The New York Times

With less than a third of the Premier League season remaining, there is little separation at the top and at the bottom of the table, and points-per-game hint at one of the most balanced campaigns of recent times.

Fixture congestion, a crowded calendar and mid-season international tournaments have chipped away at the usual hierarchy, leaving more matches decided by fine margins and keeping more teams involved in the relegation battle for longer.

With that in mind, here are four standout fixtures this weekend and the underlying numbers that frame them.

Liverpool vs West Ham United

West Ham have scored 59 per cent of their Premier League goals in the first half (19 of 32), the highest share this season, while Liverpool sit at the other extreme with just 31 per cent of their goals before the interval (13 of 42).

Since the start of 2026, West Ham’s first‑half share has climbed to 82 per cent, and their bleak survival chances have risen with it. Since their away win over Tottenham on January 15, only five teams have taken more points than Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

The head coach has imposed sharper structure and clearer roles in possession, and January’s transfer work has reinforced that. Taty Castellanos now offers a focal point, Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville have greater freedom, and Mateus Fernandes has begun to dictate games. They produced 20 shots in their last outing, their highest total in a league match this season.

The issue is what happens once they are ahead. No team has dropped more points from winning positions than West Ham’s 20, a direct product of that strong‑start, weak‑finish pattern.

The clean sheet and lack of big chances conceded against an in‑form Bournemouth should help their confidence, but Liverpool present a different test. Arne Slot’s side are chasing a third straight win and a move into fifth, and they tend to grow into games, with a league‑high 13 goals in the 90th minute or later this season, including a 97th‑minute winner against West Ham’s relegation rivals Nottingham Forest.

West Ham have also lost 26 of their 29 Premier League away games against reigning champions. If the numbers hold, the first half should belong to Nuno’s team and the closing stages to Anfield.

Leeds United vs Manchester City

Since 2017-18, Manchester City have conceded two or more goals in only three of their 52 Premier League games against promoted sides, and two of those have come against Daniel Farke teams. Farke's Norwich City beat them 3-2 in September 2019, Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds beat them 2-1 in April 2021, and Farke’s current Leeds side pushed them all the way but lost 3-2 at the Etihad in November.

City arrive at Elland Road looking far less charitable. They have scored 11 goals in their last five league matches, 2.2 per game, since Pep Guardiola’s latest attacking shift. The new version of City trades some of their old, possession-heavy control for a more transitional model built on athleticism and moments.

They are more willing to accept end-to-end phases, defend a little deeper and attack quicker, generating more expected goals (xG) from fast breaks and counters. Direct runners stretch the pitch vertically, while Nico O'Reilly’s more central, box-to-box role links those chaotic transitions with the kind of structured possession Guardiola still values.

Leeds, though, are stronger than their league position suggests. They have only lost twice in their last 14 games, underpinned by a league-best 23.49 xGOT over that spell. The flip side is game management: they have dropped nine points from winning positions in that period, have not kept a clean sheet in their last six outings and have drawn a league-high eight games.

Elland Road under the lights should sharpen them. Leeds are unbeaten in their last 25 league or play-off matches at home kicking off after 5pm (W20 D5) since a 6-1 loss to Liverpool in April 2023, even if they have lost each of their last five Premier League meetings with City.

Leeds-born Erling Haaland scored twice on his last visit here in December 2022, and no visiting player has ever scored two or more in consecutive top-flight trips to this ground. The numbers point to goals.

Fulham vs Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham’s biggest question at Craven Cottage is whether a back three that keeps hurting them can cope with Raul Jimenez.

Spurs have used a three‑man defence four times this season, including Igor Tudor’s first league game in charge, the 4-1 home defeat by Arsenal. Before Tudor, Thomas Frank turned to a back three for the first time in the 4-1 loss at the Emirates, with the other two outings in that shape coming in 2-2 draws against Manchester City and Burnley.

Tudor is wedded to a rigid three-at-the-back system, but across Tottenham’s last 10 league matches using that shape, they have managed just one win (D3 L6) and none in the last six (D2 L4).

The wider picture is just as bleak. Tottenham are the only side in the division without a Premier League victory in 2026. They are winless in nine (D4, L5), and this is only the fourth time in their history they have gone through January and February without a league win. Over that period, they have also conceded more goals than anyone else, 18 since the turn of the year, the kind of form that drags teams towards relegation rather than out of it.

Fulham will fancy exploiting those nerves through Jimenez. He has scored the opening goal in 32 of the 61 league games in which he has found the net, including in four of Fulham’s last 11 games.

He scored a double at Sunderland, including the opening goal, and extended his perfect Premier League penalty record. It took the Mexico striker to eight league goals this season, joint-most at Fulham with Harry Wilson. They will be the main tests of whether Tudor’s back three can finally hold.

