Not a thread folks, but news coming in that, following a brief (yet tense) period of uncertainty over the staging of the latest round of Premiership fixtures, the Premier League has announced this evening that Spurs’ match against Leicester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this coming Saturday (kick-off 5.30 pm BST) is ON.
Indeed, the League has announced that only a further two matches were postponed this weekend due to concerns over a shortage of police staff, with most officers expected to be deployed to police Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral next week.
These fixture casualties are Chelsea vs Liverpool and Manchester United vs Leeds, with Brighton vs Crystal Palace already rearranged due to transport problems about the latest round of planned train strikes.
The statement from the Premier League read:
“Premier League fixtures will resume this weekend after a pause to the season as a mark of respect following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Seven of the 10 Premier League fixtures this weekend will be played, with three matches postponed due to events surrounding The Queen’s funeral.
In addition, kick-off times will change for two Premier League matches.
Matches postponed on Sunday 18 September are Chelsea’s matches against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge and Manchester United’s home match v Leeds United.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s fixture against Crystal Palace, that was due to be played at 15:00 BST on Saturday 17 September, will also remain postponed.“
The new kick-off times for this round of fixtures, as per this report, will now see Brentford vs Arsenal kick off at 12 pm BST, and Everton vs West Ham kick off at 2.15 pm BST.
I am personally delighted that we get to fulfill our fixture with Leicester – having another fixture postponed on top of the trip to Manchester City last weekend would have put us into the dreaded position of facing a backlog of fixtures shortly after the New Year. Indeed, due to the World Cup’s interruption of domestic matters, there will have been a limited timeframe to fulfill this fixture had it been postponed, as is already the case with the City fixture.
Moreover, and I say this with all due respect to Leicester City, I wholeheartedly believe that there would not have been a better time to play the Foxes. They’re a side fully lacking in desire, confidence, and motivation, and it increasingly appears to be a matter of when, not if, Brendan Rodgers departs the club, following an auspicious start to the season that has seen them prop up the table.
That said, there are no easy fixtures in the league, and anything can happen in football. Although I hate to bring these fixtures up, I want to illustrate my point in highlighting how we’ve lost to sides in similar situations before: think Newcastle home and away in 2015/16, a side that had long given up on their manager Steve McClaren in the first fixture, then was already relegated in the second.
That said, playing this weekend puts us before a Leicester team that is genuinely under profound scrutiny and prevents us from worrying about fitting it in an already hectic schedule even if we don’t get a result.
For now, however, our attention turns to a trip to Lisbon, where Spurs will take on Sporting CP at the Estadio Jose Alvalade tomorrow at 5.45 PM BST. You can read the match preview and join in the pre-match discussion here, and read more on our Portuguese opponents here should you fancy.