Tottenham and Manchester United are both playing in the Premier League tonight in a rare double dose of Friday night action.
Spurs travel to Aston Villa, while United head in the opposite direction to face Chelsea in what are all four clubs’ penultimate games of the season.
Both Spurs and United will have one eye on bigger priorities, though, as they prepare to face each other in the Europa League final, which is next Wednesday.
And that European showpiece is why both clubs face rare away trips on a Friday night.
Why are Tottenham and Manchester United playing on a Friday night?
When the Premier League last month confirmed the new kick-off times for this weekend’s Premier League schedule, United saw their trip to Stamford Bridge moved to a Friday night as Tottenham’s trip to Villa Park was set for Sunday afternoon.
The Premier League and Football Association agreed last season that the men’s FA Cup final would be given a dedicated day with no top-flight action, so Saturday was a no-go for all teams.
To further complicate matters, Chelsea and United are also facing each other on Sunday in the women’s FA Cup final and both clubs asked for their Premier League game to take place on a different day to avoid taking the focus away from a huge cup clash. That left Friday night as the only possible option.
Enter Tottenham, who moved quickly to ask to move to the same evening as United, when it appeared highly likely the two teams would face each other in the Europa League final the following week. As it then stood, United would have two days’ extra rest than their final opponents and, understandably for Spurs, that was deemed unfair.
An appeal to change the fixture went to the Premier League, which Villa quickly rejected on the grounds that it was their final home game and they had family-focused events planned which would be difficult to hold in the evening. Discussions continued between all three parties and Spurs got their wish for fairness, much to Villa’s annoyance.
That left Spurs facing Villa at 7.30pm before Chelsea and United kick off at 8.15pm.
