Tottenham face new issue amid Aston Villa development – BBC Sport
Tottenham face a new “issue” after being drawn against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, according to Phil McNulty.
Spurs progressed through to the next round of the competition with a 3-0 victory against Tamworth, but the scheduling could cause issues for both Tottenham and their opponents Aston Villa.
Tottenham are due to face Liverpool in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final on 6 February, with the next round of the FA Cup in theory, taking place on either 9/10 February.
As explained by BBC Sport’s chief football writer McNulty via their live blog [13 January, 10:21am], if Villa are to find themselves outside of the top eight by then, they may have to take part in the Champions League play-offs on 11 February, potentially just one day after the FA Cup.
It leaves several questions to be asked over how the scheduling could pan out for Tottenham, with games already mounting up.
Tottenham could face scheduling issues amid FA Cup draw
Plenty was made of the decision to scrap FA Cup replays but for Tottenham’s case, it serves as somewhat of a benefit with the fact that a replay would have been difficult to schedule anytime before the commencement of the next round.
However, even without them, there are still concerns and much of those will hinge on Aston Villa’s ability to remain inside the top five.
Tottenham are enduring a rough season under Ange Postecoglou and a clustered schedule is going to do little to alleviate those concerns, with a distinct lack of squad depth already present.
With several key injuries, Tottenham will need those players to return imminently if they are to achieve any kind of success and steer away from the possibility of further injuries.
Their draw against Aston Villa, albeit a tough one, provides them with an opportunity to progress to the next round of the FA Cup, with silverware undoubtedly the main target this season.
In other Tottenham news, Real Madrid are lining up a move for a key Spurs player.
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