Football London

Ange Postecoglou has plenty of decisions to make when it comes to his Tottenham line-up for the club's final Premier League away day of the season at Aston Villa.

Postecoglou will have to find a balance between ensuring no more injuries to add to those that have wiped out his creative midfielders, including this week's surgery for Dejan Kulusevski after the Swede injured the patella in his right knee, but the Tottenham boss will also be wary of his players going almost two weeks without any match action before they take on Manchester United in Bilbao.

The starters next Wednesday will need tuning up but they don't need to play the full game at Villa Park and the Spurs head coach will also worry about getting further injuries. Postecoglou could use certain players for 45 minutes to an hour of the clash with Unai Emery's side and then replace them with others set to play in Spain next week.

The midfield will be more challenging with so few players available and up front a decision needs to be made over Son Heung-min, who needs time to get sharper ahead of the final, while Dominic Solanke and Richarlison could play a portion of the match each.

Here's the Tottenham team that we reckon Postecoglou could go for to face Villa in a match that is important for both teams but in completely different ways:

Josh Keeley and Jamie Donley have one more opportunity to pull on a Leyton Orient shirt following their play-off heroics on Wednesday evening. Travelling to Stockport County for the second leg of their League One play-off semi-final, the O's triumphed on penalties to set up a Wembley final date.

Playing out a 1-1 draw on the night and surviving a couple of scares with the hosts having good opportunities to win at the end of normal time and extra time, Orient prevailed 4-1 on penalties. Keeley had a big role to play in the shootout after saving Jack Diamond's penalty to give his loan club the advantage.

Tottenham duo Keeley and Donley have been instrumental in Leyton Orient's rise up the table to the play-off positions and they now have the opportunity to cap off their loan moves by guiding Richie Wellens' side to the Championship. Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou was watching the game on Wednesday evening and he was "super pleased" to see both Tottenham youngsters carry on their loan success.

"Yeah, I watched the game last night, it was a cracking game and super pleased for both of them," he told football.london in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Aston Villa game. "You know, when players go on loan, obviously the key for it is for them to get match minutes and development, I think both of those guys have, but it's even better if they're part of something that could be special for them in terms of success.

"I think that helps as well in terms of their own self-belief and and being part of something successful. So yeah, super pleased with them, it'll be a great occasion and hopefully they get through."

Asked if both can have a long-term future at Tottenham, he replied: "I think with all these things, they're for the off-season when guys come back. Right now our focus is fairly on what's happening in the next two weeks."

Opportunities are always there for the club's youngsters in pre-season, with Donley someone who featured in a handful of games last summer. Keeley, on the other hand, is still waiting to make an appearance under Postecoglou and Spurs fans are hopeful that will be sooner rather than later.

What makes things tricky for the Irishman is that he has Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky, Brandon Austin, Fraser Forster and Alfie Whiteman ahead of him in the pecking order right now. With only one position up for grabs and some excellent options ahead of him, it's hard to see where his chance in goal will come from.

There may be an opportunity for him this summer, especially as there looks set to be some changes in the goalkeeping department ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. As things stand right now, both Forster and Whiteman will depart Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of June unless there is a change to their contract situation.

The duo are now in the final two months of their respective contracts and it would appear their futures lie elsewhere. That in turn could open the door for Keeley this summer when it comes to his Tottenham career, although another loan move, perhaps in the Championship this time, could be the next step in his development given he is only 21 years of age.

With 16 clean sheets in 36 League One games, a goal in the FA Cup and penalty shootout heroics on three separate occasions, it has been an incredible season for Keeley, who was handed his first senior Republic of Ireland international call on Wednesday. It could be set to get even better if Leyton Orient are to secure promotion to the Championship at Wembley later this month.

As many as eight players could miss Tottenham's clash against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Friday night (7:30pm kick-off).

Ange Postecoglou's side will travel to the West Midlands on Friday night as they look to return to winning ways in the Premier League after five games without a victory. Spurs' last win came at home against Southampton on April 6.

