Postponement, penalities highlight lost Tottenham Hotspur week

Penalties highlight events around Spurs

First, came the news on Saturday that seemed to catch everyone outside of Rennes by surprise. Tottenham and their French opponents were unable to come to an agreement on a date to play their final Conference League group fixture, and now the game will be decided by a panel.

One can understand the French club being upset about the game considering they have traveled to London. However, things sometimes happen outside one’s control and you have to accept it. This is what happened to Tottenham two weeks ago when they were supposed to play Burnley. The difference is that match will be made up but the European one likely will not.

Given Tottenham needed to be Rennes to advance in the Conference League, it seems likely Spurs will be out of that competition, giving more focus to the Premier League. Unfortunately for Tottenham, the weekend and more penalties did not help Spurs’ cause.

Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester United were all awarded penalties – Chelsea got 2 – which was the difference in their matches this weekend.  We can debate the merit or not of the five penalties these traditional powers benefited from but the reality is they got them and all took a full three points as a result.

Those points push Spurs further down the table just three in front of Leicester City in seventh, with a date with the Foxes midweek. If Spurs lose that game, suddenly those two games in hand mean very little as the number of teams between Tottenham and the top four increases.

In theory, Spurs could be in fourth right now, those six points from the two missed matches would have the Lilywhites a full three points in front of West Ham in fourth after the Hammers drew with Burnley. Of course, when those matches will be made up is anyone’s question and with other teams – Manchester United and Aston Villa are the latest – coming up with a rash of positive Covid tests, this past weekend’s postponement may not be the last.

Hopefully, Tottenham Hotspur has stopped the spread and can resume normal activities in the coming days and get back to football. That would be a real positive after a week lost in more ways than one.