Tottenham set for defining two-week period that will…

Tottenham set for defining two-week period that will impact Newcastle, Man United and Liverpool

Now back in the top four after Sunday's 2-0 win over West Ham, Tottenham will be intent on making sure it stays that way come the end of May. Having dropped out of the Champions League places following a bad run of form at the end of last year, Spurs have capitalised on Newcastle United's recent struggles to win and moved one point ahead of them.

Having the chance to maintain their place in fourth over the next few weeks with a decent set of league fixtures on the schedule, Antonio Conte's men will also be in FA Cup and Champions League action. Taking on Championship high-flyers Sheffield United in the fifth round of the FA Cup next Wednesday, the Lilywhites then face AC Milan in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie a week later.

If Tottenham do indeed advance beyond both and then win their FA Cup quarter-final tie later in March, the team are going to face a defining two-week period at the end of the following month. A key time in the campaign anyway, the last two weeks of April could very well make or break Spurs' 2022/23 ambitions.

Conte and his players now know their Premier League schedule for April after the latest batch of televised games were announced on Tuesday afternoon. A handful of Spurs' fixtures have been moved as a result, including their showdowns against Everton, Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool.

After starting April with an away trip to Goodison Park followed by Brighton & Hove Albion at home, the Lilywhites then have a prospective Champions League quarter-final first leg tie on the schedule before hosting Bournemouth. However, providing the team do remain in both cup competitions, it is the final two weeks of the month where things will really start to get tricky for the top-four hopefuls.

Possibly in Champions League quarter-final action the week commencing Monday, April 17 if they do get the better of AC Milan in two weeks' time, the second leg encounter comes only days before the semi-finals of the FA Cup at Wembley. Even if Tottenham aren't in FA Cup action that weekend after crashing out of the competition, they will instead go head-to-head with top-four rivals Newcastle at St James' Park on Sunday, April 23.

The games certainly don't get any easier for Spurs after that as Manchester United are the visitors to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday, April 27. While Tottenham will have a bit of extra time to prepare for the game as it is taking place on a Thursday, the downside is they then have a small window to prepare for their following match away at Liverpool on Sunday, April 30.

The Reds themselves could be in top-four contention by then after winning their last two Premier League games to move to within seven points of the final Champions League place. Although it's extremely unlikely that the top-four race will be decided by the end of April as clubs have four league games on the calendar in May, how Spurs fare in that two-week period could have a massive say on the outcome of the final Premier League table come the final day and also their silverware dreams.