Since then, they have gone on to lose four games and draw one. The hosts, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last two league games following wins over Fulham and Bournemouth.

Sixth-placed Villa, who secured a European finish this season with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth, will be looking to climb further up the table at the expense of Spurs.

However, both Postecoglou and his Villa counterpart Unai Emery will be unable to call upon their full squads due to injury concerns. For Spurs, Lucas Bergvall will miss out and Timo Werner is still recovering from a hamstring issue.

"No, it is still the same sort of timeframe," Postecoglou said of Bergvall. "He was never a long-term one but he has literally just got out of the boot and taken his first tentative steps on the grass but he won’t be available."

Long-term absentees are James Maddison , Radu Dragusin and Dejan Kulusevski, the latter undergoing knee surgery this week.

"I’m really disappointed for him [Kulusevski]," said Postecoglou. "He’s done so well for us this season and we can’t put a time frame on it but it will be months.

"I’m reluctant to get into when he will be back but it will put him out for some months."

The hosts are also dealing with injuries of their own, with Marcus Rashford and Youri Tielemans set to miss out while Jacob Ramsey will serve a suspension after receiving a red card against Bournemouth, last weekend.

"Youri and Marcus tomorrow are not available," the Villa boss, Emery confirmed. "Ramsey is suspended.

"They [Rashford and Tielemans] are working in the training facilities every day and feeling better. The other players are available."

Ange Postecoglou has not ruled out more outlandish tactical moves involving Pedro Porro or Dominic Solanke as he seeks to find a way for Tottenham to create without their creative midfielders.

The news that Dejan Kulusevski will be out for months following surgery on the patella in his right knee means Spurs head into Wednesday's Europa League final against Manchester United without any of their trio of creative midfielders James Maddison, Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall, unless the latter makes a miraculous recovery from an ankle injury. The 19-year-old has only just stepped back on to the grass after having his protective boot taken off this week.

Some have suggested that rather than play with a more industrious midfield trio, Postecoglou could go for some more unusual solutions such as playing striker Dominic Solanke in a deeper number 10 role or bringing right-back Pedro Porro into a midfield role as the Spaniard has an eye for a pass and the ability to execute it.

When asked whether solutions like that were too out of the box so late in the planning stages before a big game, the Australian did not dismiss either of them.

"No I think it's all in the realms [of possibility]. When you're in this position you go through all the different scenarios. A lot of it will depend on seeing how we get through tomorrow night [at Aston Villa], see how people get through the game," he said. "There’s obviously a few players who will play tomorrow night who haven’t played regularly or a lot lately who will get an opportunity.

"There could be a performance tomorrow night that convinces me to go one way or another. You consider it all. At the same time, even if you do something radical, whether it’s a positional change, it’s always better done in the confines of having a real solid foundation there.

"Foundationally, we’re not going to change anything there in terms of the way we play, the way we set up for the most part. If you do that, if it's one positional change for a player then it still has a possibility of working."

He added: "You factor it all into it. I doubt you'd do a serious departure from what we have been doing in terms of our overall structure but at the same time you have to find solutions within the context of what we have available to give us the best chance of success.

"We've got to get through the game tomorrow night to see what the wash-up from that is. We can try a couple of things tomorrow night to see how they work and we've got to make our decisions from there."

Another player that Tottenham will be hoping to rely on in Bilbao next week is captain Son Heung-min who returned on the left for the final half hour against Crystal Palace on Sunday after missing seven matches with a foot injury. Son can create something out of nothing, but Postecoglou has not yet decided whether the South Korean star will start in the final against United.

"It’s absolutely fantastic to have him available. He has the experience and he does have that creative ability, but the game tomorrow night, we need to get him some match minutes and see how he is," said the head coach.

