Premier League news conferences with Enzo Maresca, Ange Postecoglou and Unai Emery speaking on Thursday
Rashford and Tielemans out for Villa - Rashford to miss rest of campaign as he can't play against parent club Man Utd in final game
New Amorim quotes as the Man Utd manager says his players can still earn the chance to play in next week's Europa League final
Postecoglou news conference: Kulusevski out for months after having surgery on knee injury; Bergvall has 'same sort of recovery time' | Son will definitely play 'at least half a game' at Villa
Aston Villa and Chelsea are looking to boost their Champions League hopes with wins over Europa League finalists Spurs and Man Utd on Friday
Maresca says striker Nicolas Jackson 'recognises there has been an error' after being sent off against Newcastle
Opta give Villa and Forest outside chances of reaching the top five | Remaining fixtures for teams chasing the top five
Phil McNulty Q&A also taking place - get your questions in
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#bbcfootball, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)
I think it a bit rich of Tottenham squealing about injuries, I remember they had a little trip to Australia for friendlies after last year's premier league and before the close of season, I said then if they got alot of injuries this season it there own fault for having a post and pre-season.
Karl, Wales
Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer
Image source, Getty ImagesJourneyman, Llandinam: Hi Phil. It is acknowledged that Everton have 13 or so players out of contract in the Summer and that wholesale changes are needed to make the team competitive again. Do you think that letting too many players go at once runs the risk of losing the team cohesion and spirit and would put us in the back foot again next season?
Phil: Morning. To be brutally honest, many of those players need to be replaced anyway so it is up to David Moyes, working within the new structure, to keep those he wishes to keep while ensuring the squad is balanced in quality and numbers. I actually think this is a very good opportunity for a complete re-set under ambitious new owners. I would not see this as a downside, just an opportunity for Moyes to fashion the squad he wants.
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Joe - or even Phil! - can we talk about the offside flag and injuries please? Such a shame what happened to Awoniyi and wish him all the best in his recovery, but this suggestion that 'not raising the flag exposes players to injury' is such folly. Nobody has ever had issue with the Advantage rule, and that does exactly the same thing. The reason why linesmen don't raise their flags (with VAR) if it's tight is because that way literally fewer goals will be incorrectly ruled out than otherwise. If you don't do it then VAR objectively results in fewer goals scored, when in reality it should be ruling some out, and giving others that were wrongly struck off. And I don't know about you, but as a football fan goals are what it's all about and I don't want a defence-splitting pass to be incorrectly ruled as offside 'just in case a player would get injured in the subsequent play'. Absolute nonsense.
Vic, London
Vic in London makes the opposite argument...
Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer
Kevin, Torquay: For Phil: As we've now seen the serious injury in the Forest game caused by an assistant not flagging for an extremely obvious offside, is it time to rethink how that part of the rules, or accept the current set of refs and assistants need even more help?
Phil: Hi, Kevin. I think it is time for a rethink, and the flag should be allowed to go up if the offside is as obvious as it was on Sunday. It has long been a fear that something like this would happen, but equally, it is a tough situation for officials because they are only adhering to what they have been told. My view is that if an offside is obvious, and the officials can see, and believe, it is obvious, then the flag should go up.
Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer
Marc in Hong Kong: Hi Phil. I’m confused as to how the FA Cup sits now in regard to Europe. Do Palace qualify ( as I believe runners up used to) if Manchester City win on Saturday and then have a Champions League place?
Phil: Hi Marc. Well, for a start, Manchester City still have work to do to reach the Champions League. Here is what the rule states. If the FA Cup winners qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League via their Premier League position, their FA Cup-won Europa League place is then transferred to the next-highest Premier League finisher not already qualified for Uefa competitions.
This is a possibility, given Man City's strong placing in the Premier League table. Therefore, Palace need to do it through league position.
Joe Rindl
BBC Sport
Thanks for the message, Simon.
It's all happening now. We'll be focusing on Aston Villa's news conference soon. In the meantime, who wants some more from Phil McNulty?
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On Spurs injury record. It's not all about luck. It's also about the training and conditioning. Liverpool have had a pretty decent record under Slot... but it was one of the things that got him hired: his record at keeping players fit. Maybe Spurs need to look at their staff and methods?
Simon, Coventry
Chelsea v Man Utd (Fri, 20:15 BST)
On how close he thinks Manchester United are to being higher up the Premier League table, head coach Ruben Amorim said:
"It is hard to talk about that without looking like a crazy guy but if you see the xG in the recent games, ours is bigger.
"Against Wolves we were so near and they score a goal from a set-piece. It was the first time they reached our goal and they score. Then we had opportunities, especially in the second half.
"I can understand that and manage that but it is hard to talk about that in this moment. Let’s focus on finishing in a good way and then we will prepare for the future at the end of the season."
