Tottenham

LONDON — Fulham manager Scott Parker has criticised the Premier League for re-arranging his side's game at Tottenham Hotspur for Wednesday, giving him only 48 hours to prepare his players.

Fourth-placed Spurs were scheduled to face Aston Villa on Wednesday but that match was postponed after a COVID-19 outbreak forced the closure of the Midlands club's training ground.

Instead, Tottenham's home game with Fulham, itself postponed two hours before kickoff on Dec. 30 after a COVID outbreak amongst the Fulham squad, has been squeezed in.

Sunday’s FA Cup Third Round meeting between Tottenham Hotspur, fourth-place in the Premier League, and Marine AFC, sixth-place in the Northern Premier League Division One North West, represented a record gap of 161 places in the English football pyramid.

The prospect of the greatest giant killing of all time — and the spectacle of José Mourinho’s side visiting Rossett Park in Merseyside — allowed Marine to compensate for the potential loss in revenue of playing the match behind closed doors by selling 20,000 virtual tickets.

Tottenham Hotspur reached the League Cup final after goals from Moussa Sissoko and Son Heung-min sank Championship (second-tier) Brentford 2-0 on Tuesday to set up a clash with Manchester United or Manchester City in April's showpiece.

Fellow London side Brentford, playing in their first semifinal in a major cup competition, started brightly but fell behind in the 12th minute when unmarked French midfielder Sissoko headed in a fine Sergio Reguilon cross from the left.

New Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino said on Tuesday that he fulfilled a dream to return and manage the French club he played for and captained during his career as a defender in the early 2000s.

Pochettino had been out of a job since being dismissed by Tottenham Hotspur in November 2019 and took over the reins at PSG after Thomas Tuchel was sacked last month.

Tottenham Hotspur condemned the actions of midfielders Erik Lamela and Giovani Lo Celso and defender Sergio Reguilon after the trio breached COVID-19 protocols to attend a Christmas party.

Pictures on social media showed the three Spurs players together at a party along with West Ham United midfielder Manuel Lanzini.

Spurs players Sergio Reguilon, Giovani Lo Celso, Erik Lamela and West Ham's Manuel Lanzini were all pictured breaking lockdown rules over the Xmas period.

Football without fans has hurt clubs throughout the footballing pyramid, but the pandemic has hit non-league sides especially hard. These clubs depend on ticket sales as a primary source of revenue, and with empty stadiums across England, many local teams have been pushed to the brink financially.

These semi-pro and amateur sides also provide a helpful reminder of what true football fandom entails.

United States international and twice World Cup winner Alex Morgan has ended her loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur and will return to the U.S., the Women's Super League (WSL) club said on Monday.