"I’ve never tried to look too far into the future in terms of what we might do, but if nothing else, this year has taught me that our planning is pretty much a day-to-day proposition. Let’s get through training today and let's get through the game tomorrow. Post-game tomorrow, we can start looking at those kinds of things."

On losing three creative players in the same part of the pitch, he said: "It gives you more of a challenge because they all play in that area, not exactly the same players but they're all creative types in midfield and have filled that role really well for us this year at different times.

"So, yeah, another challenge but that's been a constant for us. We've always had to try to find creative ways to cover the absences we've had and we'll find a way to do that again."

Kulusevski was injured less than 15 minutes into the defeat against Crystal Palace on Sunday as he turned awkwardly into a sliding challenge from England centre-back Marc Guehi. The initial prognosis was hopeful from the medical staff only for the Swede's knee to swell up the next day and it quickly became clear something was wrong.

"Just a collision with Marc Guehi, wasn’t even a foul, I don’t think. It looked like his knee hit Marc’s hip bone," said Postecoglou. "We had a look at the Vision [Spurs' video analysis system] and it’s just one of those things and bad luck.

"Not that we needed a reminder [of that], we’ve had plenty of evidence for it, but it also shows that you can plan as much as you like.

"But the idea of playing Pedro, Rodrigo and Dejan last week for 45 minutes. Pedro is very resilient, he's played every game this year and we were less concerned about him, Rodrigo the same and with him it was only going to be 45 and the same with Dejan.

"But with Dejan, it was more that he had not played and so it made sense for him to have a game. But as I said, if it's a muscle injury then you question did we do the right thing, but it’s something where he gets tackled 20 times a season and nothing happens. That seems to be our lot at the moment and even with the best planning, we're still getting hit with these setbacks and from my perspective I've got to take that into account when considering the game tomorrow night."

With Friday night's trip to Aston Villa, the expectation was that Postecoglou would play a number of his key players to keep them ticking over so it will not have been almost two weeks since their last game when they take to the pitch against United. However, the injury to Kulusevski appears to have rocked the Australian somewhat and looks to be making him consider wrapping a few in cotton wool.

"Look, in a normal world you use this for sharpening up but we’re not living in a normal world," he said. "That's the reality of our existence at the moment where we can't lose another player to an injury. It's just too finely balanced for us considering what's at stake.

"Villa are obviously going for Champions League football and you see how important it is to them and we’re doing the same."

Some have suggested that clubs selecting weaker teams for Premier League games is harming the 'integrity of the league' but Postecoglou dismissed that notion.

"I'm not sure what people are talking about when they talk about the integrity of the game - I don't know what that means," he said. "We have certainly put out teams this year that because of our injury situation were not the strongest we needed to put out there but we still needed to play those games and it's the same with other clubs.

"I don't even know why that question is being asked if I'm honest because if anyone thinks we are going to go out there and not do our absolute best to win - that's the only time when integrity gets questioned.

"When we played Man City last year and apparently I was in the wrong for trying to win a game of football that's where integrity comes into it, that's why I was so strong on it. When you put a line-up out there you are trying to win a game of football but at the same time every club has got its own interests and you have to prioritise what's important for your club.

"Champions League is very important for all those clubs fighting for it at the moment, I can see how important it is and every game and every decision is crucial but we are in exactly the same boat. We have got Champions League qualification plus a trophy to win. It would be negligent of me if I wasn't doing the best thing for our football club to make sure we achieve that."

So what comes next after the Villa match? What does the week entail leading up to a European Final? Postecoglou explained what the days following the trip to Villa Park will bring.

"We’ve kind of mapped it out. It’s a day-to-day proposition and a lot will depend on who plays and what I decide about tomorrow night and who plays and who doesn’t, then making sure the guys who don’t and will potentially be involved on Wednesday we get some good training into them because I think that’s important," he said.

"Our programme at the moment, all things being equal, we do the Villa game, won’t get back until late, Saturday will be a sort of rest day for the players, we'll train Sunday, a good session for us and then train here Monday morning and fly to Bilbao on Monday afternoon. Have a run on the pitch the night before and game Wednesday."

