Villa can tap into fixture frustration
Aston Villa could not conceal their anger after their game at home to Tottenham was brought forward 48 hours. Villa’s director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, said shifting the game from Sunday to Friday was “clear prejudice” against the club and Villa objected to Spurs’s request for it to be moved to aid their preparations for Wednesday’s Europa League final. Villa were also privately perplexed at Bournemouth’s game with Manchester City being rearranged for Tuesday, after Saturday’s FA Cup final, which is guaranteed to have implications on whether eighth place qualifies for the Europa Conference League. The flipside to all of this is Villa can get on the front foot, kicking off 45 minutes before Chelsea entertain Manchester United and two days before Nottingham Forest head to West Ham and Arsenal host Newcastle. Victory for Villa could hoist them as high as fourth before a final-day trip to Old Trafford and, psychologically, that could prove a knockout blow. Ben Fisher
