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Having lost hope in the Premier League and the two domestic cup competitions, Tottenham are now all in on the Europa League.

"AZ Alkmaar is the biggest game of Ange Postecoglou's career," ex-Spurs midfielder Jamie O'Hara told Sky Sports News ahead of Thursday's last-16 first leg in the Netherlands.

Postecoglou's team selection in last week's home league defeat to Manchester City certainly suggested that, with captain Heung-Min Son, Djed Spence - their best performer recently - and star man Dejan Kulusevski all starting on the bench.

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The loss to City - Spurs' 14th Premier League defeat of the season, more than their wins and draws combined - leaves them 13th and 13 points off the top five.

Europa League glory is now their only hope of Champions League qualification - and also Postecoglou's last chance of delivering on his bold statement of "always winning things" in his second year.

"Ange Postecoglou rested players [against Man City] and I've heard people moaning about it - the Premier League is gone for Tottenham. It's over. This season's done," O'Hara said.

"It doesn't matter where we finish - 12th or ninth - we're not going to get European football but what we can do is win the Europa League.

"He wants his best players fit, fresh and ready to go. That's all his whole focus is."

Injuries have wreaked havoc in Spurs' domestic campaign but Postecoglou could be boosted by the return of key players for the AZ tie and beyond if they progress.

Defenders Cristian Romero - who was named in Argentina's squad for March's World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil - and Micky van de Ven may feature at some point in the tie, while forwards Dominic Solanke and Richarlison are also pushing to be available.

There has been the added benefit of a much-needed break following a hectic schedule for a small group of players, with Tottenham having eight days to prepare for the first leg at AZ.

A season-defining week sees Spurs host Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, then four days later host AZ in the second leg.

"When we play Bournemouth in between AZ, play a B team because the Premier League doesn't matter now, it isn't going to change where we finish. But if we win the Europa League, you get Champions League football," O'Hara said.

"Ange Postecoglou could go down as one of the most successful managers that we've had in recent times if he wins the Europa League.

"Spurs, with their best team, have got the best chance of winning the Europa League, so I had no problem with him resting players against Man City."

Merse: Europa glory would be Spurs' best season ever

AZ are familiar opponents for Tottenham after the north Londoners narrowly beat them 1-0 at home in the league stage of the Europa League in October.

Pascal Jansen's side, which includes ex-Tottenham striker Troy Parrott, suffered a 3-1 defeat at Heerenveen on Sunday and sit sixth in the Eredivisie.

AZ have lost only once at home in all competitions since the start of December and impressively knocked out Galatasaray, who beat Spurs in the league stage, in the play-off round with a 6-3 aggregate win after beating them 4-1 at home in the first leg.

Sky Sports' Paul Merson said: "I watched them [AZ Alkmaar] the other week at Galatasaray in the second leg - they were electric up front.

"They blew Galatasaray away and Galatasaray were fortunate to get a 2-2 draw [in the second leg].

"I don't know how Tottenham will live with them at their ground because it's a big old pitch.

"It's a dangerous game but over two legs I'd expect Tottenham to go through."

The Opta supercomputer agrees with Merson, giving Spurs a 69 per cent chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.

In fact, Postecoglou's side are second favourites (14.5 per cent) behind Lazio (17.2 per cent) to lift the trophy in Bilbao on May 21.

"If you look at the competition, Tottenham, Lyon, Athletic Bilbao and Lazio are the four teams [to win it]," Merson said.

"I think Tottenham have got a chance of winning this.

"If Tottenham win this and get in the Champions League, they've had their best season ever."

Lose to AZ Alkmaar, however, and Spurs' season will be over - and with it an increased pressure on Postecoglou.

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Erling Haaland's 20th Premier League goal of the season took Man City to a 1-0 win at Tottenham and back into the top four.

The Norwegian turned home from close range from Jeremy Doku's cross 12 minutes in and that proved to be enough - although he also saw a stoppage-time strike in the second half scrubbed off for a handball given by ref Jarred Gillet.

