volley — his third goal in four matches from midfield — simply confirmed the dynamic of the game and Palmer’s Panenka penalty was as brilliant as it was utterly disrespectful.

Chelsea turned what could have been a damaging setback into another victory over their favourite punching bags, and questions of a surprise Premier League title challenge will keep coming.

Liam Twomey

This was painful deja vu for Spurs fans

So far this season, Spurs have alternated between giddy highs and painful lows. Today, they managed both in the same match. The football that Tottenham played in the first 35 minutes or so was scintillating, as they raced into an early 2-0 lead. It felt like it might be a repeat of the 4-0 win at Manchester City last month.

But Spurs collapsed and lost 4-3. As Spurs players kept getting injured and Chelsea kept scoring, it all felt eerily similar to the 4-1 defeat in this fixture last November. When Palmer converted his second penalty, some Spurs fans started to boo, others started to leave.

Many fans will ask why Spurs are stuck with the same problems now as they were one year ago, and whether the variance in performances might ever be reduced to more manageable levels.

It is all very well playing dazzling football in spells but this was Spurs’ seventh league defeat of the season. They have only played 15 games.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Did Cucurella recover from his boot drama?

Premier League history was made at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday: for the first time in the competition’s history, a pair of football boots were hooked well before half-time.

There is no telling whether Marc Cucurella would have acted quite so decisively had both of his slips in the first 11 minutes not swiftly resulted in Tottenham goals, but his immediate reaction to seeing Kulusevski’s low shot creep beyond Robert Sanchez was to hold up the offending boot in anguished gesticulation towards the Chelsea dugout.

To the kitman’s credit, a fresh pair were immediately available and the fact that Cucurella did not slip again supports the idea that it was no mere excuse.

Tottenham’s ruthless finishing was harsh on Cucurella, who has been one of Chelsea’s better and more consistent performers this season — but he did not let it define his game.

Cucurella had already begun to exert a more positive influence in the remainder of the first half, moving the ball on quickly and accurately to Sancho to cut infield from the left and curl in the brilliant goal that gave Chelsea life before the interval.

In the second half, his attacking role grew as Maresca’s tactical reshuffle required him to invert into an advanced midfield position. Tottenham had trouble tracking his movement and he continued to dovetail effectively with Sancho on the left, where Chelsea did most of their best work in possession.

Liam Twomey

Yet more injuries compound Tottenham’s misery

There was a surprise twist when the line-ups were announced as Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero both started for Spurs. Romero only returned to full training on Friday, while the last time Postecoglou gave an update on Van de Ven’s fitness, he said he would be back by “mid-December”.

It was a huge boost for Spurs but things quickly went wrong when Romero pulled up injured shortly after Dejan Kulusevski made it 2-0 after 10 minutes. The centre-back went down on the floor with his hands over his face. He walked off the pitch with his shirt over his head and looked close to tears.

Van de Ven made a couple of exceptional tackles on his return from over a month out with a hamstring injury but only lasted until the 78th minute. The Netherlands international went down on the floor and the medical staff stretched his right leg but he had to be replaced by Archie Gray. It was a bold gamble to start them both and it backfired.

To make matters even worse, Brennan Johnson picked up an injury a few minutes into the second half, too. The 23-year-old went down just outside Chelsea’s box, tried to stand up and continue but was replaced by Timo Werner.

When Maresca could bring Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix, Noni Madueke and Malo Gusto off the bench, Postecoglou had to turn to Werner, James Maddison and two teenagers in Gray and Lucas Bergvall. Tottenham are down to the bare bones for the busiest period of the season. The lack of options and quality in the squad has left them in a precarious position.

Jay Harris

What next for Tottenham?

Thursday, December 12: Rangers (away), Europa League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET

What next for Chelsea?

Thursday, December 12: Astana (away), Conference League, 3:30pm UK, 10:30am ET

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At the end of Tottenham Hotspur’s last away game in the Premier League, Ange Postecoglou stood on the touchline with his right fist raised triumphantly. For the second time in a few weeks, he had led them to victory over Manchester City. They were superb at the Etihad Stadium, thrashing the Premier League champions 4-0. The feel-good factor was back after the frustration of losing to Ipswich Town just before November’s international break.

Less than two weeks later, the mood has plummeted. After Thursday night’s dismal 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, Postecoglou kept his distance while players applauded the away fans. The 59-year-old then strode over and had a tense exchange with the supporters. It was a million miles away from the scenes at the beginning of last season when they would sing “I’m loving Big Ange instead” to the tune of Robbie Williams’ Angels after home games.

“They are disappointed, rightly so,” Postecoglou said. “They gave me some direct feedback, which I guess is taken on board.

