The Sun

ARSENAL officials were delighted with the reaction from fans to the tifo which was unfurled before Sunday’s 4-1 win over Tottenham at the Emirates.

And SunSport understands the club is certain to do it again ahead of a major game this season.

But the big question is: which match they will choose?

The club was mocked ahead of the Champions League semi-final against PSG last term with a giant red flag with a white cannon which was hung from the top of the North Bank.

Sports fan groups were consulted for this much better effort. The tifo read ‘The Arsenal’ with ‘These streets are our own’ underneath, together with images of Gabriel, Tony Adams, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, David Rocastle, Thierry Henry and Sol Campbell.

Dan Evans — a lifelong Arsenal fan with clients including Adidas and Netflix — was commissioned to design the display, working from the club’s London Colney training base.

Although some fans thought Ian Wright should have featured on Sunday, this latest one featured iconic moments from games against arch rivals Spurs.

Although he scored 185 goals for the club, Wright’s most important strikes came outside north London derbies.

For the next time, Arsenal still want the tifo to have an impact, like it did against Tottenham. Normally, you would be looking at the January home games against Liverpool and Manchester United although looking at their league positions, these games might not be the crucial matches they once were.

As a result, the next tifo could be the February 28 home game with Chelsea or after that, a Champions League knockout match.

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Asked about the tifo, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: “It’s about constantly learning and the thing that I loved is that it came from our people.

“Our supporters decided why they wanted to do it and how they wanted to do it. And I think the club gave them massive support to do that.

“In the end, it created something unique which is what you want and it was a great start to the day. I think it was beautifully delivered.’

LAY DOWN THE LAUR

FORMER Arsenal defender Lauren believes the club finally have the strength in depth to win their first title in 22 years.

Lauren, 48, part of the 2003-04 Invincibles side, told Sunsport: “This Arsenal team, I believe, is one of the strongest teams that we’ve ever seen. The team is balanced everywhere and we’ve got good players at the back.

“We have just conceded just six goals all season in the Premier League and that is just fantastic. I get the impression that whoever is on the pitch can do the job.

“Whether we can compare this team to the Invincibles, I think we have to wait. We must not rush and wait until the end of the season.

“But it is all about mentality. Apart from a fantastic back line, we have good people in the middle and good players in the last third.

“In the last two, three or four years, the hope was that we were going to win the League. But now, it is not just hope – there is a strong belief. And we are closer to winning the League because we are stronger at the back.”

Lauren, who now lives in Seville and works for La Liga TV and FIFA, also thinks Arsenal have caught up with Liverpool and Manchester City by adding to their offensive might with Vikotor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze joining in the summer.

The former right-back, who left Arsenal after six-and-a-half years in 2007, said: “Have a look at Liverpool last year. They had Gakpo, Diaz and Salah. With those players, it was easy to win the league. Man City had De Bruyne and Haaland.

“But now, I believe that in this case, we have the potential in the last third to win the league with Gyokeres, Madueke and Eze coming in”

Lauren was speaking via Champions League odds.

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ARSENAL co-chairman Josh Kroenke was among the guests when the club’s women’s team was awarded Islington’s highest honour – the Freedom of the Borough – in recognition of winning the Champions League last season.

The team won their first Euro title in 18 years by stunning Barcelona and on November 21, Cllr Jason Jackson, Mayor of Islington, bestowed the honour on the team.

Captain Kim Little, head coach Renee Slegers, Director of Women’s Football Clare Wheatley, and CEO Richard Garlick were at the ceremony to receive commemorative certificates.

Arsenal’s women’s side continues to be a massive success on and off the pitch.

All 11 WSL games will be staged at the Emirates this season with a current average of over 36,000.

Even at their recent 0-0 draw against Tottenham at Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road they sold out their away allocation of 1700.

CUP FOR IT

MARTIN ODEGAARD has revealed his delight that he is finally going to a World Cup. Norway have clinched their spot at next summer’s finals for their first appearance since 1998.

The Arsenal skipper, who returned from injury as a sub in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Bayern Munich, said: “For me personally, I’ve been in the team since 2014 and during that time we haven’t qualified for a major tournament so to get there is huge.

“It’s one of my biggest dreams to go to a tournament with Norway and to be able to go to a World Cup with this group of players is an unbelievable feeling.”

FORMER Spurs owner Joe Lewis was investigated by the FA over allegedly betting on matches.

The Wembley probe into Lewis, now 88, began after allegations against him were made in 2022.

FA disciplinary chiefs were alerted by claims that Lewis, whose ENIC took a controlling interest in Spurs in 2001, might have broken rules by betting on games.

However, the investigation was ended with a determination that no further action was required.

