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Spurs’ January signing is unlikely to start in Bilbao, but is ready if called upon by Ange Postecoglou

Ready for action against Manchester United: Kevin Danso

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Your matchday briefing on Tottenham, featuring team news and expert analysis from Dan Kilpatrick

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Tottenham centre-half Kevin Danso says he is ready to play any role asked of him in the Europa League Final and has revealed he is working to emulate teammates Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven.

Danso, who joined Spurs on loan with an obligation from Lens in January, has slipped down the pecking order since Romero and van de Ven returned to fitness in March but continued to feature regularly in the Premier League as the club prioritises progress in Europe.

The Austrian international played an important role in the backs-to-the-wall win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-final decider, coming off the bench late on as Spurs clung on to a 1-0 lead.

As it stands, Danso is unlikely to start against Manchester United in Bilbao on May 21 but says he is ready to help the team to a first trophy in 17 years.

"I'm very ready," he said. "You don't know how many opportunities you're going to get to play in a final and here I am, four months here and there's already a final. So whatever happens, I'm ready.

"Whatever my role is, I'll just be supporting the team 100 per cent and doing my best in whatever that role is.

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"You've always got to be ready. You never know what's going to happen and the manager's always talking to us about taking our opportunities when they come.

"And whatever that opportunity is, 90 minutes on the bench or starting the game or coming on and doing a job, that's exactly what I'm going to do and do it to the best of my ability."

Romero captained Spurs in both legs of the semi-final against Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt and could wear the armband again against United if Heung-min Son, who has just recovered from a niggling foot injury, is not named in the XI.

The Argentine has a reputation as a fiery character on the pitch, prone to hot-headedness, but Danso believes he is misunderstood and is an admirer of both Spurs' first choice centre-halves.

"He's definitely world class," Danso said of Romero. "From the outside looking in, you'd think he's very aggressive but he's one of the calmest guys in the changing room.

"Everybody at the club and anybody who watches football knows he's a brilliant passer and a great defender. I feel like a defender needs that [aggressive] side to him to give the strikers a bit of fear, [thinking], 'Oh, he could come in at any time'.

"He's a great talent, a great player. So is Micky. So is everybody at this club, or they wouldn't be here.

"He [Romero] is not the most vocal [captain]. That's why I said he's one of the calmest guys.

"There's different kinds of leadership and he leads by examnple by the way he plays. Some are more vocal and some just lead by example and that's ecactly what he does.

Cristian Romero has won trophies with Argentina

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"He's a world class player, he's won trophies, he brings that experience and he knows what to do in finals. In big games, he's always there."

Asked if he could learn from Romero, Danso added: "100 per cent. His calmness, his passing range. There's players all over in my position I look to emulate and take things from their game and add to my game. I want to be as complete as possible.

"Micky obviously [is another one] with the way he reads the ball and defending the challenges with his pace. Players like Sergio Ramos, van Dijk...the list is endless. You watch defenders at the highest level and try to add what they do to your game."

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Eberechi Eze’s two goals on Sunday ensured Crystal Palace did the double over Tottenham in the league for the first time in their history.

Having assisted Jean-Philippe Mateta for the only goal of the game in a 1-0 home victory over Spurs in October, Palace’s first Premier League win of the season, Eze scored both goals in a richly-deserved 2-0 triumph at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

The 26-year-old has now netted eight times in his last 11 games across all competitions and is bang in form as the Eagles lead up to the biggest match of their season - the FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Saturday’s Wembley return is a chance for the Eagles to finally win major silverware for the first time, and manager Oliver Glasner knows he needs Eze fit and firing to have any chance of denying Pep Guardiola’s side.

Eze was the star against Spurs, rolling into an empty net from Daniel Munoz’s assist on the stroke of half-time, before slamming low into the corner after an Ismaila Sarr set-up shortly after the break.

After both goals, he pulled out his trademark celebration of holding his two index fingers in the shape of a cross. He has previously explained that this is his way of paying homage to his Christian beliefs.

A number of different celebrations followed the second goal, including the ‘call me’ gesture, holding his hand to his ear in the shape of a phone.

Some have suggested that it could have been a message to Daniel Levy, urging the Tottenham chairman to give him the call and sign him in the summer.

Spurs have previously been interested in Eze, though pulling out the ‘call me’ celebration to reignite that interest would surely be too brazen a way for him to get that message across.

Palace sources have indicated that while Eze always uses the crossed fingers celebration after scoring, other celebrations tend to just be whatever comes to his mind in the spur of the moment.

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Tottenham will be without two key midfielders for the Europa League final

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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

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Your matchday briefing on Tottenham, featuring team news and expert analysis from Dan Kilpatrick

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Tottenham are preparing for their biggest game of the season with one fresh worry.

Spurs will face Manchester United in the Europa League final on May 21, but could be without Dejan Kulusevski for all-English final in Bilbao.