“I’ve got no issue with it. I didn’t like what was being said because I’m a human being but you’ve got to cop it. I’ve been around long enough to know that if things don’t go well, you’ve got to understand the frustration and disappointment. They’re rightly disappointed tonight because again, we’ve let a game get away from us. I’m OK with all of that.”

The cracks in this relationship are deepening. Impressive performances against Manchester City and Manchester United temporarily masked Tottenham’s poor record on the road. Postecoglou’s side have lost nine of their last 13 away matches in the top flight.

A pattern is emerging. The home side take an early lead, sit deep, and invite Spurs to break them down. When Tottenham push too many players forward in a desperate attempt to score, they are picked apart on the counter. Bournemouth’s only goal came from a set piece, another issue that plagues Postecoglou’s side, but they massively outperformed Tottenham on expected goals (3.31 xG to 0.58 xG, according to Opta), suggesting the home team created a higher quality of chances. Evanilson, Dango Ouattara and Justin Kluivert were guilty of wasting opportunities on the break that would have ended this contest much earlier. Postecoglou described gifting Dean Huijsen a free header from Marcus Tavernier’s inswinging corner as “madness”.

“It is disappointing and not good enough,” he said. “It is not a one-off. We have done that three or four times and paid a price for it.”

Tottenham have taken one point from games against Fulham and Bournemouth, their last two opponents. They are 10th, level on points with Brentford and Newcastle United. At this point, it is fair to ask how much significant progress have they made under Postecoglou.

Spurs’ playing style has been revolutionised, the squad is much younger and the underlying numbers look favourable. When everything clicks, they are thrilling to watch. The harsh reality is they have lost six out of 14 league games this season. Apart from table-topping Liverpool, the table is bunched — Spurs are one point above Manchester United in 13th but also three points behind Brighton in fifth. There is a great opportunity to qualify for the Champions League (Manchester City are six points ahead in fourth) but with every performance like those against Bournemouth, Crystal Palace (a 1-0 loss) and Ipswich (a 2-1 defeat), Spurs lose momentum.

There are mitigating factors. Guglielmo Vicario fractured his ankle and will be sidelined for months. First-choice centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero are unavailable too while Ben Davies joined them on the injury list after pulling his hamstring against Bournemouth. If Romero is not fit enough to face Chelsea on Sunday, Postecoglou faces a real dilemma about who should partner Radu Dragusin in the heart of his defence.

Archie Gray, who made his first Premier League start on Thursday, covered Davies after he was replaced by Pedro Porro. Starting Gray, whose favoured position is central midfield, alongside Dragusin against Chelsea — the division’s top scorers — would be a huge gamble but it is difficult to see an alternative.

Postecoglou was frustrated by not being in Europe last season but now Tottenham are struggling to juggle the demands of playing in multiple competitions. Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are ruled out long-term, which places a greater strain on Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson. Porro and Destiny Udogie have featured in every Premier League game and have been playing in the Europa League, too (three starts for Porro, two for Udogie).

Djed Spence is not in their Europa League squad but has never started a game for Spurs, despite joining them from Nottingham Forest two and a half years ago.

Postecoglou cannot rotate his star players as much as he would like to keep them fresh because their backups are either injured or not trusted.

What cannot be denied, though, is that this side struggles to deal with adversity.

After a bright 10-minute spell, Huijsen’s header dented their confidence. James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Solanke failed to connect. Johnson looked uncomfortable on the left wing and Kulusevski kept drifting over to that side in the first half anyway, which meant nobody was stretching Bournemouth’s shape on the opposite flank.

Postecoglou made a few bold changes by taking off Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma, leaving Lucas Bergvall, 18, as the Tottenham’s deepest midfielder for the final 15 minutes. Son Heung-min came off the bench initially at left wing and then dropped into central midfield. It was a bizarre experiment that did not pay off. Spurs had a lot of attacking power on the pitch yet somehow looked toothless.

Perhaps the most concerning issue of all, which Postecoglou alluded to, is that Tottenham keep repeating the same mistakes. This is a young team in their second season under a head coach with a unique philosophy. Things were always going to take time but constantly losing in the same manner suggests that something is fundamentally not working.

Spurs should be adapting to and overcoming these challenges — not tripping up on the same question in every test. Postecoglou needs to find a solution or else the number of disgruntled fans will quickly increase, and so will the pressure.

(Top photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Ange Postecoglou said he had no issue with the “direct feedback” from Tottenham Hotspur supporters after their 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth.

After the final whistle at the Vitality Stadium, the head coach went over to the travelling fans who were voicing their disappointment at the result.

Discussing the incident after the game, Postecoglou said: “They are disappointed, rightly so. They gave me some direct feedback, which I guess is taken on board.”

