The Sun

YVES BISSOUMA is a doubt for the North London derby after limping off on international duty.

The Tottenham midfielder, 28, was in action for Mali against Eswatini on Tuesday and netted the only goal of the game.

But he was forced off with a knock in the 65th minute after a heavy tackle and now Spurs are sweating on his fitness for Sunday’s powder-keg clash at home to Arsenal.

Bissouma was handed a one-match club ban last month for filming himself inhaling nitrous oxide, so missed the season-opener at Leicester.

Yet he has started both games since and netted a stunner in the 4-0 victory over Everton.

The blow comes just days after Arsenal's Martin Odegaard picked up an ankle injury while playing for Norway.

The Gunners' captain will miss the derby game and could be out for at least three weeks.

Meanwhile, fellow midfielder James Maddison says it is the current Spurs squad’s “duty” to end their trophy famine.

Tottenham have not tasted silverware since winning the League Cup in 2008.

They compete in the Europa League this term, while they have a potential banana skin of an opening Carabao Cup tie away to Coventry on Wednesday.

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Speaking to Australian channel Optus Sport, Maddison said: “What trophy would I like to win? I’d like to win all of them!

“It’s spoken about a lot in the media here and kind of a bit of a black mark against Tottenham’s name in terms of silverware.

“That’s on us, that’s our duty to try to change the history of recent times and try to get our hands on silverware.

“It’s not a thing that we should not talk about.

“The club needs to be winning trophies of this size and with the quality that we have, we should be battling it out for trophies.

“So we’ve got a good few competitions this year with the Europa League, the Carabao, the FA Cup and the Premier League.

“Hopefully we can have a deep run in one of them because winning trophies is for sure the best thing about football.

“When all is said and done at the end of your career, you look back on what you’ve won, I think.”

PREMIER LEAGUE titles aren’t won in September.

But they can be lost. And that is what Arsenal fans - and perhaps even boss Mikel Arteta - may be starting to fear.

Because if the Gunners fail to beat local rivals Tottenham on Sunday, they will be under huge pressure to win against title rivals City at the Etihad a week later.

And defeat by Pep Guardiola’s side would put Arsenal up to eight points behind City with only five games gone.

Which, given the fact that Guardiola’s winning machine tends to hit absolute top gear only in the second half of the season, would feel like an almost impossible gap to close.

The injury to captain Martin Odegaard which is likely to keep him out of both big Premier League games, either side of the awkwardly-scheduled Champions League trip to Atalanta, underlines the inferiority of Arsenal’s squad.

In the summer transfer window, the Gunners added cover in key positions: Riccardo Calafiori in defence, Raheem Sterling on the wing and Mikel Merino in midfield.

It was very unfortunate that Merino suffered a significant injury in his first training session, especially with Declan Rice out of the North London derby because of suspension.

Jorginho is a decent deputy to play alongside Thomas Partey, at least.

But the problem is that Arteta has no-one who can replace Odegaard’s qualities at a high enough level in attacking midfield (although it might have been less challenging if Emile Smith Rowe had not been sold).

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You can argue that there are very few players in the world who could.

But consider how City skipper coped, despite losing captain Kevin De Bruyne for half of last season.

De Bruyne featured in only 18 Premier League matches. It is true that City lost three games during the time he was sidelined with a hamstring problem and Arsenal streaked ahead.

But over the course of the season, it did not matter. Julian Alvarez, in particular, and City’s star-studded squad in general, were able to contribute enough that the Belgian’s lack of gametime did not stop them winning another title.

After a De Bruyne-less City side went down 1-0 at Aston Villa on December 6, they did not lose another game, winning 19 of their 23 remaining fixtures.

Don’t forget, either, that Erling Haaland missed a handful of games at the turn of the year. Fortunately for Guardiola, they were mostly against lower-level opposition and City won four out of five.

Which brings us to another issue - luck.

No-one is saying that Odegaard will be unavailable nearly as long as De Bruyne was. But the quirks of the fixture list - or a conspiracy, if you’re a particularly rabid Arsenal fan - mean his ankle problem has come at a really bad time.

You can still see a Gunners side without Rice and Odegaard finding a way to beat Spurs.

