Tottenham have said they are "extremely surprised" Arsenal's request to have Sunday's north London derby postponed was approved by the Premier League.
The Gunners asked the league to reschedule the match as they said they would not have the minimum requirement of 13 outfield players and one goalkeeper.
Mikel Arteta's side lodged the appeal after Martin Odegaard tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. Arsenal were also set to be without the suspended Granit Xhaka and the injured Cedric Soares, Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny and Nicolas Pepe are all at the Africa Cup of Nations as well.
Under Premier League rules, clubs can apply for a match to be postponed "if COVID-19 infections are a factor in their request".
Tottenham, though, are not happy with the decision, and have called for greater "clarity and consistency on the application of the rule".
A statement posted on Spurs' official website read: "We regret to announce that Sunday's north London derby against Arsenal has been postponed.
"This follows an application from Arsenal to the Premier League on the basis of a combination of COVID, existing and recent injuries and players on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
"We are extremely surprised that this application has been approved.
"We ourselves were disqualified from the European Conference League after a significant number of COVID cases meant we needed to reschedule a fixture and our application to move our Leicester fixture was not approved – only for it to be subsequently postponed when Leicester applied.
"The original intention of the guidance was to deal with player availability directly affected by COVID cases, resulting in depleted squads that when taken together with injuries would result in the club being unable to field a team.
"We do not believe it was the intent to deal with player availability unrelated to COVID. We may now be seeing the unintended consequences of this rule. It is important to have clarity and consistency on the application of the rule.
"Yet again fans have seen their plans disrupted at unacceptably short notice. We shall once again send food deliveries to the local food banks to avoid unacceptable waste.
"We are sincerely sorry for our fans – some of whom will have travelled great distances."
Inzaghi expecting Arsenal reaction after Newcastle defeat
Inter boss Simone Inzaghi is expecting a difficult test against "one of the best teams in Europe" when Arsenal visit the San Siro in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Arsenal come into the encounter against the reigning Serie A champions on the back of a defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League last weekend.
Mikel Arteta's side have now lost two of their last three league games, having tasted defeat just once in their 25 games in the top-flight (W21 D3) in 2024.
But Inzaghi, who helped Inter keep pace at the Serie A summit with a controversial 1-0 win over Venezia, is expecting a reaction from the Gunners.
"We are facing one of the best teams in Europe, very recognisable with a great coach," Inzaghi said.
"We all know how the big teams react after a defeat. Look at us after the derby... You find teams out for redress.
"I saw the match between Arsenal and Newcastle. Playing at Newcastle's home is not easy, but it was an open and fascinating match.
"We will find a team that lost two-and-a-half days ago, they will want to play a great game at San Siro."
Inter lost the Derby della Madonnina 2-1 to Milan in September, but have since gone on to win seven of their eight games in all competitions.
Inzaghi's side are just ahead of Arsenal in the Champions League table, with both teams picking up seven points from their opening three games.
The two sides have only met previously in the 2003-04 Champions League – both games were away wins (Arsenal 0-3 Inter, Inter 1-5 Arsenal).
While history favours the visiting side, Inzaghi has said his side will try to dominate possession against Arsenal in order to remain unbeaten in the competition.
"If you see Arsenal among 100 teams, without knowing the name, you recognise them. They played for the last two English titles, point for point with Manchester City," he said.
"We will have to try to keep the ball as much as possible, we know that we are facing a team that put on a lot of offensive pressure.
"We know that it will be a problem for us when they have the ball but the opposite is also true."
Arsenal have also struggled in recent games in the Champions League in Italy, failing to find the back of the net in their last four away games in the country.
Emmanuel Adebayor was the last Gunners player to score there in a 2-0 win over Milan in March 2008, and Inter will be confident of keeping it that way.
Although only five teams have faced more shots in the Champions League this season than Inter (53), they have kept three clean sheets so far.
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
Postecoglou praises 'outstanding' Tottenham after Villa turnaround
Ange Postecoglou saluted an "outstanding effort" by Tottenham after they came from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-1.
Spurs scored four second-half goals as they got back to winning ways in the Premier League, following last weekend's 1-0 defeat at lowly Crystal Palace.
Postecoglou's side notched up an impressive 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, but fell behind against Villa to Morgan Rogers' first-half effort.
Nevertheless, the hosts responded well after the break. Dominic Solanke scored twice, while Brennan Johnson and James Maddison were also on target in what was eventually a commanding victory.
And Postecoglou by the positive manner in which his players have responded to their setback at Selhurst Park.
"Seven days is a long time in football," he said. "Seven days ago, I was a grumpy old so and so. We have to stay true to the course we're on. We made sure not to feel sorry for ourselves and get back to the team we want to be.
"The first half was a bit of an arm wrestle. [Villa] have a consistent level of performance. We have other gears in us, which we showed in the second half. After the performance in midweek, I thought it was an outstanding effort.
"I felt the momentum was going our way, we knew we would finish strong and if we upped it a couple of gears like we can, we knew we would be hard to stop."
The head coach also paid tribute to Solanke, who became the first Spurs player to score at least four goals in his first eight Premier League appearances for the club since Rafael van der Vaart in 2010-11.
"The amount of work the guy did for us over the week - goals are great, but his capacity to do everything he can for the team in every area - I can't speak highly enough of him," Postecoglou added.
"We stuck with it," Solanke told Sky Sports. "A few times this season, we've gone a goal down. Against Palace, we didn't react in the right way, but today we did.
"We always believe we can score many goals. It all came together today in the second half. We had to adapt to the way they were playing. At half-time, we had time to regroup and discuss what we had to do.
"We've had some great games, but haven't managed to do it the whole season, but we think we're capable of it."
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