At the time, Lewis as the principle owner of the club, was bound by FA rules that say no player or official can make any football-related wager.

Lewis transferred his shares to the Lewis Family Trust in October 2022, placing him outside FA jurisdiction as he no longer had any official role in the club.

That came just before it was announced by US prosecutors in New York that Lewis was being charged with insider trading by tipping off friends, employees and even a lover with share information.

He admitted the charge in 2024 and was given probation with a £4m fine, although he was officially pardoned by US President Donald Trump earlier this month.

It is unclear if the FA decision to wind up the probe took place before or after the shares sale.

Pressed for comment by Bloomberg, the FA, Premier League and Tottenham declined to comment, as did a representative of Lewis and his company Tavistock.

But it is also understood that one individual the Trust had suggested might be eligible to join the Spurs board was advised not to apply by the Premier League due to his close relationship with Lewis.

The Lewis family has upped its interest in the club over the past year, leading to the ousting of former chief executive Daniel Levy – once an intimate of Lewis – in September.

Another long-time Lewis associate and City financier, Peter Charrington, is now chairman with high-profile roles led by his children, Vivienne and Charles.

Nick Beucher, the husband of Vivienne’s daughter, has also become involved in the hierarchy of the club.

Tottenham have faced recent takeover interest from a number of firms in recent months, but the Lewis family have insisted the club is not for sale.

Only in October they announced a £100million cash injection to show their ambitions to achieve “long-term sporting success”.

The club said in a statement: “This equity injection will further strengthen the club’s financial position and equip the club’s leadership team with additional resources to continue the focus on driving long-term sporting success.

“This additional capital is part of the Lewis family’s ongoing commitment to the club and its future.”

Since the departure of Levy, CEO Vinai Venkatesham has taken on the day-to-day running of the club.

AT LEAST no one could accuse Thomas Frank of being boring here.

The Dane had copped serious flak for dud displays containing no attacking intent whatsoever, most notably in the 4-1 humiliation to arch-rivals Arsenal on Sunday.

But here his side netted three at the home of the Champions League holders, with Randal Kolo Muani scoring two against his parent club after teeing up Richarlison for the opener.

The bad news was Paris Saint-Germain hit back with FIVE of their own, including a hat-trick from Vitinha plus strikes from Fabian Ruiz and Willian Pacho.

PSG ended up with ten men when Lucas Hernandez caught fellow sub Xavi Simons with an elbow in injury time, but by then the game was done.

It was a defeat in which Frank’s backline was consistently breached – and yet it felt a world away from the embarrassment at the Emirates.

In fact it was reminiscent of August’s Super Cup against PSG, where Frank hatched a back-five plan that saw his side take a 2-0 lead, only to ship two late goals and lose on penalties.

Frank afterwards that encounter between the Champions League and Europa League winners described it as a “special operation” which was working, but ultimately “the patient died”.

You could say the same here as Spurs went with a narrow 4-4-2 formation and limited PSG, initially at least, to long shots.

They even took the lead on 35 minutes when Lucas Bergvall’s clever flick played in Archie Gray, whose cross was diverted back the other way by Muani’s header for Richarlison to nod in.

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Spurs fans went potty in the far corner of the Parc des Princes, cheekily singing ‘Champions of Europe, we know what we are’.

They would just have been relieved at the reaction to Sunday that their team was showing, but then Vitinha levelled up on the stroke of half-time with an exocet missile of a shot.

Given how things have gone recently for Spurs, it would not have been a surprise if they had imploded at that point.

Instead, they rallied and retook the lead.

Pedro Porro swung a corner to the far post which Richarlison headed on for Gray to flick goalwards.

Willian Pacho headed it onto the bar and away, only for Kolo Muani to batter a volley back in off Marquinhos on the Brazilian’s 500th PSG appearance.

Kolo Muani refused to celebrate out of respect to his employers, but inside he must have been buzzing after breaking his Spurs duck.

This time the lead lasted an even shorter period as Vitinha, again, sweetly struck into the far corner, this time with his left foot, three minutes later.

Spurs were denied a chance to take stock as six minutes on, PSG had turned the tie around completely.

Cristian Romero fired a risky pass to Sarr who lost it under pressure from sub Lucas Hernandez, allowing quick-thinking Joao Neves to play in Ruiz who fired past Guglielmo Vicario.

The hosts then made it three goals in 12 second-half minutes as Sarr failed to clear away a corner, the ball fell loose and there was Pacho to fire home.

Game over, or so we thought.

But there was still time for Kolo Muani to strike again.

Vitinha had his one mis-step of the game by losing the ball, allowing Kolo Muani to ghost round the backline and drill into the far corner.

