{"id":3271,"date":"2026-05-02T16:26:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T16:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=3271"},"modified":"2026-05-02T16:26:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T16:26:34","slug":"tottenham-send-big-tynan-thompson-and-mason-melia-hint-ahead-of-villa-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=3271","title":{"rendered":"Tottenham send big Tynan Thompson and Mason Melia hint ahead of Villa clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-393923\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\">  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> <span>Add as preferred source on Google<\/span>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Tottenham Hotspur have just sent a big hint regarding the possibility of Tynan Thompson or Mason Melia being handed their debuts against Aston Villa.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tottenham continue to struggle with a massive number of injuries to key players, with Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke being the latest to be sidelined.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"\/>\n<p>Some pundits are worried that these latest injuries could end Spurs\u2019 chances of survival, as De Zerbi\u2019s men lack the quality upfront to create chances.<\/p>\n<p>It did seem earlier this week that the Italian coach was set to turn to the club\u2019s academy setup for solutions.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"673\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/static\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246163817-1024x673.jpg\" alt=\"Tottenham's Mason Melia\" class=\"wp-image-389889\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/static\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246163817-1024x673.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/static\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246163817-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/static\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246163817-768x505.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/static\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246163817-1536x1009.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/static\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246163817-1140x749.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/static\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246163817-750x493.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/static\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246163817-scaled.jpg 1280w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"Birmingham , United Kingdom - 14 November 2025; Mason Melia of Republic of Ireland during the UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier group D match between England and Republic of Ireland at St. Andrew's at Knighthead Park in Birmingham, England. (Photo By Harry Murphy\/Sportsfile via Getty Images)\">Photo By Harry Murphy\/Sportsfile via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-tynan-thompson-and-mason-melia-are-unlikely-to-feature-for-tottenham-against-aston-villa\">Why Tynan Thompson and Mason Melia are unlikely to feature for Tottenham against Aston Villa<\/h2>\n<p>Some journalists suggested that De Zerbi could turn to academy winger Tynan Thompson, who has been on fire in Premier League 2 of late.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, it emerged that Mason Melia had been called up to train with the Spurs first-team this week, which got many to wonder if the 18-year-old forward could fill in for Solanke.<\/p>\n<p>However, both Thompson and Melia started for Spurs U21s against Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the PL2 play-offs on Friday evening, as the Lilywhites emerged 3-1 winners.<\/p>\n<p>Melia did find the back of the net in the second period after seeing his penalty saved earlier in the game, but the fact that the Irishman played the full 90 minutes, and Thompson played 77, suggests that De Zerbi does not plan to use either teenager at the Midlands.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-unai-emery-issues-warning-to-spurs-ahead-of-showdown\">Unai Emery issues warning to Spurs ahead of showdown<\/h2>\n<p>With Villa embroiled in a Europa League semifinal tie against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham fans would have been hoping that their opponents might be distracted for Sunday\u2019s clash.<\/p>\n<p>The Villans are trailing 1-0 after the first leg, and the hope was that they would rest some key players for the return leg next Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>However, Unai Emery has warned Tottenham that Villa\u2019s entire focus will be on winning tomorrow, with the Spaniard insisting that his side needs more points to secure Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.spurs-web.com\/subscribe\/\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-feedback\">\n<div class=\"info\"> <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\"> <path fill=\"#EC1B23\" d=\"M27.167 5.194c.261-.124.444-.325.75-.403-1.331-1.581-3.131-2.651-5.114-3.196-1.88-.517-4.161-.765-6.074-.262-1.756.461-3.144 1.672-4.802 2.352-2.104.862-4.426.657-6.531-.104.48 4.57.969 9.13 1.498 13.651 1.279.743 2.629.96 4.079.712 1.594-.273 3.005-1.037 4.47-1.677 1.684-.737 3.42-1.106 5.263-.953 2.008.167 3.886.889 5.715 1.689 1-1.933.535-4.317.117-6.342-.369-1.788-1.136-4.145.629-5.467.261-.124-.241.181 0 0z\"\/> <path d=\"M8.045 27.831c.098.865.627 3.145-.403 3.11-.497-.016-.622-.631-.692-1.325-.88-8.808-2.006-17.214-2.822-25.862-.043-.456-.205-1.421.519-1.44.665-.017.749 1.267.749 1.267s2.242 20.663 2.649 24.25z\"\/><\/svg> <span>Have something to tell us about this article?<\/span> <span><button class=\"button\" onclick=\"window.location.href=\" http:=\"\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Feedback\">Let us know<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Add as preferred source on Google Tottenham Hotspur have just sent a big hint regarding&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}