The Sun

TOTTENHAM boss Thomas Frank was met with a chorus of boos after making a controversial substitution against Manchester United.

But his bold call helped Spurs to a dramatic 2-2 draw.

The Danish manager sparked fury inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when he decided to take off £58million summer signing Xavi Simons as his side chased an equaliser.

Simons, who joined from RB Leipzig in a blockbuster move, has endured a tough start to life in North London and was again struggling to make an impact.

But when his number came up on the board, fans were far from impressed.

Frank’s decision to replace the talented Dutchman with Mathys Tel was met with loud boos and chants of disapproval from the stands.

Tottenham were trailing at the time to a Bryan Mbeumo goal and supporters couldn’t understand why their manager had chosen to remove a big-money signing when chasing the game.

Yet Frank’s move proved to be a masterstroke.

Just minutes after coming on, Tel struck the equaliser, rifling a shot into the top corner to bring Spurs level and breathe new life into the contest.

The goal completely changed the atmosphere inside the ground, lifting the players and turning the crowd’s jeers into cheers.

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It was also a vital moment for Thomas Frank, who has been under growing pressure after last weekend’s 1–0 home defeat to Chelsea.

Spurs fans had been restless throughout the week, demanding a response from their team and they finally got one.

As Tottenham pushed forward, Richarlison looked to have completed the comeback late on, heading home instinctively to send the stadium into raptures.

The Brazilian thought he’d sealed all three points but United are a developing side and showed character with Matthijs de Ligt heading home an equaliser to rescue a point for his side.

For Simons, however, the substitution summed up a frustrating start to his Spurs career.

The £58million man has yet to find his rhythm since arriving in the summer and cut a dejected figure on the bench after the final whistle.

FOR 84 minutes this felt like a rerun of May’s dismal Europa League final… and then all hell broke loose.

Manchester United had taken the lead through former Thomas Frank favourite Bryan Mbeumo’s header just after half hour.

But that goal aside, the chances were few and far between, Frank’s Spurs were once again insipid at home and Ruben Amorim’s United were just happy not to be losing to Tottenham.

It was not as bad as the fare in Bilbao but it was close.

And then it all kicked off.

Mathys Tel, controversially sent on for Xavi Simons, levelled up with a brilliant swivel and blast with six minutes to go.

Things got even better for Spurs a minute into stoppage time as an effort from fellow sub Wilson Odobert was flicked home by Richarlison, who ripped off his shirt in celebration.

But the Brazilian’s ecstasy soon turned to agony as Matthijs De Ligt, who Tel had held off for his equaliser, headed home a corner with 90+6 on the clock.

What the two managers must have been feeling only they can describe.

Frank at one point had looked in danger of emulating Nuno Espirito Santo for his ultra-caution, then he thought he had won it, but then he didn’t.

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Amorim, who lost three times against Spurs last season including that miserable showpiece at the San Mames Stadium, saw his Tottenham curse lifted, descend and then disappear once more.

It was hard enough just catching your breath, let alone making any sense of the mayhem.

Perhaps in the long run it will feel like an acceptable result for both teams, as United extended their unbeaten run to five games and Spurs ensured they did not suffer another confidence-sapping home loss.

But the reality is both teams, managers and sets of fans will be feeling just as much frustration as relief.

At least the action-packed end meant the game in totality ended up being a better watch than it was five months ago in the San Mames Stadium.

Yet that was not the case for the vast majority of the game with both sides cancelling each other out in the middle of the park – as so many Premier League sides do these days – and neither looked to have much of a cutting edge.

Brazilian Richarlison, the embodiment of Spurs fan frustration for how he can produce the ingenious but is horribly inconsistent, missed Tottenham’s only good chance of the first half.

Brennan Johnson had whipped in a delicious cross on his weaker left foot which Richarlison had risen to meet – only to get the tamest of flicks on the ball and the moment was gone.

United, playing with the same four across the midfield that had struggled in Bilbao, looked comfortable.

In fact the most excited the quiet home fans got in the opening 45 was when Micky van de Ven dribbled the ball a few yards in his own half.

It was, of course, in reference to the early Puskas Goal of the Season contender the Dutchman produced against Copenhagen when running the ball all the way from his box to the other end and belting it into the back of the net.

Sadly this time there was to be no thrilling repeat as Van de Ven shifted the ball safely on to a team-mate.

The entertainment was in short supply – save for Patrick Dorgu’s laughable attempt at the campaign’s worst long throw.

But if one side looked like they had more of a clue how to break down the opponents, it was United, and on 32 minutes, they took the lead.

Spurs were the architects of their own downfall because Pape Sarr should have hacked the ball away to stop the move at source.