That could have been a controversial moment, with it unclear whether the ball did actually hit the striker's arm during a challenge from Kevin Danso and VAR unable to conclusively overturn the call - but Pape Sarr headed over his glorious chance at the other end in the final seconds.

"The referee was quicker to disallow it than VAR," City boss Pep Guardiola said of the incident. "I'm pretty sure if VAR took a lot of time it was because there was a lot of doubt the referee didn't have."

City should have been further ahead at the break, with the electric Doku teeing up Haaland for another good chance and then a big opening for Savinho, who bumped his sitter over the bar.

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Spurs finally stepped up their levels after the interval - aided by the belated introduction of Heung-min Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Djed Spence, who surprisingly began on the bench - but Guardiola's side rode the storm with the help of a sharp stop from Ederson.

After Stefan Ortega's heroics in this fixture last season to help City clinch the title, it was Ederson's turn to deny Son with a super save late on, getting down low to maintain the clean sheet.

City's attacking threat was massively reduced in that second half until Haaland's late surge but their positive response to Sunday's defeat to Liverpool has them back in the Champions League qualifying spots at the expense of Chelsea.

Tottenham - who also threatened through Wilson Odobert after a 39-minute gap between their two first-half efforts - failed to make it four Premier League wins on the spin and sit 13th.

Their Europa League last-16 tie with AZ Alkmaar begins next week and looked to be the priority on Wednesday, given Ange Postecoglou's team selection. This was their second-youngest Premier League XI. His players will need to be sharper from the start and carry more threat in the final third if they are to make a success of that remaining shot at silverware.

Postecogloou: We looked more like ourselves

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou:

"First half we were a little bit too eager to get forward, we were too wasteful. City can pick you off at different times. We didn't handle that part of the game well. They scored and had chances to get further ahead. Second half we dominated the game and were pretty relentless. Just missing a goal and fell a bit short.

"It's disappointing to lose. But it did look more like us today. We played aggressive football. We never tapered off at all."

On not starting Son, Kulusevski and Spence: "I can't be sitting here bemoaning not having a squad then not use it. Deki [Kulusevski], Sonny and Djed have played an enormous amount of time. Having them to have a little bit of a breather I thought would be more helpful for us. We're going to have some real options we're going to need."

Guardiola: An incredible result for our Champions League qualification hopes

Man City boss Pep Guardiola:

"The game was open in the second half because we didn't close it in the first. That was the problem that happens many times this season. We've given away an incredible amount of goals. Today fortunately we finish good. For the Champions League qualification it is an incredible result for us."

More like the old Man City? "Never this season will be old City! Old City was too good. But we'll be back."

On Haaland's disallowed goal: "The referee was quicker to disallow it than VAR. Because we won, no matter. Honestly I didn't see the action on TV. It was not clear. Champions league is quicker. If [VAR is slow] it's because they have a lot of doubt. I'm pretty sure if VAR took a lot of time it was because there was a lot of doubt the referee didn't have."

Story of the match in stats...

What's coming up in the Premier League?

Erling Haaland's 20th Premier League goal of the season took Man City to a 1-0 win at Tottenham and back into the top four.

The Norwegian turned home from close range from Jeremy Doku's cross 12 minutes in and that proved to be enough - although he also saw a stoppage-time strike in the second half scrubbed off for a handball given by ref Jarred Gillet.

That could have been a controversial moment, with it unclear whether the ball did actually hit the striker's arm during a challenge from Kevin Danso and VAR unable to conclusively overturn the call - but Pape Sarr headed over his glorious chance at the other end in the final seconds.

"The referee was quicker to disallow it than VAR," City boss Pep Guardiola said of the incident. "I'm pretty sure if VAR took a lot of time it was because there was a lot of doubt the referee didn't have."

City should have been further ahead at the break, with the electric Doku teeing up Haaland for another good chance and then a big opening for Savinho, who bumped his sitter over the bar.

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Spurs finally stepped up their levels after the interval - aided by the belated introduction of Heung-min Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Djed Spence, who surprisingly began on the bench - but Guardiola's side rode the storm with the help of a sharp stop from Ederson.

