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Insightful Tottenham selection claim made before Europa League rehearsal

Originally posted on To The Lane And Back
By Rohan Sengupta | Last updated May 16, 2025 2:48 PM ET

Ange Postecoglou could go with a strong Tottenham XI against Aston Villa in an attempt to keep his players ready for UEL final

Tottenham Hotspur will tale on Manchester United in the Europa League final at San Mames in Bilbao on May 21.

Spurs have had a terrible campaign and dropped to a lowly 17th in the table after a disappointing 2-0 home loss to London counterparts Crystal Palace on Sunday. This is no acceptable for a club of Tottenham’s prestige and stature, with Ange Postecoglou likely to depart at the end of the season. However, everything will be forgotten if the North London club win the Europa League trophy.

Before the European final, Ange Postecoglou’s side must negotiate a trip to Aston Villa on Friday evening in a rearranged Premier League fixture. The Australian’s team selection is likely to be influenced by key players getting injured recently and the gap between the Aston Villa fixture and the European final against Man United.

All Tottenham fans will have an eye on the team news emerging from the dressing room. Ange and Co. will definitely want to win the game at Villa Park but a lot more emphasis is set to be given on players’ fitness. As a result, changes are expected to be made in the starting XI that started in the 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend in a bid to reduce the chance of further fitness issues.

Former Leicester City and Brentford boss Martin Allen says Spurs are set to hold internal talks before team news is shared against Villa. He feels Ange will name a strong XI as he wants to keep all his players fresh and fit knowing that they will be playing in the Europa League final less than a week later.

“There’s no way that he won’t play a weakened team,” Martin Allen exclusively told Tottenham News.

“He’s got to keep every one of those players who will be playing in the final back, keep them fresh and let them know that they will be starting the final. Then he’s going to say to those players starting against Villa, ‘Give everything for the club, team and yourself, play well and push yourself into my thoughts for the final.’

“Privately, I know everyone involved with Tottenham Football Club is looking to the final, their mindset can only be on the final.”

Ange faces a big selection headache for the Villa game after injuries to Lucas Bergvall, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski. The trio being getting injured at such a critical juncture has left our boss with depleted options in the middle of the park.

We may see Archie Gray get a chance to showcase his talent in midfield at Villa Park, with African duo Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr joining him. Ange has revealed that skipper Son Heung-min will feature on Friday evening, while the likes of Wilson Odobert and Richarlison are pushing for a start.

Changes are set to take place in defence as well, and it will be interesting to see whether Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven start this fixture.

This article first appeared on To The Lane And Back and was syndicated with permission.

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