But he did not and when United had recycled the ball after Spurs thought they had cleared the danger from an initial Dorgu cross, Amad Diallo picked out Mbeumo beautifully for the Cameroon star to head home.

There was a smattering of boos from the home fans at the break as Frank stewed over another insipid home half where his team had registered just 0.07xG.

He knew he had to do something to shake things up and brought on Odobert for Randal Kolo Muani.

Spurs did up the intensity in the second half – they had to – and were rewarded with a flurry of early chances.

Captain Cristian Romero had the first, flicking on an Odobert cross, but was brilliantly repelled by Senne Lammens.

The Belgium keeper was then alive to a hooked effort from Joao Palhinha – a former Amorim favourite at Sporting Lisbon – and produced another fine reactionary stop.

Spurs did have the ball in the net shortly afterwards but Johnson was clearly offside when converting a pass from Richarlison, who really should have picked out the onside Odobert instead.

United began defending deeper and deeper but still looked good for the win.

That was until sub Tel controlled a Destiny Udogie cross in the box, held off De Ligt and smashed home a leveller.

Tel had come on for playmaker Simons which on the face of it looked a risky move from Frank given it was hardly a crowd-pleasing decision.

Yet Spurs looked to have won it when Richarlison flicked in Odobert’s effort on goal and set off on his barmy shirtless celebration.

But amazingly there was still time for United to salvage something thanks to De Ligt rising highest to a corner in the sixth minute of injury time, handing Amorim some Spurs relief at long last.

MANCHESTER UNITED face Tottenham RIGHT NOW – and a win would take either side to second in the table.

Spurs got back to winning ways with a 4-0 Champions League win against Copenhagen on Tuesday after a poor performance against bitter rivals Chelsea in a 1-0 defeat last weekend.

Tottenham boast an impressive record against United, having beaten them FOUR times last season.

But Ruben Amorim‘s side are in-form and on a run of four unbeaten.

Kick-off time: 12:30pm GMT

Live stream: discovery+

TV channel: TNT Sports 1

Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Van de Ven, Romero, Spence; Sarr, Palhinha, Simons; Johnson, Richarlison, Kolo Muani.

Man Utd XI: Lammens; De Ligt, Maguire, Shaw; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dorgu; Amad, Mbeumo, Cunha.

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THE timing was curious but it was the right call.

He may have seen it differently, but Daniel Levy’s fractious relationship with many Tottenham fans had broken down to the point of no return.

No matter what he did – and he did do a considerable amount for the North Londoners – their view of him had become entrenched and unchangeable.

It meant that every time Spurs had a bad result, or a transfer go awry, as seen by the Eberechi Eze hijack earlier this summer, the finger was instantly pointed to Levy.

The noise would grow to toxic levels – and not just on social media – and risk enveloping the club completely.

Levy’s stewardship, along with that of majority owners ENIC, had thousands of supporters taking to the streets in protest ahead of February’s 1-0 win over Manchester United.

Even when he finally oversaw a second trophy of his 25-year tenure in May with the clinching of the Europa League – 17 years after the first piece of silverware – it was not enough to change hearts and minds.

Levy turned Spurs into genuine powerhouses of English football in his quarter of a century and built one of the greatest football stadiums on the planet.

But his lack of trophies, approach to transfers, poor communication, ticket-pricing stance and flirtation with the failed Super League, meant the alleged negatives outweighed the positives in the minds of many fans.

His trigger-happy nature of hiring and firing 15 permanent bosses irked supporters, too.

Jose Mourinho was axed just days before the 2021 Carabao Cup final, while Ange Postecoglou was dismissed two weeks on from his Europa League triumph.

Neither are expected to rush to wish their condolences to Levy now he too has departed.

My only meeting with Levy came in 2022 during the club’s Far-Eastern tour to Seoul in South Korea, where he joined a group of journalists for a cup of tea for 15 minutes at the club’s plush hotel.

He was perfectly pleasant, if cagey, and you left being none the wiser on his views.

But the view from a vast swathe of supporters on him has been clear for some time.

Levy, the highest-paid director in the Premier League on £3.7million a year, became the lightning rod for all their frustrations, rightly or wrongly.

They had called for his exit long ago and were only going to do it again and again in the coming years.

If the new generation of the Lewis family who are in control of Spurs now are genuine about their vision of the future, it is understandable why they wanted to put that toxicity in the past.

He told Gary Neville just last month that when he’s no longer at Tottenham, “I’m sure I’ll get the credit” for all he has done for the club.

Now that theory will be put to the test after his shock exit three games into the new season.

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DARREN FLETCHER’S teenage son Jack has travelled with Manchester United’s squad to face Tottenham on Saturday.