After Stefan Ortega's heroics in this fixture last season to help City clinch the title, it was Ederson's turn to deny Son with a super save late on, getting down low to maintain the clean sheet.

City's attacking threat was massively reduced in that second half until Haaland's late surge but their positive response to Sunday's defeat to Liverpool has them back in the Champions League qualifying spots at the expense of Chelsea.

Tottenham - who also threatened through Wilson Odobert after a 39-minute gap between their two first-half efforts - failed to make it four Premier League wins on the spin and sit 13th.

Their Europa League last-16 tie with AZ Alkmaar begins next week and looked to be the priority on Wednesday, given Ange Postecoglou's team selection. This was their second-youngest Premier League XI. His players will need to be sharper from the start and carry more threat in the final third if they are to make a success of that remaining shot at silverware.

Postecogloou: We looked more like ourselves

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou:

"First half we were a little bit too eager to get forward, we were too wasteful. City can pick you off at different times. We didn't handle that part of the game well. They scored and had chances to get further ahead. Second half we dominated the game and were pretty relentless. Just missing a goal and fell a bit short.

"It's disappointing to lose. But it did look more like us today. We played aggressive football. We never tapered off at all."

On not starting Son, Kulusevski and Spence: "I can't be sitting here bemoaning not having a squad then not use it. Deki [Kulusevski], Sonny and Djed have played an enormous amount of time. Having them to have a little bit of a breather I thought would be more helpful for us. We're going to have some real options we're going to need."

Guardiola: An incredible result for our Champions League qualification hopes

Man City boss Pep Guardiola:

"The game was open in the second half because we didn't close it in the first. That was the problem that happens many times this season. We've given away an incredible amount of goals. Today fortunately we finish good. For the Champions League qualification it is an incredible result for us."

More like the old Man City? "Never this season will be old City! Old City was too good. But we'll be back."

On Haaland's disallowed goal: "The referee was quicker to disallow it than VAR. Because we won, no matter. Honestly I didn't see the action on TV. It was not clear. Champions league is quicker. If [VAR is slow] it's because they have a lot of doubt. I'm pretty sure if VAR took a lot of time it was because there was a lot of doubt the referee didn't have."

Story of the match in stats...

What's coming up in the Premier League?

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Chelsea fans protest against ownership ahead of Southampton clash

Sky Sports News' Gary Cotterill captured the scenes of fans demonstrating about the Chelsea ownership at Bovril Gate outside Stamford Bridge tonight.

Southampton team news

Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Bree, Bella-Kotchap, Walker-Peters, Downes, Smallbone, Fernandes, Aribo, Kamaldeen, Onuachu.

Substitutes: McCarthy, Stephens, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Manning, Wellington, Grønnbæk, Dibling, Archer.

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Team news in FIVE minutes!

Team news from Stamford Bridge will be dropping in just five minutes!

How will Chelsea line up without injured defender Trevoh Chalobah?

Could Southampton make changes after their defeat to Brighton?

You'll get the line-ups at 7pm on the dot in this blog...

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Two out-of-form sides meet in the Premier League tonight as Chelsea host rock-bottom Southampton.

The Blues have suffered three consecutive defeats in all competitions and have won only two league games since Christmas.

It leaves Enzo Maresca's side's aims for Champions League qualification in the balance - but victory tonight could see them move into the top four.

Despite their poor recent run, the west Londoners will be heavy favourites against basement boys Southampton, who are 13 points adrift of safety.

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With 12 games to go, nine-point Saints are aiming to avoid setting the lowest-ever Premier League points total, which is held by Derby (11 points) in 2007/08.

Ivan Juric's side will be buoyed they can surpass that this evening with the club's last trip to Stamford Bridge seeing them win 1-0 in February 2023.

Will Saints shock Chelsea? Or can the home side reignite their Champions League qualification hopes?

We'll bring you all the build-up, including the all-important team news at 7pm, with kick-off at 8.15pm.

Stay tuned...