When asked to elaborate on what was said by the fans, Postecoglou said: “Yeah, probably not for here, mate.”

“I have no issue with it,” he added. “I didn’t like what was being said because I’m a human being but you have to cop it.

“I have been around long enough to know that when things don’t go well, you have to understand the frustration and disappointment.

“They are rightly disappointed tonight because we let a game of football get away from us but that’s okay. I’m okay with all that.”

GO DEEPER

The Briefing: Bournemouth 1 Tottenham 0: Set-piece struggles and away day woes strike Spurs again

Postecoglou, who is already without Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, said he feared Ben Davies would add to his injury troubles in defence after Davies was substituted in the 62nd minute.

“It looks like he’s done his hamstring,” Postecoglou said of Davies.

“Him and Radu (Radu Dragusin) have played every game. It’s the one position we can’t rotate. He’ll obviously be out for a period of time now, we’ll just have to wait and see how long it is. It’s a consequence of having the squad we have at the moment.”

The result meant Bournemouth moved one point above Spurs in the Premier League. Postecoglou’s side are next in action against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday and are now 10th in the table.

(Top image: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur added to their growing collection of poor results against the Premier League’s less glamourous clubs tonight with a 1-0 defeat away to Bournemouth.

Not for the first time this season (or in the previous one), Ange Postecoglou’s team conceded what appeared a preventable goal from a corner, with defender Dean Huijsen ghosting in at the far post unmarked to score midway through the first half.

The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke and Jay Harris analyse the key talking points…

Set-piece weakness stings Spurs again

When Tottenham drew 2-2 at home against Roma in the Europa League last Thursday, the Italians’ first goal was an Evan Ndicka header from a wide free kick. Afterwards, Postecoglou was in no mood to discuss his team’s perceived weakness from set pieces, and whether there was anything he could do to improve it.

“I don’t even know what to say to that,” Postecoglou said. “I think that’s the third set piece goal we’ve conceded this season in about 20 games. I get it, but I don’t know what to say. Let’s move on.”

Clearly, Postecoglou does not enjoy the fact that whenever his team concede from a set piece it is magnified. It was the same when Spurs conceded from corners against Arsenal and Aston Villa earlier this season, and again tonight when Huijsen was totally free to score what proved Bournemouth’s winner from a corner on 17 minutes.

Postecoglou could reasonably point to the fact that Spurs are better on set pieces now than they were last year, with new assistant Nick Montgomery taking special responsibility for them. At the same time, fans are still frustrated by the fact that these goals they concede from dead-ball situations seem so painful. Tottenham created more than enough to win this game but they were always chasing it after that early breakthrough.

The four league goals Spurs have conceded from set pieces have come from an expected goals (xG) figure of 5.38, according to Opta, the third-highest total in the league. Even if Tottenham are improving overall, fans will not always look at the bigger picture when it has just cost their team another game.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

An away performance like so many others

Don’t be fooled by Tottenham’s impressive victories over Manchester City and Manchester United this season. Those matches on the road are the exception to the rule.

Postecoglou’s side have lost eight of their last 12 away games in the Premier League. You can file this defeat in the same category as the trip to Crystal Palace in October. It was the same final scoreline and both goals arrived midway through the first half. And from that point onwards, Tottenham barely threatened their opponents.

When Tottenham concede first at home, it seems to galvanise them. They respond aggressively and charge around. For example, Bryan Mbeumo scored in the opening minute for Brentford but by the half-hour mark Spurs were winning 2-1. They have beaten Villa and West Ham 4-1 this season after going behind on their own pitch. It is a completely different story on their travels.

Tottenham’s confidence is dented and they look devoid of ideas. Postecoglou tried every possible trick in the second half tonight. In the last 15 minutes, Son Heung-min dropped into a centre-midfield role. Spurs were then top-heavy, but did not come any closer to scoring while Bournemouth wasted multiple chances to finish the game off. If anything, the final score flatters the visitors.

If they want to be serious about challenging for a top-four spot this season, Tottenham have to produce better away performances more consistently. These defeats at Brighton, Palace and now Bournemouth more than cancel out their five-star displays against the Manchester clubs.

Jay Harris

Solanke a shadow of his usual self

It was certainly good news that Dominic Solanke recovered from the illness that put him out of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham to play tonight. Spurs looked lost without him at the weekend because he is so important to how they function both with and without the ball.

But while it was better to have Solanke back, he did not look restored to his physically dominant best for this first return to the club he left in the summer. He had the two best chances of what was a poor first half from Tottenham but could not take either of them with any conviction. And while his work rate was as good as ever, putting his back into every run he made without the ball, he looked understandably short of his normal physical levels.

