Spurs push back City clash to Monday

TOTTENHAM’S Premier League match against Manchester City in October is likely to be delayed by a day to avoid a fixture clash at Wembley with an American football game. With the North London club having confirmed that their new 62,062-seat home will not be ready in time, the first major headache has emerged in the form of the game against the English champions. Tottenham are scheduled to host City at 4pm on Sunday October 28, with the game live on Sky Sports. But the NFL are using the national stadium that day for a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Spurs, Sportsmail understands, have considered a number of options after City rejected any talk of playing the game at the Etihad. But it now looks as though all parties could agree to moving the game to the following day, even if it leaves FA ground staff with the considerable challenge of preparing a pitch that would have staged an American football game 24 hours earlier. Before City agree to moving the Spurs game to the Monday, then possibly delaying a potential Carabao Cup fourth-round tie to the Thursday and pushing their next Premier League game back to the Sunday, they may want to see the outcome of next week’s Champions League draw. If Pep Guardiola’s side are drawn away from home on the Tuesday of the following week, it is unlikely City would want to move their game against Southampton from Saturday to Sunday. The Football League confirmed yesterday that Spurs would be allowed to reverse their Carabao Cup third-round fixture and play away from home or at a neutral venue should they be drawn at home while the new White Hart Lane is being finished. Spurs also announced yesterday that their first home Champions League group game — on September 18-19 or October 2-3 — will be played at their temporary home Wembley.