But Kobbie Mainoo and Lisandro Martinez were not spotted travelling to London from Stockport station on Friday afternoon.

Jack, 18, stars as a midfielder in United’s Under-21 team and has been linked with breaking into Ruben Amorim‘s squad since August.

The teenager was included in a senior matchday squad for the first time in October 2024 for the match against Brentford.

He was also an unused substitute for games against West Ham and Chelsea in the following weeks.

His twin brother, Tyler, also plays for United’s academy side.

Amorim did not clarify United’s team news at his pre-match press conference.

But Mainoo was missing from the travelling pack, while Martinez returned to full training last week for the first time in nine months.

It comes on the day Mainoo, 20, again missed out on England selection after a lack of minutes.

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The Euro 2024 star has not started a single Premier League game this season, only being named in the XI for the dismal defeat at League Two Grimsby.

Mainoo has played 138 minutes of Prem football from the bench and was an unused sub during United’s 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest

Mainoo’s absence from the squad will be of concern to the Old Trafford faithful.

The England international wanted to move on to pastures new in the summer.

His desire to leave the Theatre of Dreams was in part due to falling down the pecking order under Amorim.

In January, the Portuguese gaffer claimed he wanted to keep the midfielder on the books.

But Mainoo has only started ONE of United’s eleven games this season.

Despite seemingly being surplus to requirements, Mainoo has been a consummate professional in training.

Amorim has been impressed by the midfielder’s efforts but admits there’s no room for him in his starting XI at this moment in time.

He told beIN Sports: “Every minute we are using to prepare the future with a lot of games and less training.

“We are giving a lot of information, we are working on our fitness because we need to keep momentum during the week with good training, really intense.

I see Kobbie Mainoo training today, and he deserves to play.”

Ruben Amorim on Kobbie Mainoo

“When you have more games you are just concerned about recovery. We suffered a lot from last season.

“People forget we played two and three days all of the time and that was really hard for us.

“But then you have the other side. I see Kobbie Mainoo training today, and he deserves to play, but then I have to take one guy [out] that’s playing really well.

“We should have played in the Carabao Cup, because I need to see Kobbie Mainoo playing, I need to see Josh.

“All of these guys deserve to play, but in the end, it is one more game you need to make choices. So you have both sides.”

Mainoo’s potential absence from the matchday squad could spell the end of an incredible club record.

A player from the club’s academy has featured in each of United’s matchday squads for the last 85 YEARS.

Mainoo ensured that the record was maintained by featuring in United’s last four matchday squads.

TOTTENHAM and Manchester United collide in Saturday’s Premier League showdown in north London.

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

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Tottenham vs Man Utd preview

Tottenham return to domestic action following their emphatic 4-0 victory over FC Copenhagen in the Champions League.

Playing midweek is often seen as a disadvantage, but it proved the perfect tonic for Thomas Frank’s side after successive defeats to Newcastle and Chelsea.

Spurs failed to score in either of those losses, producing an xG of just 0.1 – the lowest total recorded by any side this season.

Having returned to winning ways, Tottenham will hope to use that momentum to good effect in this weekend’s clash – and recent history suggests they might just do so.

Spurs completed the Premier League double over Manchester United last season, while the visitors have lost each of their last four meetings with the north London side.

However, Tottenham will need to address their worrying home form if they’re to protect their place in the top six heading into the international break.

No side has lost more home Premier League matches in 2025 than Spurs, with nine defeats, while manager Frank has suffered nine losses in his last 16 league games.

As for Manchester United, their three-game winning run ended at Nottingham Forest last weekend, but a 2-2 draw means they’ve now stretched their unbeaten streak to four matches – their joint-longest under Ruben Amorim.

It also maintained their excellent attacking form.

Only Liverpool (156) have registered more shots in the Premier League this season than Manchester United (153), and no side has had more efforts on target (54). They also boast the third-highest xG in the division – ahead of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Tottenham vs Man Utd preview betting odds

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Tottenham vs Man Utd preview betting tips and predictions

Bookings

We’re backing Tottenham to pick up the most bookings in Saturday’s encounter, available at 11/8 with William Hill.

Thomas Frank’s side haven’t been shy when it comes to discipline this season, collecting 21 yellow cards in 10 Premier League matches – the fourth-highest tally in the division. That’s hardly surprising given they also rank fifth for most fouls conceded.

As for the visitors, only Arsenal have picked up fewer cards than their 12 bookings, while they also sit among the bottom three sides for fouls conceded.

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Contribution

We’re also backing Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes to score or assist in Saturday’s clash, priced at 13/10 with William Hill.