Chelsea fans protest against ownership ahead of Southampton clash

Sky Sports News' Gary Cotterill captured the scenes of fans demonstrating about the Chelsea ownership at Bovril Gate outside Stamford Bridge tonight.

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Duo missing for Southampton's trip to Chelsea

Southampton will be without centre-back Jan Bednarek and midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu for their trip to Chelsea.

Bednarek suffered a first-half injury in the loss to Brighton on Saturday, while Ugochukwu will be ineligible to face his parent club.

The latter's absence offers another opportunity for Flynn Downes, who has struggled for game time under Ivan Juric, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis is likely to be fit enough for a place on the bench.

WATCH: Maresca backs Jorgensen as No.1: 'He recognises the mistake... nothing's changed'

Maresca 'not concerned' by Palmer form

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said his side's over-reliance on Cole Palmer could be affecting the England forward's form after his goalless streak extended to six games in Saturday's defeat to Aston Villa.

The 22-year-old remains the club's leading scorer this season with 14 but he has not netted since the draw against Bournemouth on January 14 while his last assist came 13 matches ago.

Chelsea have dropped from second in the Premier League to seventh during a run of two wins from 10 games and face being squeezed out of the race to qualify for the Champions League if results do not improve.

Palmer was visibly frustrated with his team-mates at Villa Park, in particular at one point with Christopher Nkunku, and his increasingly despondent body language during the team's poor run has been a cause for concern.

The former Manchester City player won admiration when things were going well for his unencumbered, laid back style on the pitch and laconic approach to the media but it is a disposition that has worn less well on the team's barren streak.

"I'm not concerned," said Maresca. "I'm always concerned about general performances, but I'm not concerned about Cole because he is a human being. During the season he can have some moments where he is struggling a little bit more.

"The problem with Cole is probably that we rely on him for everything. I said since we started that we need to rely on the team. For sure we need big players, top players like Cole but we are not worried about him at all."

Maresca wary of 'tricky' Saints clash

Sky Sports News' Gary Coterill at Cobham:

Enzo Maresca says his team "needs a win" but stopped short of calling Southampton at home a ‘must win’ game.

In fact, he appeared to try to control fan expectation by calling the fixture, against the worst team in the Premier League "tricky".

After just two wins in the last ten in the Premier League, and 3 months after winning 5-1 at St Mary’s, you might expect Maresca to be talking up his team's chances at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night. But no. Not a bit of it.

“It’s a complicated team. It’s a tricky one. Against Manchester United away they were winning 1-0, then in the last 5 minutes United beat them”.

That was a late come back for United. How Chelsea could do with a few of those.

Since Boxing Day they’ve dropped 13 points from winning positions.

Maresca knows that. But has no idea why!

“I don’t have an answer to that. Sometimes it’s football. Sometimes there is a reason behind it. We are trying to understand it a little bit."

Chelsea lost three points from a winning position at Villa Park on Saturday, of course.

Partly due to a Filip Jorgensen goalkeeping error. And partly due to a good late chance missed by Cole Palmer.

Maresca though isn’t playing the blame game. He’s backing both.

He’s sticking with Jorgensen as his number one ahead of Robert Sanchez.

“Yeah. Sure. We need to change a player every time we make a mistake," he joked about Jorgensen.

And, on Palmer, who’s now not scored in six games, he said: “His performance reflects the team performance. We rely on him too much."

Maresca was happy with the way his team played at Villa Park, if not the result. It was a big improvement on the embarrassment at Brighton.

He was also pleased with the way his tweaks to the formation worked too, calling Pedro Neto up top a “good option" and praising Reece James’ midfield performance as “very good”.

When Chelsea thrashed Southampton on December 1st, the away fans sang “we’ve got our Chelsea back”.

A similar performance tomorrow might go some way to winning the supporters over again.

And might even put Chelsea back in the top 4, where Maresca still believes they belong.

Maresca 'unconcerned' about Palmer's form

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says he's unconcerned about Cole Palmer's current form, but admits his side do have a tendency to rely on the England midfielder.