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Tottenham’s unlikely undroppable, Arsenal prepare for De Bruyne-Gundogan double act - talking points

 (AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho warned about the impact of fatigue on his Tottenham players before Thursday's Europa League tie against Wolfsberger, and duly made a raft of changes, but one player seemingly remains immune to rotation.

Ben Davies is Tottenham's only outfield player to have featured in every minute of the FA Cup defeat to Everton, which went to extra-time, and the subsequent games against Man City and Wolsfberger. In fact, the left-back has played their last nine matches without a break and there seems little chance he will be given one against West Ham on Sunday, with Mourinho having already said Sergio Reguilon is not expected to be fit.

Davies' efforts must be taking their toll, so it could be area for West Ham to exploit this weekend, with right-back Vladimir Coufal having impressed all season. Equally, perhaps Davies should be cut some slack by disgruntled Spurs fans, given he is having to do more work than anyone else in Mourinho's squad. Dan Kilpatrick

De Bruyne return makes City clash even more daunting for Arsenal

As if hosting the runaway Premier League leaders wasn’t bad enough, Arsenal now have to take on Manchester City with Kevin De Bruyne back fit and firing.

The Belgian has been out injured for around a month, but he made his comeback on Wednesday night by coming off the bench against Everton at Goodison Park. De Bruyne will be pushing to start against Arsenal on Sunday and the prospect of him linking up with an in-form Ilkay Gundogan is frightening.

The German has stepped up in De Bruyne’s absence, but they could make a lethal double act now he has returned. Simon Collings

Test for West Ham’s European credentials

Anyone at West Ham would have bitten your hand off if you'd told them they'd be sat in fifth place with 14 games remaining. But the Hammers are not in the race for European places by chance and are confident they can stay the course between now and May.

That confidence is about to be put to the test. David Moyes and his side had one of the toughest runs of games to start the season in the Premier League, and now those fixtures are coming back around. Over the coming weeks West Ham will face Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal, with a visit from high-octane Leeds tucked in the middle too.

By the end of March we'll know just how capable they are of securing that European spot. Jack Rosser

PA
PA

Brentford bid to get promotion push back on track

It has been a bad week for Brentford, who have suffered back-to-back defeats in the race for automatic promotion in the Championship.

The Bees were looking certainties to go up after going 21 matches unbeaten but losses to Barnsley and QPR have allowed Swansea and Watford behind them to close in on them in the top two. Second-placed Brentford are now four points behind leaders Swansea and face struggling Coventry on Sunday needing a positive result to get back on track. Jack Rosser