Riccardo Calafiori is also doubtful after the Italy defender was forced off during Friday's Nations League match against France with a calf problem.

But the absence of Odegaard from the Etihad, where Arsenal have not won a league game since January 2015, would be a massive blow to their chances.

Looking at it the opposite way, Arteta was very fortunate with injuries last season.

Rice and Odegaard were among six players to start at least 34 of the 38 Premier League games, with William Saliba playing every single minute. Another four players made at least 30 appearances as starters or subs.

That good fortune appears to have run out.

Meanwhile, the signs are Liverpool might well emerge as City’s biggest challengers.

The Reds have a pretty kind run of league fixtures between now and October 27, when they are due to face Arsenal at the Emirates.

The longer Odegaard is out, the bigger the potential gap by then.

Arteta needs his full squad to step up, on Sunday and in the coming weeks as the dual challenge of competing in the Premier League and Champions League resumes.

If they do not, after two seasons of fading in the final straight of the title race, Arsenal could be all but out of it while there are still plenty of leaves on the trees.

TOTTENHAM will hope to avoid an unwanted Premier League record against bitter rivals Arsenals this weekend.

Spurs will host the Gunners this Sunday but will not want to face another home defeat to Mikel Arteta's side.

Arsenal are heading to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium hoping for their third consecutive victory on their rivals’ turf, in a bid to keep up with league leaders Manchester City and Liverpool.

Spurs’ recent 2-1 defeat to Newcastle has added extra pressure to this weekend’s match, as they currently sit tenth in the table after three games.

For Ange Postecoglou’s team to return to winning ways, they must overcome an own-goal challenge.

Tottenham have scored an own goal in each of their last three Premier League encounters with Arsenal.

So spurs will be eager to avoid breaking that unwanted record as no team has ever conceded four own goals in consecutive matches against the same opponent.

In their April match, Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg inadvertently headed a corner into his own net, giving Arsenal the lead in their 3-2 win.

This incident came after Cristian Romero scored an own goal in the 2-2 draw at the Emirates last September.

Prior to that, former Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris fumbled Bukayo Saka’s cross, turning it into his own net.

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All three own goals have actually stemmed from Saka’s dynamic play on Arsenal’s right wing.

Postecoglou will therefore want to make sure his biggest rivals do not get an early advantage and avoid similar mistakes.

Arsenal are looking to bounce back in Sunday’s match after a 1-1 draw at home against Brighton last month.

Arteta is concerned about the fitness of captain Martin Odegaard, who limped off during Norway’s 2-1 victory over Austria on Monday night.

The 25-year-old has returned to London for tests after what seems to be an ankle sprain.

JORGINHO claims NOTHING can dent Arsenal’s belief Mikel Arteta is leading them to glory.

The Italian’s theory looks set for a massive test on Sunday as Arteta’s Gunners head to Tottenham for the first North London derby of the season.

And they look set to be without THREE key midfielders in Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino.

Rice and new-boy Merino are definitely out, while skipper Odegaard is a huge doubt after returning from Norway duty on crutches.

That opens the door for Jorginho to feature for the first time in his third campaign under manager Arteta.

And the former Chelsea midfielder, 32, insists everything is now geared up for success.

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Despite the Gunners last lifting the Prem title in 2004, he said: “The mentality now is different because you can see the hunger of wanting to win.

“The way you train every day, the information you have — even pictures at the training ground. Everything’s about winning.

“It’s really good as Mikel put up all these messages you see. It gets into your mind when you keep seeing them and you start to believe it.

“Then you get into the habit. You have the motivation and all we want to do is win.”

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Jorginho is set to slot into the middle alongside Thomas Partey, with Kai Havertz likely to drop back and join them.

That could also mean an instant debut for deadline-day signing Raheem Sterling.

Jorginho played with Sterling at Chelsea in 2022-23 and he revealed the winger’s arrival before their 1-1 draw with Brighton came as a surprise.

Speaking to Gunners legend David Seaman on the Seaman Says podcast, via Betway, he said: “It was the day of the game, people were talking and I was like, ‘What?!’ But he’s going to be great for us.”