Arsenal vs Chelsea

Few teams look as at home in their own city as Arsenal: since the start of 2022-23 they have failed to score in only two of 44 London derbies, both against West Ham. Arsenal are also unbeaten in their last 10 meetings with Chelsea in all competitions, winning seven and drawing three, and have won their last three home league games against them.

They also went some way to muting the familiar questions about their nerve in a title race with that thumping derby win at Spurs, a game in which Viktor Gyokeres, the Premier League’s leading scorer in 2026, produced arguably his best domestic performance in an Arsenal shirt.

He still has a point to prove. His 10 league goals include just one against a side currently in the top half, Everton, ninth at the time, and he has registered zero shots on target against all of the present top eight (City, Villa, United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Brentford and Bournemouth).

He will be desperate to correct that, but the burden does not rest solely on him. Against the current top eight, Arsenal have taken 10 of 24 available points, dropping 14; against the other 12 sides, they have taken 44 of 51, dropping only seven.

Chelsea arrive nursing a different kind of frustration, having dropped four points in their last two games. A red card and defensive lapses saw them squander a 2-0 lead over Leeds for an hour, then concede late to Burnley after leading for almost the entire match.

Only West Ham have dropped more points (20) from winning positions than Chelsea’s 19 this season. Arsenal will sense an opportunity to extend their lead at the top as the title race tightens around them.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Igor Tudor will have Kevin Danso and Pedro Porro available for Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Fulham.

Porro has been unavailable since picking up a hamstring injury in last month’s 2-2 away draw against Burnley. The Spain international full-back had featured in every Premier League game under Thomas Frank, assisting two goals. Centre-back Danso has been sidelined since suffering a torn ligament in his big toe during the 2-0 Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

“Yeah, that’s right, Tudor said, having been asked if the duo are fit to return on the weekend. “No other issues, small problems for Micky (van de Ven), with his small toe, I think, but he’s okay.”

Tottenham now have three fit central strikers, with Dominic Solanke, who started on the bench for last weekend’s 4-1 defeat to Arsenal due to a throat issue, Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani, after scoring his first league goal of the season, available for selection.

However, Tudor is still awaiting the returns of Lucas Bergvall and Mohammed Kudus. Bergvall underwent ankle surgery after the 2-0 Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund and there is no public timeline set on his return, while Tudor’s predecessor Thomas Frank suggested Kudus could return after the March international break.

Tudor added that he hopes Dejan Kulusevski, who has missed the entirety of the league season with a patella injury, will return before the end of the season, but “we don’t know”.

Tottenham are yet to win a league match in 2026, and currently sit 16th in the Premier League table, just four points above West Ham United in 18th. With 11 games remaining of the league season, Tudor described the situation as “a question of life and death”.

“There is not too much time to think about performance or style,” Tudor said. “It’s really the question that every game needs to be prepared in the way: how are we going to take these points? One way, another way? Just that needs to be the goal. Unfortunately, it’s for me very clear. I’m also not the kind of coach who doesn’t want to cure style, or how we perform, what we do. But at this moment it’s not possible to think about those things.

“In Italy they use the term, have the mentality of a small team. That’s the key always. With the handles, willing, with the wish to have always motivation like you’re playing against a bigger team. So that’s the start, and then we work a lot of that. They’re aware of everything”.

Tudor has a reputation as a “firefighter”, helping to rescue Udinese in Serie A from threat of relegation and then stabilising mid-table club Hellas Verona in Italy’s top tier. He has also worked to breathe new life into clubs higher up the table, coming in mid-season to deliver Champions League football at Juventus last term. But when asked whether this is the most difficult task Tudor has taken in his managerial career so far, he replied: “Probably yes, recognising the difficulties we have.”

This week marked the fourth anniversary of one of Antonio Conte’s less remembered outbursts as Tottenham Hotspur head coach.

On February 23, 2022, after Spurs had slumped to defeat at Burnley (their fourth loss in five league matches), a frustrated Conte questioned if he was the right man for the job, saying he was “ready to go” and encouraging his superiors to “make an assessment about me”.

Conte had only been at the club for three and a half months but already appeared to regret answering Tottenham’s call at the second time of asking.

The Italian carried on at Spurs for another 13 months before finally being put out of his misery after his much more memorable rant at Southampton in March 2023.

Conte’s evisceration of his players at St Mary’s has become a dark footnote in the club’s modern history, but as present-day Spurs sink into a full-blown relegation battle, it is not the most instructive of his various outbursts.

In taking aim at his players — describing them as “selfish” and lacking “heart” — but pulling his punches when it came to how the club was run, Conte’s 2023 tirade ended up feeling hollow.

