Why are Tottenham playing Monday and Friday this week? Spurs October fixtures quirk explained

Tottenham Hotspur have enjoyed a fine start to the Premier League 2023/24 season, sitting top of the table.

Despite the sale of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, Spurs have been revitalised under new manager Ange Postecoglou and with new signings such as James Maddison, Micky van der Ven and others.

After nine games of the new campaign, and the Postecoglou era, Spurs now have seven wins and two draws and are top of the Premier League after their 2-0 win over Fulham in a London derby on Monday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Sporting News explains the slightly odd quirk in Tottenham's fixture list this week, with games on Monday and Friday rather than at the more traditional weekend times.

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Why are Tottenham playing on a Monday and Friday?

Tottenham hosted Fulham in the Premier League's Monday night slot today, with an 8pm kickoff UK time (GMT). It's common that games will take place at this time, to be shown as part of Monday Night Football for broadcaster Sky Sports.

Spurs' next fixture is away to Crystal Palace in the league, which kicks off at 8pm UK time at Selhurst Park on Friday October 27.

The simple reason is that Spurs are involved in any kind of European football this season, and neither are both of their opponents this week.

If they'd had a game on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, the kickoff times wouldn't be possible as there would not be enough time for players to rest and travel between playing.

✅ Son Heung-min
✅ Cristian Romero
⏳ Rodrigo Bentancur
⏳ Brennan Johnson

Ange Postecoglou says there are no issues regarding fitness for his Tottenham side before they face Fulham on Monday. ⚪️💪 pic.twitter.com/WaLXXXuJhP

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 20, 2023

Tottenham injury news

The lack of European football may be a blessing in disguise for Postecoglou’s men this season and may explain their rocket-fast start to the league season. No midweek commitments mean the Aussie manager can keep his Spurs players fresh.

Rodrigo Bentancur has been their only main injury concern this season and even the midfielder is on the road back to fitness. Brennan Johnson is also on the verge of a full return after featuring in the second half on Monday night.

Postecoglou provided a positive update on Destiny Udogie and Pape Sarr who picked up knocks earlier in the week: "The two main ones from the other night are Pape and Destiny. Pape is fine, he bounced back sort of 24 hours after the game. He had a bit of an illness but has trained well.

"Destiny we are still going to assess. Obviously, it is a short turnaround from the other night. We'll have a look today, see how things go and make a decision after that. Everyone else has come through fine and is available."

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Tottenham upcoming fixtures

After the Palace game, Spurs have a run of potentially tricky fixtures, including another London derby against Chelsea and a meeting with reigning English and European champions Manchester City. They also face in-form Aston Villa and have a trip to Molineux to play Wolves.

(All fixtures below are Premier League games):