Merino, a £27.4million arrival from Real Sociedad, is out after fracturing his shoulder during his first training session.

Rice is banned following a controversial red against Brighton.

He got a second yellow for tapping the ball away as Joel Veltman took a free-kick.

Defender Veltman then clattered into Rice and Arteta felt he deserved a red, too.

Jorginho agreed, adding: “If it is a sending-off there, it’s there for both of them.”

ARSENAL travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the North London derby on Sunday with all to play for.

The Gunners lost their 100 per cent record after a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton.

It was a game Mikel Arteta's side could easily have lost after Declan Rice's controversial second-half red card.

While Spurs would have been equally as disappointed with their last outing - beaten by Newcastle at St James' Park 2-1.

Watching matters closely will be the player's Wags.

Let SunSport introduce you to the beauties, including one who had a romance with Hollywood star Jude Law.

Tatiana Trouboul

Tatiana used to work in a nightclub before she met Spain goalkeeper David Raya.

The Kim Kardashian lookalike also scored paid jobs as a model.

But, she has kept her personal life private in regards to her romance with Raya, although they have matching tattoos.

They reportedly began dating in 2021. However, they didn't go public with their relationship until June 2022.

Kennedy Alexa

Stunner Kennedy lived in Los Angeles before she was swept off her feet by Tottenham's James Maddison.

They have since had three children together - Leo Cruz in 2021, and twins Rome and Delilah.

The model was championed on social media by mums for showing off her stretch marks from her last pregnancy, admitting they were tough to embrace but how proud she was to give birth to three healthy children.

Kennedy has since returned to fashion photoshoots and is more in demand than ever.

Claudia Kiwior

Stunning blonde Claudia is the flamboyant twerking wife of Arsenal's Polish defender Jakub Kiwior.

She goes under the stage name Redheaded and has her own clothing label aimed at dancers.

Claudia is a competitive twerker - and won the Queen of Twerking Competition in Germany in 2017, and was a semi-finalist in the European Twerk Champions in 2018.

She is a regular in the stands at the Emirates - cheering her beau on.

Paula Lense

Blonde Paula has been with Timo Werner since 2017, when he played for RB Leipzig.

But, they reveal very little about their personal life and keep their romance private.

The pair did get engaged, and is not known if they married or not.

However, she did recently share images of the pair enjoying a glam trip to Los Angeles.

Catherine Harding

Brunette beauty Catherine was one of the stars of Amazon Prime's Married to the Game docu series.

The Irish beauty, who is married to Jorginho, has previous with reality TV.

She famous appeared as a contestant on The Voice - and was mentored Ollie Murs.

Harding also had a romance with Jude Law, fathering a daughter called Ada with the Hollywood star.

Karen Romero

Karen is the wife of Tottenham hard man Cristian Romero.

However, she likes to remain out of the limelight and prefers to keep her Instagram account private.

They reportedly began dating in 2018, when Romero was playing in Serie A.

Cristian and Karen said their 'I do's' in 2020, before welcoming a son a year later.

Back in May, they revealed a second child is on the way.

Milly White

Milly and Ben White have enjoyed a whirlwind romance.

The Gunners right-back got together with the Instagram model in 2022.

White wasted very little time before popping the question on a luxury holiday

The happy couple shared pictures of their engagement, including one of their matching 'I love you' wrist tattoos.

Then, in May 2023 the pair were married at a private ceremony at the Old Marylebone Town Hall in London.

Ioana Stan

Ioana joined boyfriend Radu Dragusin in London, after signing from Genoa in the winter transfer window in 2024.

And she settled into life in North London by playing Tottenham Monopoly.

She's an aspiring architect who has been studying the skill at university.

The beauty has been appearing on Dragusin's Instagram since 2021 .

Tolami Benson

Tolami works in public relations and is the Senior Planning Executive of Zenith.

According to her LinkedIn, Tolami studied at Birmingham City University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Public Relations and Media Public Relations.

She was spotted supporting beau Bukayo Saka at the Euros in Germany.

While the PR is also a regular at the Emirates.

