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Report: Tottenham fire accusation at Arsenal after Gunners request postponement
Arsenal have requested that this weekend’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur be postponed, owing to a number of injuries, covid cases, and suspensions in their squad.
News broken by the and later confirmed by the club this evening showed the Gunners had lodged an official application with the Premier League to call the game off. Arsenal have four players out on AFCON duty, while Granit Xhaka was also sent off in midweek against Liverpool, Further, Martin Odegaard was also missing through covid.
However, the request hasn’t gone down well at Tottenham. And according to the , Spurs believe the Gunners are trying to use the rules to their advantage because their best players are missing. Of course, who is their best player is subjective. But the likes of Partey, Xhaka, and Odegaard would almost certainly be involved. Others, such as Nicolas Pepe and Mo Elneny, are often fringe players.
So far, Arsenal have managed to avoid any covid call offs of their own making. They saw their semi-final with Liverpool initially cancelled. But that was down to the Reds’ own issues at Anfield.
On this occasion, Tottenham are said to be fuming with the decision. The claims that Spurs had expected the game to go ahead. Especially so, after Mikel Arteta confirmed he wanted to play.
TBR’s View: Premier League Have Themselves To Blame For Cancellations
It was all well and good introducing the rules to help with Covid-19 cases. But the problem now is clubs seem to be requesting cancellations when covid isn’t the main problem. However, as games have already fallen foul for these reasons, the PL have now set a precedent.
Ultimately, Spurs are right to be annoyed here. It isn’t their fault Arsenal have so many in the AFCON. Nor is it their fault the Gunners sold Ainsley Maitland-Niles and then had Granit Xhaka sent off.
This one, out of them all, does stink a bit. Especially given the size of the game and occasion.