Tottenham Hotspur have a busy run of fixtures straight after the winter break, as they look to progress in the Champions League and make a dent in the top four race domestically.
Spurs are currently four points behind Chelsea in fourth, but there are plenty of other teams in there fighting for the final Champions League spot.
Tottenham are scheduled to play Aston Villa on Sunday away from home, then RB Leipzig at home in the Champions League just three days later, finishing with Chelsea away three days after that.
These are three huge games in the season of Spurs if they wish to look back on the campaign with fondness and a sense of achievement.
However, these fixtures do pose a problem for Jose Mourinho, as he must decide whether to rotate his team or risk fatigue and injuries.
The head coach insists that he can rotate some positions, but not others, highlighting the third match against Chelsea as one he may have to make changes in.
He said (Charlie Eccleshare):
On rotating in next few games: Some positions we can, others we cannot. I think for the third match you have to be a little bit careful and maybe do a bit of rotation between matches. It’s difficult enough without sharing our concentration on another match.
— Charlie Eccleshare (@CDEccleshare) February 14, 2020
On scheduling: Repeats that he’d rather play Villa tonight or tomorrow to have a bigger break before the Leipzig game. But I’ve been in the Premier League since 2004 and know we have no protection ahead of these sorts of games, he adds.
— Charlie Eccleshare (@CDEccleshare) February 14, 2020
But let’s go match after match, and the first one will be difficult. Fighting to avoid relegation, high esteem after reaching the Wembley final.
Somehow there are some clubs that always have better fixtures. Maybe it just happens.
— Charlie Eccleshare (@CDEccleshare) February 14, 2020