Eldina Ahmic

Bosnian beauty Eldina began dating Dejan Kulusevski in 2020, when the Spurs ace played for Serie A giants Parma.

Football must have been a hot topic for the pair, because at the time she played for Swedish side, IF Brommapojkarna.

Last December, Kulusevksi scored in the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest and dedicated the goal to his wife and future child.

Stuffing the ball underneath his jersey, he then proceeded to make the heart sign with his hands.

Their first child was born back in April.

DISTRAUGHT Arsenal fans cried “cancel the season” after discovering who will ref their upcoming derby against Tottenham.

Mikel Arteta’s man head into the clash with a number of major absences following their 1-1 draw with Brighton.

Declan Rice was sent off in that game, meaning he will miss the Spurs encounter through suspension.

New boy Mikel Merino is out for two months with a freak shoulder injury.

Captain Martin Odegaard has become the latest casualty after turning his ankle while playing for Norway.

There’s further concerns at the back too, with Riccardo Calafiori forced off for Italy.

And Arteta could be forced to cobble together a new-look XI which may feature Raheem Sterling.

However, some Arsenal fans reckon it doesn’t matter who takes to the field on Sunday.

That’s because referee Jarred Gillett was confirmed as the main official for the occasion.

Arsenal have a history with Gillett, who took charge of their controversial 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last season.

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John McGinn scored the only goal in December’s encounter between the two sides.

But Arsenal felt they were hard done by, with Gillett refusing to award a penalty for a foul by Douglas Luiz on Gabriel Jesus in Villa’s box.

With just moments of the game remaining, Kai Havertz then bundled home a timely equaliser at Villa Park.

Yet his effort was immediately chalked off by Gillett for handball.

Replays showed the ball had ricocheted off both Havertz and Cash in a frenzied bundle.

But VAR decided not to intervene and stood by Gillett’s initial call.

Arteta was left raging at the final whistle, saying: “Clear and obvious, clear and obvious.

“That’s what I mean. That’s my opinion, that’s all I can say.”

And Arsenal fans are now bracing themselves to be on the receiving end of more questionable calls.

One said: “Cancel the season.”

Another declared: “This is a Gabriel red card and a Spurs penalty.”

One noted: “Are you f***ing kidding me?”

Another added: “I think we are finished for Sunday.”

HARRY KANE came close to being released by Tottenham as a kid, the England captain has revealed.

The forward had already been rejected by Arsenal when he joined Spurs' academy in 2004.

His arrival came following a spell with Watford after the Gunners let him go as an eight-year-old two years earlier.

Although he would go on to become the club's record goalscorer, Kane could have left Spurs before even making the first-team.

Speaking during the Three Lions' pre-match press conference on Monday, he explained: "I was eight when I was released by Arsenal. That might have built a bit of desire to prove them wrong.

"And when I first came to Spurs, I was close to being released.

"I was never the guy who everyone thought was going to do what I’ve done.

"I went on loan but still had to fight for my place, fight for the opportunity to show I could play at the level I wanted to.

"There have always been people who doubted me."

Kane was later loaned out four times to Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester before breaking into the side at Spurs.

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He went on to become the club's all-time top scorer, though, with 280 goals in 435 appearances.

Of those strikes, 14 came in North London derbies against bitter rivals Arsenal.

Now playing in Germany for Bayern Munich, Kane will reach another landmark on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old is set to start England's Nations League clash with Finland at Wembley Stadium.

In doing so, he will pick up his 100th senior cap for the Three Lions to move closer to Peter Shilton's record of 125.

Kane has already surpassed Wayne Rooney to become the country's leading goalscorer.

His penalty against the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final extended his record tally to 66, having broken Rooney's record 16 months earlier.

And he wants to set the bar even higher.

Asked about getting a ton of international goals, Kane replied: “It is definitely possible. I am in a good place and this is a good target to try to reach.

“Some may see it as unrealistic but I would rather go for it and not quite make it than be comfortable saying, ‘I will be happy with 70 or 80 goals’.”

FORMER Premier League star Paulinho broke down in tears as he announced his retirement from football.

The Brazilian starred for Tottenham between 2013 and 2015 and played over 50 times for his national side.