When asked if he has a special speech prepared for the final, he said: "My experience of those things, you’ve got to read the moment. It’s hard to pre-plan because it may be a catalyst for something that happens, whatever the need is for the players.

"My role is to take it day by day and try to read what the players really need. It’s about them and certainly once the Villa game is done our focus turns to the main game. Every day will be important in preparing the players for that and what they need and what that looks like intuitively I usually just go with my gut.

"There’ll be a couple of things planned we need to make sure we do and some of it is protecting the players, because there are a lot more demands. We’ve had media all week and I’m sure they’re getting inundated with ticket requests and a lot of it is logistically to make sure what we have around the players insulates them from being taken away from what’s important and that’s preparing for a big game."

It was just never going to be straightforward for Tottenham heading into the Europa League final considering the season Ange Postecoglou's side have gone through. Following a host of injuries across the campaign, Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison have this month found themselves in the treatment room due to ankle and knee injuries respectively.

Tottenham were given another injury scare on Sunday as Dejan Kulusevski left the field after only 19 minutes in the 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace. Postecoglou said at the time "it looks like a knock" but confirmation of the extent of the injury arrived on Wednesday evening and unfortunately it's not good news for the Lilywhites.

"We can confirm that Dejan Kulusevski suffered an injury to his right patella in our Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace last weekend," read a statement from the north London club. "Following further specialist consultation, the midfielder has undergone surgery today (Wednesday) and will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately."

Tottenham have now lost their most creative midfielders to injury and it leaves Postecoglou with a huge decision to make heading into next Wednesday's Europa League final. So who could actually take Kulusevski's place in the starting XI in Bilbao? football.london takes a look below.

Sarr starts

Pape Matar Sarr will be leading the way to take Kulusevski's place in the Tottenham team in the Europa League final. The Senegalese ace can play in a variety of midfield roles, with Postecoglou waxing lyrical about Sarr's ability to play all across midfield when asked back in November 2023.

The 22-year-old has demonstrated during his time at the club that he can get his name on the scoresheet, notably scoring against Qarabag and Ferencvaros in this season's Europa League campaign. Sarr may have found himself in and out of the team this season but there may be a huge opportunity for him just around the corner.

Bentancur advanced

One other option for Postecoglou is to push Rodrigo Bentancur further forward. The Uruguayan was at his best in a Tottenham shirt when he had Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg alongside him as his former teammate gave him the opportunity to push forward and influence things in the final third more.

During the 2022/23 campaign prior to his ACL injury at Leicester City, Bentancur chipped in with crucial late goals against Sporting CP, Bournemouth and Leeds United. He is going to be a big player for Tottenham wherever he plays next Wednesday.

Odobert as No.10

Wilson Odobert played some of the Crystal Palace defeat as a No.10 but he didn't exactly take his opportunity with both hands. As he has played in the role before, the Frenchman is an option to play there if Postecoglou wants to start with him in the final.

Tottenham are at Aston Villa on Friday night and that could present Odobert with another shot in the position. If that proves to be the case, he must take it if he wants to have a prominent role in the showpiece finale.

Bergvall return

Tottenham supporters will be keeping their fingers crossed that Bergvall can make a shock return in time for the final. Postecoglou was asked in his Aston Villa pre-match press conference about the Swede making a miracle recovery for next Wednesday but the Australian stated "he won't be available" despite taking his first steps on back on grass after having his protective boot removed.

The fact he is out of the boot and back on grass is a positive - even if he is to miss out on the final - but he does have six days to try and somehow make a remarkable recovery. Postecoglou will no doubt be pushed further on the teenager in his next couple of press conferences and all will be praying for positive news.

Formation change

Finally, the loss of Tottenham's most creative midfielders could possibly see Postecoglou and his staff consider a formation change. It would be a huge surprise if the head coach opted for this in a final but the players at his disposal at present may suit a 4-4-2 formation.