It came across as self-serving, deflecting the blame for his part in Spurs’ underwhelming season, and self-incriminating. As head coach, Conte was responsible for motivating his supposedly feckless players.

Instead of mulling over the wisdom of Conte’s final press conference, it is much more illuminating to consider a warning he fired to Spurs a year earlier, in March 2022, not long after his frustration at Turf Moor.

As his side prepared to host Frank Lampard’s Everton, then mired in a relegation fight, Conte predicted that Spurs could soon find themselves in a similar situation.

“The level of this league is so high,” he said. “You have to pay great attention and it’s my forecast that in the future it will be worse… it will be very, very difficult and then you’ll have to pay greater attention.

“Teams that at this moment seem to be in the middle, they could slip. Everton is a good example. You look at the Everton squad, their players, and you can think it’s impossible that Everton is fighting relegation.

“They had such an important coach in Rafa Benitez, who won the Champions League and titles, and was sacked. And now they’re fighting for the relegation zone.

“Everton is a good example to understand that this league is very, very difficult and in the future, it will become much more difficult.”

Looking back now, Conte’s “forecast” is remarkably prescient.

At the time, it was widely considered “impossible” that Spurs could be dragged into a scrap at the foot of the table.

They were part of English football’s ‘Big Six’, and their dressing room was led by Hugo Lloris, a World Cup winner, and Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, two of the finest forwards in Premier League history.

Spurs also had their own “important coach” in Conte, who had won titles wherever he had been, and were still punching at the top end of the table, despite a turbulent few years.

As if to illustrate the absurdity of Conte’s claim, the day after his gloomy prediction, Spurs thrashed Everton 5-0, with Son and Kane (twice) on the scoresheet, and they finished that season in fourth.

Yet, within three years, Spurs would end a campaign in 17th, one place above the drop zone, although they were never seriously in a relegation battle last season.

This time around, it is different: Spurs are four points from safety with 11 games to play, and without a league win since December.

With no momentum, no confidence, a horrendous injury list and the teams around them seemingly scrapping harder (West Ham United in 18th have taken 11 points from their past six games, while Spurs have taken two), no one should be in any doubt about the gravity of their situation under interim head coach Igor Tudor.

Conte’s prediction that the Premier League’s overall level would increase and that complacent clubs would plummet down the table has come to pass. Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham and Brentford have moved ahead of Spurs.

Perhaps Conte was catastrophising, but he sensed that for all the star quality in his squad, Spurs were built on “fragile foundations” — to borrow a phrase from his successor, Ange Postecoglou — and would inevitably “slip” if they continued to operate in the same way.

He would have been aware that Kane could soon force his way out of the club (the England captain had angled for a move to Manchester City before Conte arrived and would eventually follow him out of the club, joining Bayern Munich in August 2023) and that Son, who turned 30 that year, would eventually decline — leaving precious little quality in the squad.

In his mind, Spurs’ determination to operate with one of the top flight’s strictest wage structures would quickly catch up with them in a hyper-competitive league, where more clubs could dream of European football.

Conte believed that the muddled thinking and questionable ambition of the club’s hierarchy, then led by chairman Daniel Levy, would also be costly.

The prediction illustrates a simple point: Tottenham’s crisis has been years in the making and did not come as a surprise to those with knowledge of the club’s inner-workings.

Thomas Frank may have accelerated Spurs’ decline before he was sacked this month but he did not cause the rot. Neither did Postecoglou, nor Conte himself.

Speak to Spurs supporters and you will hear myriad suggestions about when the rot really began to set in. A common claim is the summer of 2018, when Spurs became the first Premier League club to not sign a single player since transfer windows were introduced in 2003, but a case could be made for any number of other junctures over the past decade.

The writing has long been on the wall for Spurs. Years of chronic mismanagement from the top have taken them here.

Conte was a bad fit from the start and played a small part in their decline. Criticising his employers is part of a tedious pattern that has repeated elsewhere.

But he was on the money about the club’s trajectory and is not the first Spurs manager to criticise their running, even if he was unusual for doing so while still in the job.

This month, Postecoglou said Spurs are “not a big club” because of their refusal to compete in the transfer market. Last year, Jose Mourinho suggested that Levy was more motivated by finances than titles.

In time, Frank or even Tudor may have their say on the latest chapter of a decline that has been long in the making.

Tottenham Hotspur interim head coach Igor Tudor was given a brutal introduction to life in the Premier League on Sunday. Spurs lost 4-1 to their bitter rivals Arsenal, for the second time this season, in Tudor’s first game in charge.

After an encouraging first-half performance which saw Randal Kolo Muani equalise 122 seconds after Eberechi Eze had given Arsenal the lead, Spurs struggled to keep up. Viktor Gyokeres scored in the 47th minute and, apart from a goal from Kolo Muani which was contentiously disallowed for a foul on Gabriel, Spurs never looked like mounting a serious comeback.