Yet once again any hope of a dramatic comeback was quickly extinguished when referee Felix Zwayer blew for a penalty when Vitinha’s shot struck Romero’s outstretched arm.

Former Wolves man Vitinha did the honours from 12 yards to complete his treble and kill off the patient for good.

But given how badly this week had been going for Frank, there was something restorative about this performance, if not the result.

Next to no Spurs supporters would have been expecting to win here.

But what they wanted from their team – and specifically their manager – was to give them something, anything, to be excited about going forward.

Frank and his team delivered that, at least.

THE Champions League continues tonight with Arsenal taking on Bayern Munich in another mammoth tie.

Both the Gunners and the German giants boast 100 per cent records after four games of the competition so far, with Mikel Arteta’s side yet to concede a goal.

Elsewhere, Tottenham look to respond to their North London derby hammering as they travel to the reigning champions PSG.

Kick off times: 5:45pm / 8pm GMT

TV/Stream: TNT Sports / discovery+

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THE Champions League continues tonight with Arsenal taking on Bayern Munich in another mammoth tie.

Both the Gunners and the German giants boast 100 per cent records after four games of the competition so far, with Mikel Arteta’s side yet to concede a goal.

Elsewhere, Tottenham look to respond to their North London derby hammering as they travel to the reigning champions PSG.

Kick off times: 5:45pm / 8pm GMT

TV/Stream: TNT Sports / discovery+

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HARRY KANE claims the obsession with set-plays is ruining the Premier League.

The England captain returns to North London with Bayern Munich for the Champions League clash at Arsenal.

And Bayern will face an Arsenal team who have led the way in terms of scoring goals from corners, free-kicks and long throws.

Kane said: “Watching the Premier League is probably a little less enjoyable than what it has been in recent years, to be honest. There have definitely been more set plays.

“But that’s kind of the evolution of football. Sometimes, it comes in like this and that’s the case this year.

“Arsenal have capitalised on that and are a really strong set plays team. We’ve done our normal preparation that we do in every game. Obviously, we looked at what they do well and their threats and how we can try and stop that.”

Kane, 32, is looking to continue his incredible record of scoring against Arsenal – and is still fired by his rejection from the club as a youngster.

The Tottenham legend was let go by the Gunners aged eight and has always admitted he had a “chip on his shoulder” about the club.

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Kane progressed to become a massive star for Spurs before joining Bayern in 2023 and in total, has scored 15 goals in 21 appearances against Arsenal.

Asked if he was still fired-up by that early setback, he said: “Maybe subconsciously that’s the case.

“From my point of view, maybe scoring against them just gives me a little bit more joy, but ultimately it comes down to winning the game as well. If I score and we don’t win, it’s not going to matter.

“My record is OK here at the stadium. I’ve scored a lot of goals, but I haven’t won loads of games. So it would be nice if that can change.

“With Tottenham, it was always a big game. It was always one of the biggest games of the season playing against Arsenal. I have a lot of friends who are Arsenal fans, a lot of friends who are Tottenham fans.

“With Bayern, it’s a little bit different because obviously we don’t play against them a lot. We played against them a couple of years ago in the quarter-final, which was a big win for us.”

Kane has netted six goals at the Emirates, more than any other players and he will be looking to continue his stunning season.

He is playing the best football of his career and has struck 24 times for the German giants this term. He has only failed to score in four games for Bayern but is expecting a difficult match against an Arsenal defence which has only conceded six goals.

Kane said: “Obviously, they’re top of the Premier League for a reason.

“They’ve won every game in the Champions League for a reason. They have good habits as a team, they’ve been working with Mikel for a long time and I think you see the way they set up, the way they get second balls, the way they play.

“Obviously, it can be really dangerous and then we’ve set pieces added to that as well.”

Kane has also told Bayern fans not to fret about him leaving. He has a release clause that means he can quit Bayern for £56.7million in the summer, so long as he states his intention to leave before the end of the January transfer window.

Yet asked if Bayern supporters should be worried about their star striker departing the club, Kane replied: “No, I don’t think so.

“I haven’t had any contact with anyone, nobody has contacted me. I feel very comfortable in the current situation, even though we haven’t yet discussed my situation with Bayern.

“There’s no rush. I’m really happy in Munich. You can see that in the way I’m playing.

WSL chiefs were forced into an embarrassing apology to Tottenham after an influencer’s anti-Spurs dig during a Women’s League Cup draw live on TikTok.

The design of the draw was meant to showcase the competition to a younger, online audience.

But it descended into farce on Tuesday night as social media star GK Barry, who boasts more than four million followers, unleashed a series of jokes, blunders and eyebrow-raising remarks while pulling the quarter-final and semi-final ties.

