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Ange Postecoglou will seek to strike the right balance with his team selection as Tottenham travel to Aston Villa tonight, just five days before the Europa League final.
Postecoglou has suggested that he cannot afford to risk any more injuries after Dejan Kulusevski had surgery on his kneecap on Wednesday, joining Lucas Bergvall (ankle) and James Maddison (knee) on the sidelines.
But the Australian will want to get minutes into some of his stars, particularly as only three players from the XI for the Europa League semi-final decider - including Kulusevski - kept their places for the 2-0 defeat by Crystal Palace last weekend.
The absence of Spurs' three creative midfielders is a major concern ahead of the final against Manchester United and Pape Matar Sarr, who is likely to fill in at No10 in Spain, likely needs the game-time against the Champions League-chasing Villains.
Postecoglou has said Heung-min Son will be involved after the South Korean returned from a foot injury last time out and the Spurs captain is set to play a half.
"He'll definitely play tomorrow, whether we start with him or not we'll have a look at," Postecoglou said of Son on Thursday. "He reacted well to playing the other day, no issues with his foot, he's trained well. If not a starter, he'll definitely play at least half the game."
Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will be vital to Spurs' chances against United and could play 45 minutes each at Villa Park, while right-back Pedro Porro is likely to be protected for the final.
Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma may also share duties against Unai Emery's side, with Archie Gray pushing for another midfield start. Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson could be rested, paving the way for another opportunity for Wilson Odobert.
Richarlison, whose chances of starting the final have been lessened by Son's return to fitness, is pushing to play through the middle, while Mathys Tel is likely to be Son's understudy.
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Alison Hammond reveals what she eats in a day after losing 11 stone
Alison Hammond reveals what she eats in a day after 11-stone weight loss and reversing pre-diabetic diagnosis
Alison Hammond reveals what she eats in a day after losing 11 stone
Spurs focused on the Europa League final as they face opponents still battling hard for a top-five finish
Friday night under the lights: Aston Villa host Tottenham in a match that has been brought forward by the Premier League
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George Flood
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Your matchday briefing on Tottenham, featuring team news and expert analysis from Dan Kilpatrick
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Aston Villa host Tottenham in one of two Friday night fixtures in the Premier League this week.
The game was originally scheduled to take place on Sunday, only for the top-flight to approve Spurs’ request to bring it forward as a result of their progress into the Europa League final, giving them the same amount of time as Manchester United - who travel to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after their match was moved to avoid a clash with the Women’s FA Cup final - to prepare for the Bilbao showpiece on May 21.
While Tottenham and United continue to endure truly disastrous domestic campaigns that see them sit 17th and 16th respectively with only two matches remaining, the rearranged games have a lot of significance for both Villa and Chelsea as they battle furiously for a top-five finish and Champions League qualification next season.
Villa withstood Jacob Ramsey’s late red card to win 1-0 at Bournemouth last weekend thanks to Ollie Watkins’ goal late in first-half stoppage time that saw him become the club’s record Premier League goalscorer.
That win guaranteed Unai Emery’s side at least a spot in the Conference League next season as they can no longer finish any lower than seventh, though they are still aiming for a second successive campaign at Europe’s top table after making the Champions League quarter-finals this year, staying sixth and level on points with Chelsea in fifth after the latter lost 2-0 at Newcastle - who rose to third - and seventh-place Nottingham Forest were held at home by relegated Leicester.
All eyes are on the Europa League final for Tottenham as they finally seek to win a first major trophy since 2008 and first in Europe for 41 years that would take them back to the Champions League, but the case for Ange Postecoglou remaining as manager regardless of what happens in Bilbao is not being helped by their continued domestic struggles as a much-changed team were beaten 2-0 at home by Crystal Palace - their 20th league loss of the season.
Date, kick-off time and venue
Aston Villa vs Tottenham is scheduled for a 7:30pm BST kick-off on Friday May 16, 2025.
The match will take place at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham.
How to watch Aston Villa vs Tottenham
TV channel: The match is being broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports. Coverage begins on Sky Sports Premier League at 7pm BST.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also watch the action unfold live online via the Sky Go app.
Live blog: You won’t miss anything with Standard Sport’s live blog, featuring expert insight and analysis from chief football correspondent Dan Kilpatrick at Villa Park.
Aston Villa vs Tottenham team news
Midfielder Ramsey will serve a one-match ban for Villa after his two yellow cards against Bournemouth, while Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford is out with a hamstring injury.
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Youri Tielemans will be assessed after missing last weekend’s win at the Vitality Stadium with a knock.
Postecoglou made eight changes against Palace with one eye firmly fixed on the Europa League final and seems unlikely to take any risks again on Friday night.
Injury concern: Tottenham are hopeful that Dejan Kulusevski will be fit for the Europa League final
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Captain Heung-min Son will get more minutes ahead of Bilbao after returning off the bench last weekend, though it seems very unlikely that Dejan Kulusevski will feature after a minor knee issue picked up against Palace that Spurs hope he will shake off for the final.
James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall and Radu Dragusin have all been lost for the season, along with young striker Dane Scarlett.
Aston Villa vs Tottenham prediction
Villa have responded to their shocking FA Cup semi-final defeat by Crystal Palace at Wembley with back-to-back narrow league wins to boost their hopes of a top-five finish.
Emery’s men are not firing on all cylinders, though are grinding out results to stay very much in the Champions League qualification mix, having done so brilliantly in that competition this season.