That in turn would see Richarlison and Dominic Solanke start up front together, with players such as Brennan Johnson, Son Heung-min, Mathys Tel and Odobert as options out wide. Yves Bissouma and Bentancur would be the midfield two in a 4-4-2 setup.

Manchester United have been handed a huge injury boost ahead of Friday's clash at Chelsea and next week's Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur.

Ruben Amorim's side have endured a miserable Premier League campaign with United sitting 16th ahead of their league visit to Stamford Bridge on Friday night (8:15pm kick-off).

Chelsea will be confident of securing all three points against a team who will have one eye on their season-defining European final against Spurs on Wednesday, May 21.

Both Tottenham and United know that victory in Bilbao next week will secure a lucrative place in next season's Champions League. The Lilywhites are seeking their first major trophy since 2008 while the Red Devils are chashing a second Europa League title, having previously won it under ex-Chelsea and Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho.

And in a boost to Amorim's men, it has been confirmed by the Manchester Evening News' Samuel Luckhurst that key centre-back Ayden Heaven is back in United's squad for their trip to the Blues on Friday evening.

The 19-year-old sustained an injury during United's 3-0 win at Leicester City before March's international break and was seen exiting the King Power Stadium sporting a protective boot.

Heaven made his first Premier League start in that victory over Ruud van Nistelrooy's team, but has remained sidelined through injury since.

After missing United's first three games after the March international break, Heaven returned to the squad against Newcastle United on April 13, being named as a substitute against Eddie Howe's side. However, he has not featured in any of their matchday squads since that date after suffering a "small setback", according to club sources.

Heaven's absence has been a blow for Amorim, who has been impressed by the youngster. Speaking back in March, Amorim said of Heaven: "If he continues like that he is going to play.

"Of course he is young and he didn't play much this season, maybe only 45 minutes for the Under-21s, then a few minutes here and now a full game.

"I really like his confidence. "I like his pace, I think he is good in defending the box and I think he is quite complete.

"But he has a lot of work to do in the Premier League. "We will face a different kind of player and he will be tested in a different kind of way, so we are trying to manage all of this because he is still really young."

While Ange Postecoglou has again ruled Lucas Bergvall out of the Europa League final against Manchester United due to injury, some eagle-eyed Tottenham fans may still be holding out hope.

On their way to reaching a European showpiece, Spurs were dealt three cruel injury blows. The first of those arrived ahead of the semi-final first leg against Bodo/Glimt with Bergvall absent due to an ankle issue picked up in training.

James Maddison was then stricken down by a knee injury in that game and this past weekend, Dejan Kulusevski was forced off, also with a knee problem, but on this occasion, surgery was required to fix the issue.

"Initially we thought it wasn’t too serious," Postecoglou admitted on Thursday when asked about the Swede. "The medical team were worried structurally about how the knee was but it blew up the day after and we knew there was an issue there. He has had surgery and it will put him out for at least a few months."

Amid all the bad news, rumours began circulating that Bergvall was somehow back in training at Hotspur Way despite being in a protective boot just last week. Postecoglou confirmed that was true to a certain extent but he also admitted nothing had changed regarding his availability.

"No, it is still the same sort of timeframe," he said when asked if the midfielder has made a miraculous recovery. "He was never a long-term one but he has literally just got out of the boot and taken his first tentative steps on the grass but he won’t be available."

Just a few hours on from that update, Tottenham posted a 29-second video onto X which showed 20 supporters club members meeting the players after watching them train on Wednesday.

Early into the clip, Bergvall is captured signing a shirt while wearing full Spurs training gear. Considering Postecoglou's comments and the injury suffered, it is likely he was training individually and is therefore some way off joining team training and returning to the fold, but that did not stop a Bergvall frenzy breaking out in the replies to the post.