This meant that Spurs struggled to put enough pressure on Bournemouth when they had the ball, because Solanke is the man in charge of leading the press. And it meant they couldn’t keep much of a foothold in the opposition half because it was difficult to retain possession.

When Solanke is properly at it, he makes the whole Tottenham team function. It is good that he is back playing, but with their other attackers looking low on confidence right now, Spurs will need him back to his best soon.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

What next for Tottenham?

Sunday, December 8: Chelsea (home), Premier League, 4:30pm UK, 11:30am ET

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In the first half of extra time during Leyton Orient’s dramatic FA Cup victory over Oldham Athletic on Saturday, Josh Keeley made a crucial intervention.

Kane Drummond raced through on goal and fired a right-footed shot towards the top corner which momentarily looked like giving Oldham the lead. Keeley charged off his line, spread his arms and blocked Drummond’s effort with his face. The ball stung his cheeks but the pain was worth it when Dan Agyei scored to secure a 2-1 victory for Orient and a third-round tie with Championship side Derby County.

It was a brave piece of goalkeeping from Keeley, who is on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur, but nobody was talking about it afterwards because the 21-year-old produced another moment of magic earlier in the game — one which will go down in Orient and FA Cup folklore.

The east Londoners were seconds away from exiting the competition when Keeley strode into Oldham’s box for a free kick in stoppage time. The Republic of Ireland Under-21 international’s glancing header hit the back of the net and he wheeled away before sliding on his knees in front of the raucous home fans.

“It was mad,” Keeley tells The Athletic a few days later. “I always go up for corners with an open mind, and it makes the supporters cheer, but you don’t expect to score at any time.”

The header was the kind of deft flick one would usually associate with an experienced striker, rather than a young goalkeeper.

“I have never practised it before,” says Keeley. “A few of my friends after the game said, ‘You scored that because of Pro Clubs’ because I play upfront for our team on FIFA (the popular video game series by EA Sports which is now called FC). So that’s my explanation. Everyone is delighted we are into the next round. Financially, it’s brilliant for the club.”

Keeley grew up in Ireland and only became a goalkeeper after getting into trouble for “flying into tackles” all the time as an outfield player. He began his career with St Kevin’s Boys and had spells with Shelbourne and Belvedere before moving to St Patrick’s Athletic. Keeley started training with the St Patrick’s first team when he was 17 and forged a close bond with the goalkeeping coach Pat Jennings Jr, the son of the legendary Spurs goalkeeper.

“He had a lot of contacts at Tottenham and told them, ‘I have a goalkeeper back in Ireland who I think is better than what you have,’ Keeley says. “I went over for a week’s training and came back on Thursday night because we had a league game the next day. On Friday morning, Tottenham rang St Pat’s and said, ‘We want to get him back this Saturday.’ So I flew over to London again two days after I got back.”

Keeley officially joined Tottenham in July 2022, less than a year after he made his Irish Premier Division debut as an 18-year-old in a 2-2 draw with Finn Harps. Although he has mostly been involved with the academy side during his time at Spurs, in 2023 he joined up with the first team on the club’s pre-season tour and worked with goalkeeping coach Rob Burch and No 1 Guglielmo Vicario.

“I always had a good laugh with Vicario,” Keeley says. “Ireland played Italy’s Under-21s and we conceded in the last minute. Vicario said the senior team were watching the game while they were on international duty so we had a chat about it when I came back. He’s been good and influential. You pick up a lot of things when you watch pros like him. Dean Brill, the academy goalkeeping coach, has been a huge factor for me too.”

During the 2023-24 campaign, Keeley made six appearances for Tottenham Under-21s as they won the Premier League 2 title. Keeley’s main focus during the second half of that season was helping Barnet’s push for promotion from the National League. He played 18 times for Barnet, who finished second in the division but lost 4-0 to Solihull Moors in the play-off semi-finals.

Keeley’s performances impressed everybody, so he was rewarded with a new three-year contract at Spurs and he jumped up two divisions to join Orient on loan. He made his first appearance in a Carabao Cup tie against Brentford and has slowly earned the trust of head coach Richie Wellens to start their last nine games in all competitions.

“Academy football is a big learning curve and a lot of the time you are working to improve your technical ability,” he says. “In senior football, a lot of players rely on winning games because they have got to feed their families and pay their mortgages. You learn how important it is to win.

“We have played well but haven’t got the results we wanted so it has been tough, but no loan or game is going to be easy, especially with the busy schedule coming up. I’m really enjoying my time here and working with (Wellens). Ever since I came in the door, he has been really positive. I had to wait my turn to get into the team but he was pushing me.”