The Swede was one of three survivors from the team that started the second leg triumph over Bodo/Glimt but was forced off early in the 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday. Now the good news is Ange Postecoglou has issued a rather positive update.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the latest Tottenham injury news…

Dejan Kulusevski

Kulusevski hobbled off after 18 minutes following a heavy challenge from Marc Guehi and headed straight down the tunnel.

He appeared for the second half, sitting on the bench with the rest of the Tottenham substitutes and Postecoglou is hopeful the attacking midfielder has not sustained any serious damage.

He said: "Should be OK, just talking to him after. “Medical team not too concerned with him, more of a knock than anything else."

Kulusevski missed training on Monday morning, as Spurs sweat over his fitness.

Potential return date: Aston Villa (a) on Friday, May 16, 2025

James Maddison

James Maddison will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Maddison was injured in the 3-1 Europa League semi-final first-leg win against Bodo/Glimt and scans have revealed he is facing an extended period on the sidelines.

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The midfielder has been ruled out of the final three weeks of the season, meaning he will miss the Europa League final in Bilbao on May 21 and is a doubt for the start of pre-season, too.

Injury blow: James Maddison

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Speaking about the midfielder, Ange Postecoglou said: “Madders from the first leg, so he's out. He'll miss the rest of this season and it’s disappointing for him.

“I'm disappointed for him because he's been a real catalyst for us. He'll miss out but that's been the story of our season.”

Potential return date: Next season

Lucas Bergvall

The young midfield star has been ruled out for the rest of the season after damaging ligaments in his ankle during the final training session ahead of the Europa League semi-final first leg.

It is a huge blow for the teenager, who has enjoyed an impressive debut season in England and days earlier was rewarded with a new six-year contract. Bergvall has since been spotted wearing a foot brace and on crutches.

News of the injury leaked before the player or club were able to confirm, which Ange Postecoglou believes made the blow even tougher to handle for the “devastated” youngster.

Lucas Bergvall’s impressive season has been curtailed

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He told reporters: "It’s not helpful. Some of it is just to protect the players themselves. You can imagine, Lucas was devastated. He didn’t want to deal with it and we didn’t want to make it public, not as much about the opposition but to give him the time to process it.

"He’s a young man. He had such a high in the week, he had signed a new deal, he was playing well, his whole family was out here looking forward to the game. We wanted to protect him more than anything else, but those kinds of levels of decency and respect don’t exist anymore."

Potential return date: June 2025

Radu Dragusin

Radu Dragusin is not expected to return for the remainder of the season.

The centre-back suffered a serious knee injury in February and quickly underwent surgery.

A club statement at the time read: “Radu underwent surgery today following his ACL injury. That procedure has now been completed, and the centre-back will now commence with his recovery before beginning the rehab process.”

As a result, Dragusin is not expected to return for months.

Potential return date: June 2025

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Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou says he is disappointed that none of his fringe players made a case for inclusion in his plans for the Europa League Final, as Spurs slumped to a record 20th Premier League defeat of the season against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Following Thursday's win over Bodo/Glimt in the semi-final decider, Postecoglou made eight changes to his XI against the Eagles -- with only Pedro Porro, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, who was forced off injured after 19 minutes, keeping their places.

Postecoglou, who said Kulusevski "should be OK" to face Manchester United on May 21, says there was not enough "compelling evidence" from his side that they deserve to feature in Bilbao in 10 days time.

"Guys had an opportunity today to put their name forward and put some pressure on the guys who played the other night," the Australian said.

"Fair to say there wasn't any compelling evidence of that. 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.

“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.”

“They missed [an opportunity] today, so I mean there aren't gonna be too many, so you know, there's their opportunity,” Postecoglou added.

“It's not helpful when you lose another player [Kulusevski], it's the fine line we're trying to navigate at the moment. That aside, it was a disappointing performance and nowhere near the level it should be.

"[Rotation] explains some of it but not all of it. I still felt we should have been better than we were today. So I can't totally discount the performance today on the fact I've made a number of changes. We should have still been able to perform better than what we did.”

Almost every one of Spurs’ likely XI against United already seems set in stone, particularly as captain Heung-min Son returned from injury for the final half-hour against the Eagles.

“They may think that this team's already set, but if there's nothing else we've learnt this year it's that nothing goes to plan, so I'm not thinking about the starting line-up now for the final because we've still got another game and 10 days to navigate, so if there is that attitude in there then it's the wrong attitude because you're missing an opportunity.

Ange Postecoglou has played down injury fears over Dejan Kulusevski after the midfielder was forced off in Tottenham's 2-0 defeat against Crystal Palace.

Kulusevski, one of three survivors from the Spurs side that started the Europa League semi-final win over Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night, was forced off inside the opening 20 minutes with a suspected knee injury following a heavy challenge from Marc Guehi.

Thoughts immediately turned to his fitness for Bilbao and the Europa League Final against Manchester United on May 21.

Kulusevski was immediately replaced by Mikey Moore with Spurs taking no risks, but Ange Postecoglou is confident the Sweden international has avoided a serious problem.

"Should be OK, just talking to him after,” the Australian said

“Medical team not too concerned with him, more of a knock than anything else."