Paulinho, 36, has now hung up his boots for the last time with an emotional video on social media.

He captioned the post: "Thank you football."

Speaking in the video, in which he struggles to talk, he said: "I was privileged to have been a multi-champion and to have won important things, as well as playing in two World Cups and playing for Barcelona.

"I left a great legacy.

"In my last game with Corinthians, with 45,000 Corinthians fans, I felt it would be my last game.

"There would be no better way to say goodbye."

The midfielder has been swamped with tributes from fans and his former team-mates.

One shared: "Congrats bro, an example of a player without a doubt!"

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A second wrote: "Thanks for everything brother! You're a monster. Football. Thank you."

A third commented: "Congratulations on the beautiful career, your career is written and will never be erased."

A fourth said: "Congratulations on a wonderful career! Let's fly even higher, you deserve it!"

Another added: "His legacy is immense."

Paulinho joined Tottenham as part of the club's attempts to replace Gareth Bale after the Welshman joined Real Madrid.

The Brazilian failed to show his best form in North London and left the club for the Chinese side Guangzhou FC after two seasons.

However, in 2017, he made a shock return to European football as he signed for Barcelona in a £33million deal.

During his time in Spain, he won the LaLiga title and Copa del Rey in 2018.

He then returned to Guangzhou on an initial loan deal, which was then made permanent for £35m in 2019.

He left the club yet again in 2021 after he was released from his contract due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After a spell in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli, he returned to Brazilian side Corinthians, where he made his name, in 2022.

But after two years with the club, he has called time on his career.

TOTTENHAM have been made the favourites to win this season's Europa League.

However, fans have been left rubbing their eyes after seeing the odds on Spurs to lift the trophy.

Ange Postecoglou's side make their return to Europe later this month after finishing fifth in the Premier League last season.

Spurs are looking to end their 16-year wait for a trophy by winning the Europa League for a third time.

They previously lifted it twice under the Uefa Cup banner, most recently in 1984.

Following the draw for this season's league phase, Spurs were revealed as 9/2 favourites to go on and win the competition.

The North London club are fancied ahead of Manchester United and Roma at 5/1 and 8/1, respectively.

Supporters are not convinced, though, with one commenting: "Nah. Spurs can’t be favourites to win anything."

Another added: "How on God’s green earth have Spurs ever been favourites for any competition."

A third fan also wrote: "Tottenham favourites. Got to be joking ain’t you."

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Meanwhile, one more said: "I’m crying so hard… dream on."

Spurs' trophy drought dates back to their 2008 League Cup triumph under Juande Ramos.

They have since reached the final three more times, losing all three, along with their defeat in the Champions League showpiece in 2019.

This season's revamped Europa League will see Postecoglou's side play eight times during the opening stage, starting on September 26.

Azerbaijan's Qarabag visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on matchday one after the fixtures were revealed last week.

TOTTENHAM'S Europa League hopes have been hit by a long-delayed ban for a key defender.

Cristian Romero will miss Spurs' group opener against Qarabag on September 26 - due to being sent off in the Champions League TWO SEASONS ago.

Uefa have confirmed that European bans can kick in as late as two years after an offence - which adds to headaches at the back for Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou.

Romero was sent off for two bookings in Spurs' last European adventure, in March 2023.

Having lost 1-0 away to AC Milan in the Champions League round-of-16, the Argentinian World Cup-winner's woe then helped kill off their hopes in the second leg.

Romero, now 26, earned his first yellow card after just 17 minutes of a poor Tottenham display.

And a reckless challenge on Theo Hernandez late on meant his second booking in a tame 0-0 draw.

Spurs have been out of Europe since then, so it's only now that Romero's suspension comes into play.

His absence at home to Azerbaijan Premier League side Qarabag later this month means Postecoglou could face selection problems at centre-back.

Dutch centre-back Micky van de Ven has been troubled by injury.

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However, Postecoglou is confident the 23-year-old will be back by the end of September.

He said: "Micky was close in training this week but with the international break he's not quite 100 per cent."

Radu Dragusin is Tottenham's other main option in central defence.

And if needed Ben Davies, usually a left-back, could switch inside.