Barry, hosting alongside her partner Ella Rutherford of Portsmouth, opened proceedings with a crude one-liner before spanking the velvet ball bag against her backside, telling viewers: “Give it a shake, a spank for luck.”

But the chaos didn’t stop there.

At one point, Barry pulled out a ball, then inexplicably put it straight back in the bag before drawing it again.

The number belonged to Tottenham. Looking into the camera, she nervously asked whether she was even allowed to do that before shrugging: “I’ve done it now, it’s too late.”

The Athletic is is reporting that an adjudicator was present and verified the same ball had been redrawn, otherwise the whole thing would have had to be restarted.

But the real flashpoint came when Barry turned to Rutherford and asked: “What do we think of Tottenham?”

An unmistakable nod to a well-known anti-Spurs chant sung by Arsenal fans.

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That line, the Athletic say, triggered an immediate complaint from Tottenham, who have since received a direct apology from WSL Football acknowledging the remark was “not appropriate”.

Clips of the fiasco have spread across social media after the WSL, perhaps wisely, opted not to upload the livestream to its official channels.

Barry continued to poke fun at several clubs, asking what colour kits Liverpool and Chelsea wear and questioning how good various teams are.

She ended the show with another innuendo involving sponsor Subway.

When fans begged for on-screen graphics to follow what was happening, Barry quipped she needed a “bigger budget”.

The decision to bring in Barry was part of a push to court new audiences on TikTok, but the fallout has left league bosses red-faced.

On the footballing front, holders Chelsea will face a tough trip to Liverpool in the quarter-finals.

Manchester City head to West Ham, Manchester United host Spurs, and Arsenal welcome Crystal Palace, the sole WSL 2 side left standing.

In the semis, the Liverpool vs Chelsea winners will meet either City or West Ham, while United or Spurs will face the victors of Arsenal vs Palace.

But it’s the draw itself, not the fixtures, that fans won’t forget in a hurry.

TOTTENHAM face the daunting trip to Paris on Wednesday to face Champions League defending champions PSG in matchday five of the competition.

SunSport betting experts have previewed the contest and selected the best bets, tips and exclusive sign-up bonuses from our leading betting partners.

PSG vs Tottenham preview

A trip to the defending European champions will always be daunting at the best of times?

After throwing in one of the most tepid derby performances in recent years? The trip across the Channel becomes a frightening prospect.

PSG come into the game with their fair share of injury issues and having lost their last European game against ten man Bayern.

But back to back league games puts a positive slant on things and they are still fifth in these standings having won their first three games.

For Tottenham, it’s a different story.

Their only win in the last five games came in the Champions League at home to Copenhagen and they’ve lost three of the other four during that run.

That includes a disappointing home display in the 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea earlier this month then Sunday’s horror show at the Emirates.

Richarlison’s wondergoal and keeping the score down to four was the only positives to take away from the game and Thomas Frank is now bang under pressure as he hasn’t improved Spurs a great deal and they’re now not as pleasing on the eye.

But a good result here could change all of that and they’re unbeaten in 10th spot heading into it and chasing down a top eight finish.

PSG vs Tottenham betting odds

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PSG vs Tottenham predictions

Booked

Frank’s decision in the middle of the park is crucial here, after the ineffectiveness of Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur at the weekend.

Both of which would be near the top of this preview for the booking predictions here if it weren’t for the fact that they could and should be dropped.

Instead, Cristian Romero – who did well given the circumstances on Sunday – leaps to the top of the thoughts for a booking given he has two yellows in his last three games and aggressive nature coupled with fact Spurs likely to be without the ball for long periods make it a tasty combo.

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DEFENDING European Champions PSG welcome Tottenham to Paris on Wednesday in matchday five of Europe’s top competition.

To mark the big game, our team of betting experts has put together a 9/1 Bet Builder for the encounter, courtesy of Betfred.

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PSG vs Tottenham best betting tips

Our Bet Builder selections: Bradley Barcola to score, Pape Matar Sarr to be booked & PSG to score over 2.5 goals at 9/1 with Betfred HERE

Here’s why we’ve made those tips and selections..

Bradley Barcola to score: Injury issues have undoubtedly played their part for PSG this season after last year’s incredible campaign. But strength in depth allows players like Bradley Barcola – who scored after coming off the bench on Saturday – their chance in the team. Can back it up here against a shaky Spurs defence.

Pape Matar Sarr to be booked: Absolutely has to be in from the start in a combative midfield battle, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha highlighting on Sunday their inability to get round the park. Up against shrewd operators in there.

PSG to score over 2.5 goals: Spurs conceded four on Sunday at Arsenal and looked fragile whenever the Gunners came forward. Have conceded 37 shots in their last three Premier League games and PSG – who have scored three in the both of their last two games – can exploit that further.

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