Tottenham Hotspur prepare for the Europa League final on Wednesday with a 2-0 away defeat to Aston Villa, cementing their position down the bottom of the Premier League table.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from Aston Villa 2-0 Tottenham:
Ange Postecoglou is taking no chances
No offence to Sergio, but when Reguilon makes his first start since Tamworth in the FA Cup in January, you know Ange Postecoglou is taking no chances. You get the feeling that the Spurs boss had originally planned to name a strong XI to get some minutes in the legs of his best players this evening, but the Dejan Kulusevski injury spooked him into going the other way.
On the one hand, it means the likes of Micky Van de Ven, Cristian Romero, and Destiny Udogie avoid injury. On the other hand, it means they haven’t actually played for Spurs since the semi-final second leg against Bodo/Glimt. There will be some Tottenham fans who complain at this approach, but there would be plenty more complaining if those players started and picked up injuries in a dead rubber fixture.
Manchester United go strong ahead of Europa League Final
Ruben Amorim went for the complete opposite game plan against Chelsea this evening, naming his strongest-possible Manchester United XI at Stamford Bridge. That means players like Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Alejandro Garnacho, and Amad Diallo were all risked for the Red Devils.
While Amorim put their bodies on the line in what is essentially a pointless game for United, he also kept their minutes ticking over in pursuit of a fitness sweet spot. On the one hand, United will come into the Europa League final off the back of a tough game away to Chelsea. On the other hand, Tottenham may risk coming into the game cold. It’s probably one of those strange football situations that will even itself out in the end.
Two more injuries for Tottenham Hotspur
Another day, another injury… or two. This time, despite Postecoglou ringing the changes, it was Pape Sarr and Mikey Moore who came off injured for the Lilywhites. The Senegal midfielder was replaced around the 50-minute mark and grimaced as he walked off the pitch before disappearing down the tunnel with a member of the medical team. This is another huge blow for Spurs, as Sarr is in contention to replace the likes of Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, and Lucas Bergvall in the number 10 role.
Towards the end of the game, Mikey Moore also went off with some kind of muscle problem. The second injury is perhaps not one that will dent Tottenham’s Europa League final hopes, but it serves as yet another reminder of how common muscular injuries have been for the Lilywhites this season.
Heung-min Son looking sharp on Tottenham return
One of the silver linings of the 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa was Heung-min Son’s return to the Spurs starting XI. Now, let’s not pretend that he set the world on fire during his 74 minutes on the pitch, but he did look sharp on the attack for Tottenham. The South Korean managed to get in behind Matty Cash a few times on the left side of attack, although his final ball often let him down. He also went close with a trademark Sonny curler in the first half.
In terms of getting significant minutes in his legs and getting him back to match sharpness, it went about as well as it could have for Spurs. Short of any random training ground issues, Son is nailed on to start for Tottenham in the Europa League final.
Number 10 argument still unanswered
Coming into this game, there were three main schools of thought to solve the number 10 void at Tottenham. Play Wilson Odobert as a makeshift number ten, push Pape Sarr up into the role as a high-press option, or play Dominic Solanke and Richarlison as a fluid two against Man United.
Odobert started the match up front in a two alongside Mathys Tel, but also dropped into the pocket regularly. Unfortunately, he didn’t have too much joy in the game and certainly didn’t control the attacking phase as Maddison or Kulusevski would normally do. Odobert also played the majority of the match, while Tel played 90 minutes, perhaps hinting that neither will start on Wednesday night.
Postecoglou may have been planning to rest Sarr with a Europa League final start in mind, but the injury forced his hand either way. Tottenham finished the game with Dominic Solanke and Richarlison playing as a two up front. Make of all of that what you will. It appears we are no closer to knowing which option Ange will go for on Wednesday, but it will feel a little shoe-horned either way, you suspect.
