The curtain will fall upon the 2022/23 Premier League season this weekend as the 38th and final match of every team's campaign will be played out on Sunday. Tottenham supporters may be glad to turn their back on a difficult year, but the work is far from done for the Lilywhites.
European football is still up for grabs, but it isn't in their hands when they make a trip to Yorkshire and face relegation threatened Leeds United. Interim manager Ryan Mason will lead the side out for the final time of his second short spell in charge, knowing a win and a slip up from Aston Villa can secure Europa Conference League football for next season.
"Obviously it has its implications and it's not where the football club wants to be," Mason said on the prospects of missing European football. "We definitely want to be competing in Europe. Any European competition is important for a club this size. But at the same time the most important thing regardless of whether we're in or out of Europe is that there is a plan and there is commitment from everyone to that going forward."
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There will be a few key absences for the interim manager to handle though, going into a likely hostile atmosphere at Elland Road on Sunday. Five players are guaranteed to be missing from the match as Hugo Lloris, Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier, Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristian Romero are all absent.
There will be one potential return to the side in the form of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who Mason confirmed was back in training this week. "Pierre trained yesterday so we're hopeful maybe he can help us at the weekend," the coach said when asked about team news on Friday.
It means there could be some tweaks to the backline and midfield to be made in the match, with a huge challenge on the cards in Yorkshire.
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