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Football London
Football London
Sport
Rob Guest

What Tottenham's FA Cup exit now means for West Ham, Brighton and Arsenal Premier League games

Tottenham's FA Cup exit at the hands of Middlesbrough means that Antonio Conte's men only have the Premier League to focus on between now and May.

Not in European action following their elimination from the Europa Conference League and knocked out of the Carabao Cup semi-finals by Chelsea, the FA Cup represented Spurs' only real chance of winning silverware in 2021/22.

However, it is now another season without a trophy following their hugely disappointing 1-0 defeat on Teeside.

Conte and his players will now be fully focused on finishing the season on a high by trying to reclaim their place in the Champions League after missing out on the top four in each of the past two seasons.

Currently seventh in the Premier League table and five points off the final Champions League place, the Lilywhites are fighting it out with Manchester United, Arsenal and West Ham for fourth.

One thing Tottenham don't have to worry about now following their FA Cup exit is having a fixture backlog later in the season had they reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the famous competition.

Their defeat at the Riverside Stadium also means that their Premier League fixture at home to West Ham later this month will remain on the same date as originally planned after the Hammers also crashed out in the fifth round.

At the end of January it was confirmed by the Premier League that the London rivals would face off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, March 20 with a 2pm kick-off, but the game taking place that day was subject to their participation in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Steven Bergwijn celebrates with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after netting against West Ham back in December (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

As both Spurs and West Ham lost earlier this week, the encounter will now be one of a handful of league games taking place that weekend.

Another fixture able to remain on the same weekend as planned following their FA Cup elimination is Tottenham's Premier League home match against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Pencilled in for Saturday, April 16, the match would have had to be rescheduled if Conte's side had progressed to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

The date for the Seagulls game could still yet change with the Premier League confirming last Wednesday that the remaining TV picks for April would be announced shortly after the draw for the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Having avoided the possibility of needing to find alternative dates for the West Ham and Brighton matches, Spurs' north London showdown against Arsenal is the team's only game in hand without a confirmed date as things stand.

The Gunners do also have another London derby against Chelsea that also needs to be rescheduled, however.

As both Spurs and Arsenal just have the Premier League to concentrate on between now and the end of the season, there will be plenty of space in the calendar to find a new date for a midweek fixture in either April or May.

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