Tottenham fixture nightmare for Thomas Frank as Champions League schedule causes chaos

Staff
By Staff

Tottenham expect Thomas Frank and his side to compete on multiple fronts this season and the full effect of the fixture calendar with Champions League and domestic cup games added in shows the task ahead.

Spurs faced 60 matches last season under Ange Postecoglou, managing to win the Europa League and reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. However, they finished 17th in the Premier League and did not progress beyond the fourth round in the FA Cup as an injury crisis, poor performances and Postecoglou deciding to prioritise Europe all played a part.

In sacking Postecoglou, Tottenham made it clear that they expect to compete on multiple fronts. Frank will face a similar fixture pile-up to his predecessor, with games every three to four days in most weeks, and the Dane will be hoping for better fortune when it comes to injuries as well as the club helping him to build a squad capable of taking on the expanded Champions League format, which brings eight league phase games, as well as the packed domestic season.

It will be a new experience for Frank as he has never experienced juggling European football during the middle of a campaign, with his only experience of it coming with 10 Europa League qualifying games back around a decade ago at Brondby.

The Tottenham supporters learned the club’s Premier League fixtures for the 2025/26 season on Wednesday morning but now football.london has inserted the European and potential domestic cup dates into the calendar and the full scope of the pile-up becomes clear. As always clubs in continental competition enter the Carabao Cup in the third round and the European games could cause Premier League matches to be shifted from their Saturday spots.

What was already a horrendous trio of games against Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in November now becomes even harder when you insert a potential Carabao Cup fourth round match days before the game against Chelsea, then Champions League matchday four after it, before the home game against United, and then the trip to the Emirates Stadium after the international break is swiftly followed by the next European matchday.

The little run of four horrible games from January into February next year against Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle and Arsenal also becomes even harder when you add in Champions League matchday eight just days before the game against City and a potential Carabao Cup semi-final second leg days after.

There could then be an FA Cup fourth round match and a potential Champions League knockout phase play-offs first leg tie to squeeze in between the games against Newcastle and Arsenal with the second leg of the play-offs just days after the home North London Derby.

In an ideal world Spurs will want to finish in the top eight in the expanded Champions League to avoid the play-offs, but that is easier said than done in Europe’s elite club competition.

It’s easier to see it all laid out so here is Tottenham’s fixture schedule in full for the 2025/26 season with the potential cup dates added in, with the Carabao Cup fixtures to be played in the week commencing their date:

16/08/25 Tottenham vs Burnley 3pm

23/08/25 Manchester City vs Tottenham 3pm

30/08/25 Tottenham vs Bournemouth 3pm

13/09/25 West Ham vs Tottenham 3pm

16-18/9/25 Champions League matchday one

20/09/25 Brighton vs Tottenham 3pm

22/09/25 Carabao Cup third round

27/09/25 Tottenham vs Wolves 3pm

30/9 to 01/10/25 Champions League matchday two

04/10/25 Leeds United vs Tottenham 3pm

18/10/25 Tottenham vs Aston Villa 3pm

21-22/10/25 Champions League matchday three

25/10/25 Everton vs Tottenham 3pm

27/10/25 Carabao Cup fourth round

01/11/25 Tottenham vs Chelsea 3pm

4-5/11/25 Champions League matchday four

08/11/25 Tottenham vs Manchester United 3pm

22/11/25 Arsenal vs Tottenham 3pm

25-26/11/25 Champions League matchday five

29/11/25 Tottenham vs Fulham 3pm

03/12/25 Newcastle United vs Tottenham 8pm

06/12/25 Tottenham vs Brentford 3pm

9-10/12/25 Champions League matchday six

13/12/25 Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham 3pm

15/12/25 Carabao Cup fifth round

20/12/25 Tottenham vs Liverpool 3pm

27/12/25 Crystal Palace vs Tottenham 3pm

30/12/25 Brentford vs Tottenham 8pm

03/01/26 Tottenham vs Sunderland 3pm

07/01/26 Bournemouth vs Tottenham 8pm

10/01/26 FA Cup third round

12/01/26 Carabao Cup semi-final first leg

17/01/26 Tottenham vs West Ham 3pm

20-21/01/26 Champions League matchday seven

24/01/26 Burnley vs Tottenham 3pm

28/01/26 Champions League matchday eight

31/01/26 Tottenham vs Manchester City 3pm

02/02/26 Carabao Cup semi-final second leg

07/02/26 Manchester United vs Tottenham 3pm

11/02/26 Tottenham vs Newcastle United 8pm

14/02/26 FA Cup fourth round

17-18/02/26 Champions League knockout phase play-offs first leg

21/02/26 Tottenham vs Arsenal 3pm

24-25/02/26 Champions League knockout phase play-offs second leg

28/02/26 Fulham vs Tottenham 3pm

04/03/26 Tottenham vs Crystal Palace 8pm

07/03/26 FA Cup fifth round

10-11/03/26 Champions League round of 16 first leg

14/03/26 Liverpool vs Tottenham 3pm

17-18/03/26 Champions League round of 16 second leg

21/03/26 Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest 3pm

22/03/26 Carabao Cup final

04/04/26 FA Cup quarter-final

7-8/04/26 Champions League quarter-final first leg

11/04/26 Sunderland vs Tottenham 3pm

14-15/04/26 Champions League quarter-final second leg

18/04/26 Tottenham vs Brighton 3pm

25/04/26 Wolves vs Tottenham 3pm

25/04/26 FA Cup semi-final

28-29/04/26 Champions League semi-final first leg

02/05/26 Aston Villa vs Tottenham 3pm

5-6/05/26 Champions League semi-final second leg

09/05/26 Tottenham vs Leeds United 3pm

16/05/26 FA Cup final

17/05/26 Chelsea vs Tottenham 3pm

24/05/26 Tottenham vs Everton 4pm

30/05/26 Champions League final in Budapest

Daniel Levy’s big statement, Vinai Venkatesham’s new approach & what lies ahead for Thomas Frank – click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham. Or watch on YouTube here.

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