With the final in Bilbao just six days away, it is very difficult to imagine he will be part of the travelling contingent, but until he is not spotted getting onto the plane or missing from training or team activities around the Basque region, hope he can return will surely remain for some.

"With Lucas, it looks like the injury is significant enough to probably keep him out now for the rest of the season," Postecoglou said at the start of the month when asked for the first time about Bergvall's injury. "He tweaked his ligaments in his ankle so he is out."

"It's something you see all the time," he added. "It wasn't a tackle, he was on his own, he just went to turn and his ankle gave way.

"It's one of those things, similar to Dom (Solanke, who suffered an injury earlier in the season) and others we've had in training. "These things happen."

Robert Vilahamn's future looks set to be a talking point after a disappointing Women's Super League season came to a close for Tottenham Hotspur Women. Spurs finished 11th in the 12-team league table after Leicester City moved ahead of them on the final day following a win over West Ham.

Spurs' winless run unfortunately carried on as they were held to a 1-1 draw away at Everton. Veatriki Sarri gave the hosts the lead with only 11 minutes on the clock, before Drew Spence restored parity 15 minutes before the break.

An FA Cup fourth round defeat against Everton at the end of January started a bad run of form for Spurs, who were winless in their final 11 games of the campaign. That in turn has raised questions about Vilahamn, with BBC Sport reporting that the club are considering sacking the Swede as they start preparing for the new WSL season.

Here is all the latest Tottenham news at the end of the 2024/25 campaign:

Vilahamn's verdict

It was a familiar story for Tottenham as they failed to take their chances at Everton as the game finished 1-1. Jess Naz had an opportunity to put the visitors ahead in the second half but she was denied by Courtney Brosnan.

"I think we started the game quite badly," the Spurs boss told SPURSPLAY after the draw. "Everton were so much better in the beginning and scored but, from minute 25 or so, we were taking over the game and in the second half, we were very dominant.

"We had some good chances and we should have won this game if you look at the whole 90 minutes, but it’s another one of those games where we don’t really find a way to win."

Vilahamn's thoughts on this season

Amid question marks over what comes next for Vilahamn, the boss has vowed that his team are "going to come back very strong next season". While reflecting on the Everton draw and the season as a whole, Vilahamn delivered his verdict and outlined what the club need to do.

He said: "I mean, it's a lot of stuff, on and off the pitch, leadership from me, the players, how we can take the next step, how we can be more clinical and how we can take the next steps, so it's going to be a long summer where we will make sure we have great discussions on how we’re going to improve and, from that, we're going to come back very strong next season."

England pulls no punches

Bethany England has described the 2024/25 campaign as "disappointing" after Tottenham finished 11th in the standings. Spurs have endured a nightmare second half to the campaign, with their last win coming at the end of January following a late 3-2 win at Crystal Palace.

As a result of Leicester's 4-2 home win over West Ham on the final day, the Foxes jumped ahead of Tottenham on goal difference to ensure there was a further blow for Vilahamn and Co. as only Crystal Palace finished below them in the Women's Super League table following the conclusion of all games.

"Disappointing. There's no sugar-coating this season, I think we have picked up one or two wins since Christmas," the captain told Tottenham's official website. "We had such a flying start in the first half of the season, I think it's just disappointing and I know we have more, but we can’t change that now, we fought to the very end.

"If anything, I would like to say a huge thank you to the fans who have been continuously travelling, supporting us and chanting our names because, without them, we can't be the best versions of ourselves so, for that, I'm very thankful and appreciative of the great following for this football club."

Morris rewarded

Ella Morris has been rewarded for an impressive campaign with her first senior England call-up. The defender has received the nod from Sarina Wiegman for the upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures against Portugal and Spain.

A regular for England Under-23s, the Tottenham ace will now be aiming to make her mark for the Lionesses.

"It's very special, but it also just feels really crazy… I never expected it to really happen," she told Tottenham's official website. "With the run of games I had, I felt I done quite well, but I could have never expected this so it's quite an honour. I'm pretty overwhelmed at the minute, I don't know what to feel, a lot of nerves, jitters and excitement."