Keeley is not the only player at Orient on loan from Spurs. Jamie Donley has made a positive impression too. The pair helped each other to settle and they will both return to Tottenham next summer more experienced and better equipped to break into Ange Postecoglou’s squad. Postecoglou praised Keeley, before Tottenham’s fixture against Bournemouth on Thursday evening, for his goal and breaking into the starting XI.

“You go into a loan club, especially as a young goalkeeper, and you have to earn the trust of the manager to end up being the No 1,” Postecoglou said. “The fact that he has and he’s doing well, it’s good. It’s what we want to see from our loan guys.”

Keeley has a close relationship with 19-year-old striker Will Lankshear and 17-year-old winger Mikey Moore, who have both featured in the Premier League and Europa League this season. They have set the example which he hopes to follow.

“I’m absolutely delighted for them because I know the quality they have,” he says. “It is massive for me as well to see young boys playing in the first team because I am out here on loan trying to get to that spot. My plan this season is to keep my performances up for Orient. My main focus is to win games and do my best for them. For the future, I’ve just signed a new deal (at Spurs) so if I can keep performing here you never know where it might take you.”

(Top photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images)

Dominic Solanke is set to train ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s trip to Bournemouth on Thursday but Ange Postecoglou says the striker is “still not 100 per cent”.

The 27-year-old missed Sunday’s draw with Fulham due to illness, and Postecoglou says he is making progress.

Spurs will continue to be without defender Cristian Romero due to a foot injury which has sidelined him for his side’s last three matches, but he could return to full training by the end of the week.

“Everyone from the weekend got through okay,” Postecoglou said. “Archie (Gray) got a bit of a knock but he has recovered well.

“Dom is due to train today so he is still not 100 per cent but he has definitely improved from the weekend. The other injured guys are inching closer but not available.”

On Romero, Postecoglou added: “He’s due to have his last session or last couple of sessions with the rehab guys, today and tomorrow. So we’re kind of hoping that (he’ll be) back into training, potentially by Friday. At the very latest early next week, if everything goes well.”

Solanke was sent home the morning of the Fulham match following illness, with Son Heung-min leading the line in his absence, as Spurs were held to a 1-1 draw.

The £65million summer signing from Bournemouth has scored six goals in 17 appearances in all competitions.

Spurs have been without fellow forward Richarlison since November due to a “significant” hamstring injury, Wilson Odobert is also a long-term absentee after undergoing hamstring surgery and Mikey Moore remains out through illness.

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Postecoglou said the injuries demonstrated the need for the club to strengthen the forward line in the coming transfer windows.

“There is no doubt because when you add Wilson to that, even Mikey, we had Dom out on the weekend, you hope that alleviates. With Wilson it’s long-term, hopefully Mikey by the turn of year will be back as well, but he’s 17.

“With Richy it has been frustrating because I see the potential in him and to be fair when he’s been fit he’s always made an impact, for me anyway. I think back to the start of last year and when he came back into the team during the year he went on a scoring run. Even the little games he’s played this year, he’s made an impact.

“But there’s no doubt we need some bolstering in that front third over the next couple of transfer windows. Dom coming in has been great, but again we can’t overload him either, because ultimately, you know, even if he stays fit and nothing happens, performance will invariably drop if his energy levels drop. So it’s something we’re aware of and need to plan for.”

Following Thursday’s trip to Bournemouth, Spurs face Chelsea on Sunday.

GO DEEPER

Tottenham's injury problems have blunted their edge - and there is no respite ahead

(Harry Murphy/Getty Images)

An FA Cup third-round tie against Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur is just about as big as it gets for Tamworth FC, who currently play in the National League — the fifth tier of English football.

But the Midlands town itself used to be a big deal. In the eighth and ninth centuries, it was the Anglo-Saxon capital of Mercia, the largest kingdom on the main island of the British Isles until the Norman invasion of 1066. And a castle has stood overlooking the place ever since the Normans arrived.

Over the intervening centuries, the market town, situated less than 20 miles north-east of Birmingham, in the county of Staffordshire, has rarely been in the news.

Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the modern police force, was the local MP. The infamous three-wheeled Reliant Robin car used to be manufactured on the outskirts of the town centre, while the nation’s first indoor ski centre, the Snowdome, opened there in 1994.

Later in the 1990s, two Sandyback pigs — the breed Tamworth is famous for producing — went on the run after escaping an abattoir and were dubbed ‘Butch and Sundance’ by the national press. They were recaptured but given a reprieve from the bacon slicer.

But occasionally, the relative obscurity has been punctuated by the local football club.

The Lambs, a far-from-fearsome nickname derived from the pub of the same moniker that used to stand on the corner of their ground in the centre of the town (yes, you can see the SnowDome from there), have been deep in English football’s non-League system for most of their existence. As recently as 2023, they were playing in the seventh-tier Southern Premier League Central, before back-to-back promotions saw them return to the National League for the first time in a decade this summer.