The Portuguese midfielder, 31, has 53 Premier League assists – and since his debut in February 2020, only Mohamed Salah (64) and Kevin De Bruyne (58) have registered more. He’s also provided an assist in each of his last two away games and has created an impressive 28 chances for his teammates so far this season.

When it comes to goals, Fernandes leads this Manchester United side for expected goals (xG) and has five goal contributions in 12 appearances against Spurs.

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SATURDAY lunchtime sees Tottenham and Manchester United clash in the Premier League in north London.

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PREMIER League ace Yves Bissouma had more than £800,000 “stolen” in an alleged fraud from his VIP Coutts bank account.

The £30million Spurs midfielder’s losses occurred between September 2022 and June 2024, The Sun can reveal.

Maurice Gomes, 31, was initially arrested after a report from the player over a year ago.

Metropolitan police confirmed Gomes was charged with two counts of fraud by false representation in October. The maximum sentence for each offence is 10 years.

Bissouma, 29, who banks with Coutts — used by celebs, billionaires and royals — is the alleged victim in both cases.

Court records obtained by The Sun show Gomes is alleged to have “dishonestly” transferred Bissouma’s cash to himself without the Premier League star’s “knowledge or consent”.

Prosecutors claim Gomes was behind allegedly illicit bank transfers totalling £834,334.40 “to make a personal gain”.

The man’s link to Bissouma, said to be paid £50,000-a-week by the North London club, is not known and it is unclear how Gomes could have accessed Bissouma’s account.

The defendant, who lives in a £1.4million, six-bedroom house in Enfield, North London, is due to appear at Highbury Corner magistrates’ court today.

Mali international Bissouma, who signed for Spurs from Brighton in 2022, is likely to have to give evidence if it goes to trial.

A source said: “This has been deeply hurtful for Yves. It’s been a tough year for him on and off the pitch, and this hanging over his head will have contributed to that.”

Bissouma’s £255,000 watch was violently stolen in Cannes in June.

He’s made 100 appearances for Tottenham but has been frozen out since August — and the star was injured seconds after coming off the bench for Mali last month.

Coutts declined to comment.

RUBEN AMORIM has to decide if it’s Sesk-y football he wants at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko has played in the front three with Bryan Mbuemo and Matheus Cunha in the last two games.

The Red Devils avoided defeat in both of those games, meaning the tactical change somewhat worked.

However, Spurs will pose a different challenge in London.

And on our hit YouTube show Tactics Exposed, in association with Betfair, our in-house tactics man Dean Scoggins suggests it might be time for a change.

TRIPLE M THREAT

Sesko played well against Nottingham Forest and Brighton, linking the attacks positively.

But with Mason Mount back fit, from a tactical perspective, it makes sense to go back to the front three that served Man Utd so well at Anfield in their win over Liverpool.

Mount, Mbuemo and Cunha are more mobile and tactically flexible, plus Mount can do a job on Spurs full-back Pedro Porro in defensive positions.

As much of a threat Sesko is, Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero will be more comfortable with his physical attributes – especially with the deep midfield duo of Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha – than they will with the ball skills of Cunha.

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Mount should start on the left side, with Cunha in the middle and Mbeumo on the right.

Both Mount and Mbeumo can combine well with the wing-backs as well as midfield duo Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro.

All three attackers would also provide much more of a threat if Spurs decide to press high, prompting United to play long balls over the top.

NO BORING GAME

Some might be wondering if this game will be just as boring as the Europa League final – which saw Spurs beat United 1-0 – was in May.

However, both teams are a long way different from where they were in May.

Tottenham have changed manager from Ange Postecoglou to Thomas Frank, while Man Utd have changed their attitude and approach to games.

The Red Devils are much more compact this season and less likely to be dragged around the pitch as they were six months ago.

In the Europa League final, Spurs exploited the huge gaps between the centre backs.

But now United are able to control the space better, with the likes of Leny Yoro impressing this campaign.

On the flip side, Tottenham have struggled at home.

They have struggled to break teams down and be quick in possession, which is where Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons will face the pressure.

Spurs just need to go for it against Man Utd in the early stages of the game.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER

Questions have been raised over whether Spurs boss Frank will revert to a back three or back five a few times this season.

But even against a United 3-4-3 I think he resists that temptation.

With Destiny Udogie back fit, expect him to get forward in possession anyway and Porro to sit deeper to provide crosses.

If they were to make the formation switch, one player in particular would benefit – Van de Ven.

Should he play on the left side of the three and United lose the ball on the right, that will give the centre-back plenty of space to run into – and he already proved he is more than capable of a moment of magic against Copenhagen earlier this week.