Tottenham Hotspur could end up facing Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal within one ‘nightmare’ week in April, if the rearranged fixture between Spurs and the Blues ends up falling into one particularly tricky spot in the calendar.
Despite struggling in the Premier League this season, Mauricio Pochettino‘s Chelsea have found themselves with a Carabao Cup final to play next month. The Blues overcame a first-leg deficit to beat Championship side Middlesbrough and book their place at Wembley.
Chelsea will now play in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, February 25, which means the game between Chelsea and Spurs at Stamford Bridge, which was scheduled for Friday, February 23, now needs to move.
When will Chelsea play Tottenham?
The repercussions of this change could be catastrophic, particularly for Tottenham, who could now face a very busy week towards the end of April. As per a breakdown of the situation from Football.London, Spurs could find themselves playing Chelsea in the middle of a clash against Arsenal and Manchester City.
There are a few options as to when this game could be put back into the fixture list, though. First, the game could be lined up on the same night as European football fixtures take place, which makes sense given neither side are in the Champions League or Europa competitions.
That would give us a few dates to look at: the week commencing Monday, February 12 and 19, and Monday, March 4 and 11, are the dates planned for the first knockout round. The quarter-finals are down to be played the week commencing Monday, April 8 and 15, with the semi-finals the week of Monday, April 29 and May 6.
But, UEFA generally prefers to avoid any domestic fixtures clashing with their knockout fixtures, so there’s a good chance these won’t be the dates to put in your diary. If we are to assume Chelsea and Spurs will play on a date without a European fixture clash, and to avoid any FA Cup action, that narrows things down drastically.
Described as a “nightmare” by Football.London, Spurs would end up playing Chelsea in the free week commencing Monday, April 22. That will sandwich the fixture between Tottenham’s game against Manchester City on April 20, and Arsenal on April 27.
Spurs Web Opinion
Let’s be honest, it’s just our luck that the game will be lined up for that week, which is already incredibly difficult anyway. But, it is what it is. We have already battled through tough times this season, and I’m sure the players will be able to make it through that week, too.