But occasionally, thanks mainly to the FA Cup, they have garnered national attention.

They held Stoke City, then as now in the second-tier Championship, to a goalless away draw in the third round in 2005-06, before falling to defeat in a penalty shootout after the replay also ended level, 1-1. They then lost 4-1 at home to Norwich City, also Championship opposition, in front of a live national television audience a year later. Then in 2012, there was a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton, a Premier League side and five-time FA Cup winners, where the Lambs lost by a respectable score of 2-0.

But those occasions will be small fry compared to being drawn at home tonight to host Spurs, who have lifted the FA Cup eight times, in January’s third round — the stage where Premier League sides enter the competition and can often be pitted against sides from much lower on the football ladder in romantic David vs Goliath fixtures.

It will be the biggest game in the club’s 91-year history.

The Tamworth players, still only part-time footballers in a league where most of their rivals are fully professional, are led by captain Jas Singh, a building surveyor by trade but also the goalkeeper who saved two penalties in the shootout victory at Burton Albion of League One, English football’s third tier, that booked their place in round three, will be facing a whole new challenge against Spurs.

But so will the away side.

It is extremely unlikely that Spurs’ Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou, South Korea national-team captain Son Heung-min, £60million England striker Dominic Solanke or Argentine 2022 World Cup winner Cristian Romero will have experienced anything like what awaits them on their visit to The Lamb since their formative years in the game.

For starters, it has an artificial pitch, which lies on a slope. When Tamworth still played on natural grass, the angle from the Cross Street entrance to the ground in the top corner down to the Castle End opposite was even more pronounced, but when the club installed the all-weather surface so they could generate more revenue by staging non-matchday events, they did remove some of the slope… but not all.

The stadium only holds 4,000, and while there are usually over 1,000 there now for home games, there used to be a hardcore of just 600, but they always make a good noise.

The dugouts are directly in front of The Shed, so named because it was built with corrugated iron, with wooden railway sleepers used to create the terracing. This is where the most vociferous fans congregate, not just to get behind their team, but also to get in the ear of the visiting manager sitting just a few feet away.

Former Leicester City, Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Robbie Savage was given a particularly hostile reception when he took his Macclesfield side to Tamworth in the fourth qualifying round in October, and lost 4-2.

The dressing rooms are old portable cabins that sit behind the clubhouse. Only in recent years has a roof been added to protect the players from the elements.

The national media will also be in unfamiliar territory. Instead of the palatial press boxes of the Premier League, the press bench has about eight to 10 seats. For that Norwich game in 2006, a scaffolded temporary press area had to be built high up over a corner of the ground, which could only be accessed by a rickety ladder.

On the pitch, Tottenham will have to contend with a direct style of play under manager Andy Peak, including the howitzer-like long throw of midfielder Tom Tonks, who looks to launch the ball into the penalty area from anywhere inside the opposition half. It was one of his throws that led directly to Tamworth’s winner in the first round, when they dumped out League One side Huddersfield Town 1-0.

Up against a packed-in, partisan crowd, at an open and windswept little ground, on an artificial and sloping pitch — probably on live national television and in rotten January weather — this will not be a day for the faint-hearted among the Spurs squad.

Postecoglou and company, you have been warned.

(Top photo: Harriet Massey/Getty Images)

FA Cup holders Manchester United will play away to Arsenal in the third round of the 2024-25 competition.

The tie of the round, between the tournament’s two most successful ever teams, will be staged in north London.

Non-League side Tamworth, from the fifth-tier National League, will welcome eight-time winners Tottenham Hotspur to the 4,000-capacity Lamb Ground.

Last season’s beaten finalists Manchester City host fourth-division neighbours Salford City, the cup’s 2022 winners Liverpool will also play at home to a local side from League Two, Accrington Stanley, and there is also opposition from that division for Chelsea, who will get a visit from Morecambe, and Newcastle United, with third-round debutants Bromley coming to St James’ Park.

There is only one other all-Premier League tie, with Aston Villa at home to West Ham United, and there is a Yorkshire derby between Leeds United, currently third in the second-tier Championship, and League Two guests Harrogate Town.

Unlike in previous seasons, there will be no replays a few days later at the home stadium of the original tie’s away team in the event of a draw after 90 minutes. All matches will now be settled on the day, via extra time and, if required, a penalty shootout.

The third round of the competition is the first in which Premier League and Championship teams take part. The first round proper, the stage where League One and League Two sides entered, began on November 1.