She added: "It was in the evening yesterday [Monday]. I was talking to my friend and I just had a missed call. I let it ring through to check the number afterwards and, as I clicked off from WhatsApp, I saw Sarina's face pop up. I called her back, and she just told me that she wants to take me on this camp."

Ange Postecoglou may have already hinted at the Tottenham star that will replace Dejan Kulusevski for next Wednesday's Europa League final against Manchester United.

The Swede picked up a knee injury against Crystal Palace this past weekend and while Postecoglou was hopeful it was just a knock, it was confirmed in a club statement on Wednesday that he had undergone surgery.

With Spurs playing their penultimate game of the season away to Aston Villa on Friday evening, the Tottenham boss held his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon with many questions arriving on Kulusevski

"Disappointing news," he began when asked for an update. "Initially we thought it wasn’t too serious. The medical team were worried structurally about how the knee was but it blew up the day after and we knew there was an issue there. He has had surgery and it will put him out for at least a few months."

Asked if he could be back in time for the start of next season, he replied: "We will see. To be honest, I have only got basic information at the moment in terms of recovery but it will certainly put him out for a while."

With it likely he misses the bulk of pre-season, Kulusevski may not be able to get completely into a rhythm of games until late 2025. In the short-term, it is a huge blow for Tottenham ahead of their biggest game in the last six years, especially with James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall having also suffering injuries recently.

Having only made enforced changes to his Europa League starting XI's in the knockout stages, nine spots have likely already been decided. Who to play on the left and occupy the final position in midfield are big decisions that await Postecoglou.

Club captain Son Heung-min will likely reclaim his place on the left if he makes it through the Villa game, but any of Wilson Odobert, Mikey Moore, Pape Matar Sarr or even Archie Gray could come into the midfield.

Based on previous calls from Postecoglou, the Tottenham head coach may have already revealed who he plans to deploy in the engine room alongside Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma. In the semi-final second leg against Bodo/Glimt, Sarr came on for Brennan Johnson midway through the second half.

That alteration saw Kulusevski moved out to the right and a flat midfield three of Sarr, Bissouma and Bentancur see out the victory. Game-state made that change necessary and therefore it is possible Postecoglou gambles with a more creative option such as Odobert or even Mathys Tel.

However, Sarr is perhaps the most pragmatic replacement as long as Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie are able to bomb forward.

He is also capable of delivering in front of goal and it was his strike against Man United last season that kicked off Spurs' run of beating their upcoming opponents four times out of the last five attempts. Despite not featuring too regularly, he has still directly contributed to nine goals in this campaign.

Tottenham will take on an Aston Villa side without Marcus Rashford and Youri Tielemans in it after Unai Emery ruled out the duo due to injury.

With Rashford's loan spell at Villa drawing to a close, he will miss the final game of the season against his parent club, Manchester United, at Old Trafford next weekend after sustaining a hamstring injury ahead of Villa's FA Cup semi-final with Crystal Palace three weeks ago.

Tielemans is sidelined with a calf injury picked up last week, causing him to sit out his first league match this term in the recent clash with Bournemouth.

Giving an update on the squad to take on Spurs, Emery stated: "Youri and Marcus tomorrow are not available. "Ramsey is suspended. The other players are available."

Villa will be keen to get three points in their quest to qualify for next season's Champions League and they will know victory over Ange Postecoglou's side will take them into the top five, if only for a matter of days with Manchester City not playing until midweek due to their involvement in the FA Cup final this weekend.

Spurs have beaten Villa in each of the last two Premier League meetings between the two sides, with Villa having won the three encounters prior to that.

Tottenham go into the game needing to give minutes to a number of players ahead of their crucial Europa League final clash with Manchester United on Wednesday night. Son Heung-min is one of those returning from injury who will get minutes on Friday night.