With only the cut-adrift and settled bottom three now below them, Spurs’ league campaign has been totally miserable, yielding 20 losses from a season that has included 25 defeats in total.
Tottenham have only won once in the league since February, a 1-0 victory over Southampton in early April that relegated the rock-bottom Saints.
None of their fringe players have been stating a case for inclusion in the starting XI for Bilbao and it’s not difficult to foresee another tough evening in store.
Aston Villa to win, 2-1.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Spurs thumped 10-man Villa 4-0 away last season after losing 2-1 at home and also thrashed them 4-1 in north London back in November.
The two sides also met in the FA Cup fourth round in February, with hosts Villa winning 2-1.
Aston Villa wins: 61
Tottenham wins: 79
Draws: 36
Aston Villa vs Tottenham match odds
Aston Villa to win: 1/3
Tottenham to win: 6/1
Draw: 9/2
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
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Ange Postecoglou is ‘hopeful’ Kulusevski will be fit for the Europa League final but his knee problem is a concern
Kulusevski suffered a knee injury against Crystal Palace on Sunday
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Your matchday briefing on Tottenham, featuring team news and expert analysis from Dan Kilpatrick
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You could be forgiven for not being completely reassured by Ange Postecoglou's confidence over Dejan Kulusevski's injury, as Tottenham prepare for next week's Europa League Final against Manchester United.
On Sunday, Postecoglou was "hopeful that [Kulusevski] should be OK" after the Swede was forced off 19 minutes into Spurs' 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace - their 20th top-flight reverse of the season, an unwanted new record in the Premier League era - with a suspected knee complaint.
The Spurs head coach tends to be optimistic about injuries in their immediate aftermath and in the past fortnight has described both James Maddison's knee problem and Lucas Bergvall's ankle injury as "tweaks". The pair will miss the remainder of the season with ligament damage.
Still, Spurs are hoping that Kulusevski, who was being assessed on Monday and missed training with the rest of the squad, will be fit to face United on May 21, although Postecoglou's latest update seemed a little less assured.
Dejan Kulusevski was the only fit playmaker in the Spurs squad after injuries to Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison
AFP via Getty Images
"We'll see," he said on Monday afternoon. "He was a bit sore this morning with his knee.
"It looks like a knock at this stage but we're going to let it settle for 24 hours then assess it. But the initial thing was it's more of a knock than anything more significant."
The club's optimism is just as well, because if Kulusevski joins their growing injury list, Postecoglou has a major problem ahead of season-defining match in Bilbao.
Kulusevski has been off the boil since he returned from a foot injury in mid-April, his only goal or assist in eight appearances a routine pass for Pedro Porro's fortuitous clincher in the 2-0 win over Bodo/Glimt in the semi-final decider.
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There is a case, though, that he is suddenly the most important - or certainly the most irreplaceable - player in Postecoglou's squad, and vital to their chances of producing a coherent attacking display against United.
In the absence of Maddison and Bergvall, Kulusevski is the only remaining playmaker in the squad, the one remaining fit midfielder with the ingenuity, brains and technical quality to make Postecoglou's side tick.
Spurs have shown a newfound defensive solidity in their last two European ties, impressive wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Glimt, but those victories were spearheaded by Maddison, who made both goals against the Germans and scored in the home leg of the last-four.
"The thing with Deki was that he obviously missed a fair bit of football, but I could just sense he was getting back into the groove of things," Postecoglou said on Monday. "I thought there's some real promising signs.
"At Bodo he had to do a really disciplined job for us in terms of defensively, but he started to show some of that attacking creativity and I thought he started the [Palace] game really well yesterday. I thought our first 10 minutes were actually okay, and then he gets injured.
"So yeah, he's pretty important to us in the context of where the squad is at the moment, so fingers crossed he's OK."
Ange Postecoglou embraces Dejan Kulusevski after Tottenham’s win over Bodo/Glimt
Action Images via Reuters
Postecoglou creative options if Kulusevski cannot recover in time for United are limited.
Pape Matar Sarr began at No10 against Palace, with Kulusevski actually starting the game as a false nine, but the Senegalese is a runner rather than an inventor, and struggled with the role of creating from an advanced midfield position.
Postecoglou has twice started Sarr ahead of Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur previously; a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final second leg and the 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth, when Spurs trailed 2-0 before the withdrawal of both Bissouma and Bentancur prompted a late turnaround.
Sarr, Bissouma and Archie Gray were little better against Palace, suggesting that there is a real danger in Spurs going into the Final without a creative passer.
Wilson Odobert played the final half-hour against the Eagles at 10 and, as a tricky dribbler, would appear better suited to deputising for Kulusevski, but Postecoglou has played down the chances of starting the young Frenchman in a central role.
"It was a needs must basis, I put [Odobert] in there, he's played there before, because I didn't want to expose any of the other guys from the other night so he had to play in there," said Postecoglou.
Wilson Odobert could be an option through the middle
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If Kulusevski is sidelined and the head coach is reluctant to play Sarr or Odobert in the middle, one option is to switch to a 4-4-2 with Richarlison playing off Dominic Solanke, and the fit-again Heung-min Son and Brennan Johnson providing width.
But switching systems for such a seismic game would be a huge risk.
Spurs will now hope Kulusevski can play some significant minutes against Aston Villa on Friday in order to both prove his fitness and perhaps find some rhythm before next Wednesday's game.
If his injury is worse than first feared, however, Postecoglou may need to get creative himself in a bid to solve a developing problem in his side.
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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
I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.
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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