Spurs are already without Lucas Bergvall (ankle) and James Maddison (knee) until next season, which means Kulusevski is the only fit playmaker in the squad.

The north London were able to welcome back captain Heung-min Son following a six-game absence. Though the forward, was understandably, rusty on his return to action and will need more minutes before the European final.

Tottenham slumped to a record 20th defeat in a Premier League season as Crystal Palace ran out deserving 2-0 winners thanks to Eberechi Eze’s double.

With Spurs full focused on the Europa League Final against Manchester United in 10 days time, a rotated XI were no match for Palace, who had two goals disallowed before Eze broke the deadlock with a tap-in on the stroke of half-time.

Denied Jean-Phillipe Mateta twice and Eddie Nketiah late on, but was jittery and did not inspire confidence.

Went close with a free-kick and made a great chance for Pape Matar Sarr with an excellent cross. One of the only players adding creativity to the side.

Repeatedly went walkabout, leaving wide open spaces at the back and was easily skinned by Mateta at one point. That said, he made a couple of important blocks.

Constantly had to cover for the wandering Danso and Djed Spence, leaving him stretched and short of passing options.

Repeatedly caught wildly out of position as Palace launched attack after attack down their right flank. Feels cruel to single out any player in white but he was especially shambolic.

One of Spurs’ better players in the first half but the bar was low. Hooked at half-time as Postecoglou manages minutes before the Final.

Not a natural No10 so can be forgiven for his lack of impact in the first hour. Might have done better with a back post header from Porro’s cross.

Anonymous in the first half but picked up a little after the break. Started on the winger and played the final half-hour at No10, suggesting he may be the contingency if Dejan Kulusevski is not fit for the final.

Forced off inside 20 minutes with a suspected knee injury following a heavy challenge from Marc Guehi. Spurs will now be sweating on his fitness for Bilbao.

Lacked service and was shrugged off the ball when he did get in good areas.

A brace from the in-form Eberechi Eze means Palace have completed a Premier League double over Spurs, inflicting a 20th league defeat on the north London outfit in the process.

With both teams having one eye on their respective cup finals, heavy squad rotation was expected. However, only Ange Postecoglou followed the blueprint as he made eight changes to the side that started in Norway.

One of those to keep his place was Dejan Kulusevski but he was forced after after 18 minutes and is now an injury doubt for the Europa League final.

A disjointed Spurs were very much second best throughout the first-half and it was no surprise that they fell behind when Daniel Munoz sprung the offside trap to square the ball for Eze who had a simple tap-in to score for a third Premier League game in succession.

Munoz spurned two big chances, Jean-Philippe Mateta had a effort from close range saved by Antonin Kinsky whilst Ismaila Sarr and Maxence Lacroix had goals disallowed, the former by the tightest of offside calls.

Eze did double Palace’s lead early in the second half with a move that he started and finished.

Playing a brilliant pass with the outside of his right boot to Sarr, he carried on his run to get on the end of the cut back to side foot the ball into the back of the net for his second of the afternoon.

Spurs were able to hand minutes to captain Heung-min Son in a boost ahead of the Europa League final, though that was one of few positives as this result coupled up with West Ham’s win at Old Trafford sees them drop to 17th place in the Premier League table.

After the jubilation of Thursday night, Tottenham return to Premier League action in a London derby at home to Crystal Palace this afternoon. Spurs will be on a high after overcoming Bodo/Glimt 5-1 on aggregate to reach the Europa League final, putting them one step closer to ending a 17-year trophy drought.

A showdown at the San Mames in Bilbao with Manchester United on May 21 is the sole focus for Spurs now, Ange Postecoglou has said as much. As a result, heavy squad rotation is the case for today's fixture as eight of those who started in Norway have been wrapped in cotton wool.

The Eagles are also targeting trophy success. In six days time they face Manchester City at Wembley in the FA Cup final, however Oliver Glasner has opted against resting too many of his key players. Adam Wharton’s absence is enforced, but Marc Guehi, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze all start. Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog, featuring expert analysis from Standard Sport’s Dan Kilpatrick at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium!

Nine of the Spurs 11 played 90 minutes on Bodo/Glimt’s artificial pitch in Thursday's semi-final decider in Norway and Postecoglou wants to ensure he players are fresh for their final against Manchester United in Bilbao on May 21.

The Spurs coach has rotated almost his entire back-five, with Pedro Porro the only one to keep his place in the team from three days ago.

Kevin Danso, Ben Davies and Djed Spence to return to the side, whilst Antonin Kinsky gets a rare run out in between the posts.

Therefore, Rodrigo Bentancur is asked to go again at No6, alongside Pape Matar Sarr and Archie Gray, while Dejan Kulusevski’s creativity will be needed at No10.

Richarlison only played an hour in Norway but does not start for a fourth game running. Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel start, with the latter set to lead the line.

Postecoglou said on Saturday that he is “half hopeful” that his captain Heung-min Son can play some part in the game after missing the trip to the Arctic Circle with a foot complaint as he faces a race against time to be fit for Bilbao.