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FA Cup third-round draw in full

Southampton vs Swansea City

Arsenal vs Manchester United

Exeter City vs Oxford United

Leyton Orient vs Derby County

Reading vs Burnley

Aston Villa vs West Ham United

Norwich City vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Manchester City vs Salford City

Millwall vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Liverpool vs Accrington Stanley

Bristol City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Preston North End vs Charlton Athletic

Chelsea vs Morecambe

Middlesbrough vs Blackburn Rovers

Bournemouth vs West Bromwich Albion

Mansfield Town vs Wigan Athletic

Tamworth vs Tottenham Hotspur

Hull City vs Doncaster Rovers

Sunderland vs Stoke City

Leicester City vs Queens Park Rangers

Brentford vs Plymouth Argyle

Coventry City vs Sheffield Wednesday

Newcastle United vs Bromley

Everton vs Peterborough United

Wycombe Wanderers vs Portsmouth

Birmingham City vs Lincoln City

Leeds United vs Harrogate Town

Nottingham Forest vs Luton Town

Sheffield United vs Cardiff City

Ipswich Town vs Bristol Rovers

Fulham vs Watford

Crystal Palace vs Stockport County

Ties to be played over the weekend of January 11-12.

FA Cup 2024-25 round dates

Third round: Weekend commencing Saturday, January 11

Fourth round: Weekend commencing Saturday, February 8

Fifth round: Weekend commencing Saturday, March 1

Quarter-finals: Weekend commencing Saturday, March 29

Semi-finals: Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27

Final: Saturday, May 17

(Top photo: Zac Goodwin/PA Images via Getty Images)

When Tottenham Hotspur were battling Brentford for Archie Gray’s signature in the summer, the 18 year old made it clear that his favoured position was central midfield.

Gray made 47 appearances for Leeds United in the Championship last season, including the play-offs, and head coach Daniel Farke primarily used him as a full-back. Across a manic weekend at the end of June, Gray completed a medical with Brentford but changed his mind the following day and decided to join Spurs — who saw him as a midfielder — on a six-year contract in a deal worth up to £40million ($50.7m).

During his first six months in north London, Gray has played in multiple different positions but minutes in his preferred role have been hard to come by. This could change over the next few weeks while Rodrigo Bentancur serves a seven-match ban for racist comments he made about his team-mate Son Heung-Min. Tottenham are appealing the length of Bentancur’s suspension but he is currently unavailable until they face Nottingham Forest on December 26. The Uruguay international can still play in the Europa League, he started in their 2-2 draw with Roma on Thursday, but is due to miss crucial Premier League fixtures against Chelsea and Liverpool as well as the Carabao Cup quarter-final tie with Manchester United.

Bentancur and Yves Bissouma have shared the holding midfield role this season. Bissouma has taken ownership of the position in the league and he impressed in Saturday’s stunning 4-0 victory over Manchester City. The Mali international cannot be expected to play every single minute of Premier League action while Bentancur is banned.

Has the time come for Gray to be given a chance to flourish where many believe he belongs?

Brentford’s recruitment department scouted Gray extensively. They believe he possesses the potential to become one of the best English midfielders of his generation. This is why they were prepared to smash their transfer record to sign a teenager who at the time had only made 52 senior appearances.

Head coach Thomas Frank was heavily involved in trying to convince Gray to move to west London along with technical director Lee Dykes and director of football Phil Giles. When Brentford present to prospective signings, they analyse a large number of their games and break them down into two separate categories — green for a good performance and red for one that could have been better. They highlight how the player’s qualities complement Frank’s tactics and speak about areas for improvement.

Brentford explained to Gray and his representatives that he would spend two years playing as a No 8 in Frank’s 4-3-3 system, effectively operating as one of their advanced central midfielders. He would learn the intricacies of being a defensive midfielder from captain Christian Norgaard, who has been capped 32 times by Denmark. After his first two seasons, Gray would be ready to replace Norgaard as the first-choice holding midfielder.

The England Under-21 international was impressed by Brentford’s pitch and the opportunity to play regularly in the Premier League, but decided instead to become a part of Ange Postecoglou’s project at Spurs. Multiple people familiar with Tottenham’s proposed deal have said there is an agreement that if Gray does not play a minimum number of minutes then he will be allowed to leave for a similar fee to the one Tottenham paid for him. Tottenham dispute that such an agreement exists.

Tottenham sold Oliver Skipp (to Leicester) and sent Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg out on loan (to Marseille) in the summer but Gray knew competition for places in midfield would still be fierce. What the England Under-21 international would not have anticipated was partnering Skipp, before he joined Leicester City, at centre-back on his first appearance for Tottenham in a pre-season friendly against Hearts. He featured multiple times on tour in Japan and South Korea and told reporters out there: “Wherever (Postecoglou) puts me on the pitch, I’ll do that to the best of my ability and I don’t really care where I play.”