Chelsea v Man Utd (Fri, 20:15 BST)
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim was asked how Friday's Premier League game will help in terms of preparation for next Wednesday's Europa League final:
"The best way is to face the game like we should face the game, it is to win the game. We need to perform, to win points in the Premier League, and that is the feeling.
"We talked about that after West Ham. We need to improve in the way we face competitions and stay focused in every moment of the game. Against West Ham we had clear situations to score. In the first situation they have, they score. These details matter.
"The only way I know how to prepare a final is in the normal game for our league, we must play the same way as a final."
Joe Rindl
BBC Sport
Quite intrigued by Ruben Amorim saying Manchester United players can still earn a spot for the Europa League final.
United fans, who's already in the starting XI and who might have an outside chance of involvement that you'd love to see selected by Amorim?
Same question for Spurs, too.
Chelsea v Man Utd (Fri, 20:15 BST)
On whether he's concerned players will be worried about getting injured on Friday, Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim said: "It is going to be a massive part, this game to the next one, so we need to perform and they need to perform. That is an important thing.
"If there is a player who has not recovered for this game, and [playing on Friday] would put him at risk for the final, then he will not play.
"But if it is not that situation, he will have a lot of time to recover. We cannot spend eight or nine days without a game before the final. That is a bad thing for the final. We will prepare [properly] for the game."
Chelsea v Man Utd (Fri, 20:15 BST)
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim said that Friday's team selection will have no bearing on Wednesday's Europa League final:
"We have to try to recover. The best [way] to prepare for the final is to play the game and then the players have to understand that if you play or don’t play against Chelsea, it means nothing to the final. That is important. I am just preparing for the game at Chelsea. That is my focus. We want to win and we want to perform."
On how close Friday’s team will be to that for the final, Amorim replied: "I don’t know. I know the starting XI I am thinking for Chelsea and then I will see. Even the way we play there against Chelsea, I will see it, and it will be important for the next one."
Amorim added that players still have the chance to earn a place for next week's European showpiece against Tottenham.
Joe Rindl
BBC Sport
Where to next? I think Ruben Amorim has been speaking to the media as well.
Let's briefly focus on Tottenham's Europa League final opponents, Manchester United...
There was quite a lot to take in during Ange Postecoglou's news conference, so here are some links to the top lines:
Aston Villa v Tottenham (Fri, 19:30 BST)
Dejan Kulusevski's season-ending injury coincided with a new low for Tottenham - their 2-0 loss at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday took their tally to 20 Premier League defeats this season, a new record for the club.
Their previous record for Premier League defeats in a single season was 19 - in both 1993-94 and 2003-04.
They are currently 17th in the table, on 38 points.
Tottenham's worst ever finish in a Premier League season, when there have been 20 teams in the division, is 14th, in 1997-98 and 2003-04.
The 1997-98 season also saw them finish with their lowest ever Premier League total of 44 points.
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I really empathise with Ange. Some of the football Spurs have played has been superb this season. They’ve probably had one of the worst, if not the worst injury issues out of all the Premier League teams. They haven’t performed well after mid-week European games and I genuinely believe they have a really good squad - when all are fit. I’d like to see Ange there again next season and I hope Spurs’ injury fortunes change. I’d also like to see Jack Grealish, James Ward-Prowse and Patrik Schick arrive.
Jack, London.
Aston Villa v Tottenham (Fri, 19:30 BST)
A final word from Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou on his sadness for players who will miss the Europa League final with injury: "Gutted for him [Kulusevski], gutted for Lucas [Bergvall] and Madders [James Madison] and Radu [Dragusin]. All four of those it is not like a muscle injury, it is just circumstance. Stuff that probably happens every football game but doesn't have the damage. Unfortunately for them it came at the wrong time of the year."
Aston Villa v Tottenham (Fri, 19:30 BST)
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou on Son Heung-min: "He will definitely play tomorrow, whether we start with him or not we will have a look at. But he definitely reacted well to playing the other day.
"There were no issues with his foot and he has trained well. It makes sense for him to get more match minutes. That could be as a starter but if not he will definitely play at least half a game tomorrow."
Image source, Getty ImagesAston Villa v Tottenham (Fri, 19:30 BST)
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou on the disappointment players feel at seeing their team-mates pick up injuries: "We have pretty much been without some of our key players for the whole season. There hasn't been a time when we have had a three or four-week spell with our strongest line-up, or at least been fairly settled.
"The boys are sort of getting on with it. They are disappointed for the people involved, [Kulusevski] being the latest one, because he had a fantastic first part of the year for us and was just working his way back into it.
"At the same time, as I keep saying to the group all along, you can't pick or choose when these opportunities come along. There could be other years when we don't have these disruptions, don't have these injuries, but we don't get to a final, so the reality of it is now that the opportunity is there and whatever happens between now and then we have got to make sure we are ready for it."