During that tour, Tottenham’s captain Son heaped praise on Gray and Lucas Bergvall, another 18-year-old who joined in the summer. “It’s a joy to watch them and they are both working really hard,” Son said. “They just want to listen and learn. That’s very important at this age because you hope those guys both have an amazing bright future. I’m always trying to help the two of them because they just came here to a new club. Every single day they impress me with their attitude. They are young but they can make a huge impact for the team.”

Gray lives close to the training ground in Hampstead. He is enjoying his time at Spurs and has a close relationship with Son, Fraser Forster and Ben Davies who are all senior members of the dressing room. He has a good friendship with James Maddison and Brennan Johnson, too. Johnson’s father, David, played with Gray’s dad, Andy, at Nottingham Forest. In training, he has paid close attention to and picked up tips from Bentancur and Bissouma about how to operate as a No 6.

Gray has started five times in the Europa League and twice in the Carabao Cup. He normally provides cover for first-choice right-back Pedro Porro but featured on the left in the 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray and Thursday night’s draw with Roma.

It was his sensational lofted pass for Brennan Johnson that directly led to Will Lankshear’s goal in Istanbul. It was the perfect example of what he can offer when he pushes up into advanced central areas.

Playing in multiple positions can help a player’s development, giving them a more rounded skill set while exposing them to different challenges. Gray struggled at times coming up against Matheus Nunes in Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over Man City in the Carabao Cup. He will have learned from that experience and his one-v-one defending should improve every time he comes up against a tricky winger.

Steven Gerrard, who was one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the Premier League, made his first start for Liverpool at right-back in a 2-1 defeat to Spurs at the old White Hart Lane in 1998. Gerrard was responsible for marking David Ginola but was substituted after 55 minutes when Liverpool were losing 2-0. The future Liverpool captain made a couple more appearances in defence before establishing himself in central midfield the following season. It is fair to say that temporarily playing in an unfamiliar position did not impact his career too much.

There are a few cautionary tales though. At the beginning of his career, Ainsley Maitland-Niles was used as a wing-back by multiple managers at Arsenal and he earned five England caps under Gareth Southgate but it meant his attempts to return to midfield were futile.

During the November international break, Gray started in defence for England’s under-21s in draws against Spain and the Netherlands. When Tottenham beat Ferencvaros in the Europa League last month, Gray started at centre-back with Cristian Romero but switched to left-back at half-time. The next day, Postecoglou praised his “temperament” and how he is “constantly looking for more information”.

“Last night, I played him in two different positions and both are probably the least preferred for him,” Postecoglou said. “He has played right full-back and in centre midfield, I had him at left centre-back and left-back last night and I thought he did brilliantly again. I’m not going to just put him in different positions; at the moment we are using him where we need him. I think hopefully that gives him confidence in how much I trust him. Eventually we will settle him into an area but him playing at the moment, he has played in a Carabao Cup game away, two European games (and had) exposure in the Premier League already in the first 10 games of his Tottenham career, which I think is brilliant for us.”

On Friday, before Tottenham’s game against Fulham, Postecoglou said “I’m so excited by Archie” and praised his maturity, efficiency and calmness. Gray has only played five times in the top flight for a combined total of 42 minutes, according to Opta. The longest amount of time he has had on the pitch is the final quarter of an hour of Spurs’ victory over Everton and they had a comfortable 3-0 lead at the time. However, he is clearly highly valued by his head coach.

Tottenham only named a 23-man squad in the Europa League, two fewer than the maximum, because they did not have enough locally trained players. Postecoglou took the tricky decision to omit Djed Spence. If Spence, who featured at left-back and right-back during loan spells with Genoa and Leeds last season, had been included then Gray might have played more in midfield.

Although Brentford liked Gray’s versatility, the reality is he would have played in defence for them too. First-choice full-backs Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey have suffered setbacks in their recovery from long-term injuries, which means central defender Sepp van den Berg and midfielder Vitaly Janelt have provided cover for them.

Tottenham’s form has been like a rollercoaster this season. They recorded resounding away victories over Man City and Manchester United but lost to Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town. Postecoglou’s side recovered from conceding first to beat West Ham United and Aston Villa 4-1. Due to the chaotic nature of those games, Postecoglou might have felt more experience was needed to secure victory. They have lost five league games in total and in those situations Postecoglou is more likely to make an attacking substitution.

If Bentancur’s appeal is unsuccessful, then Tottenham will have to cope without him for a run of six domestic games in three weeks. It feels like the perfect opportunity to see what Gray is capable of in midfield either in the second-half of games to give Bissouma a breather or from the start.

(Top photo: Vince Mignott/Getty Images)