The same problems which plagued Thomas Frank’s eight-month reign still exist under Tudor.

In his post-match press conference, Tudor said that the teams were in “two totally different worlds” on a “psychological and physical” level. The Croatian then mentioned in an interview that his side displayed a lot of “bad habits”.

Here, The Athletic breaks down what the 47-year-old could have been referring to.

Poor communication

Frank used a back three for most of Tottenham’s games in 2026. It is a system which Tudor had success with at Juventus, Udinese and Lazio and he stuck to it on Sunday.

Bukayo Saka did not score for Arsenal but he was one of the game’s most influential players. The England international capitalised on the uncertainty between left-sided centre-back Micky van de Ven and left wing-back Djed Spence over who was supposed to be marking him. When Van de Ven followed Saka high up the pitch, he vacated a huge pocket of space. If Spence pursued Saka, Jurrien Timber had more time on the ball which is what happened in the build-up to Gyokeres’ first goal.

Saka had an opportunity to score in the first half, which came from a simple through ball from Arsenal’s full-back, Piero Hincapie. Just before Hincapie strikes the ball, you can see Spence point at Saka but he is behind Van de Ven. Spence should take control of the situation because he can see everything. Saka sneaks in between the pair and Guglielmo Vicario makes a drastic save.

The exact same failings happened on the opposite side of the pitch. Joao Palhinha jumps up from his position as the right-sided centre-back to challenge Hincapie. Gyokeres drifts into the space he left, receives the ball and drives at an isolated Radu Dragusin before whipping a shot which flies just past the post. There is no need for Palhinha to step out and overcommit.

It is remarkable that Spurs have played Arsenal twice this season and lined up with a back three on both occasions but conceded eight goals on aggregate.

Sloppiness in possession

Xavi Simons has been one of Tottenham’s best players over the last couple of months but he was anonymous against Arsenal. The Netherlands international was dispossessed seven times — the most of any player in a Premier League game this season.

There were lots of sloppy passes and he was lucky not to be punished in the first half when he gave the ball away to Leandro Trossard on the edge of the box. Simons often found himself crowded out by Arsenal’s defenders because nobody was supporting him.

This was a common theme throughout. Spurs made bad decisions on the ball or lost it cheaply due to a lack of options. Spence was given a warning sign in the 59th minute when he lost the ball to Cristhian Mosquera deep in his own half and the move led to Vicario denying Saka. Spence was surrounded by Mosquera, Saka and Eze and should have passed the ball to Van de Ven but he was put into that difficult situation by a poor pass from Palhinha. Spence found himself in a similar position and lost the ball in the build-up to Arsenal’s fourth goal.

Dragusin’s bizarre header towards Yves Bissouma that led to Eze’s second goal was another scenario where Spurs showed a lack of composure in possession.

Arguably the worst example came just before half-time. Bissouma and Spence stole the ball from Saka, found Xavi and he popped it off to Conor Gallagher. Martin Zubimendi is cutting off a return pass to Simons and no one else is prepared to help Gallagher out. A backwards pass to Pape Matar Sarr is laced with risk because of Timber’s presence. Gallagher ends up spinning in a circle before he is surrounded by Trossard, Saka and Timber. Bissouma and Spence are occupying the same space.

It is no wonder that Tudor said: “Even with the ball, a lack of confidence is very evident in the team,” after the game.

Inability to take control

Tottenham have struggled all season to find a natural rhythm to their Premier League matches. Compared to their Champions League performances, where Spurs have shown levels of control throughout the league phase, against admittedly inferior opposition, Tottenham have inexplicably wavered between turgid and chaotic. Despite the managerial change, the north London derby defeat was another example — adding to a list that includes both fixtures against Newcastle United, defeats by Bournemouth and Fulham, and a home draw against Manchester City — of a heart-in-mouth affair from the first whistle.

Granted, Arsenal are the league leaders, and not every team will be as adept at picking apart Tottenham’s defence, but there were alarming signs in the opening minutes that a lack of structure was there to be exploited. Tudor may have been pleased with the man-to-man approach, with the Croatian detailing his desire to see the team be aggressive and front-footed in his early interviews as Spurs boss, but Arsenal rotated around Spurs’ defence to great effect, with Saka’s running in behind giving David Raya an attractive option to play long.

Vicario rushing out to prevent Saka from breaking through on a one-v-one and heading the ball towards Trossard, causing a scramble in the box, signalled yet another game where Spurs seemed frazzled from the start.

In Tudor’s defence, he’s working with a severely injury-depleted side. Competing against a near-full-strength Arsenal without three-quarters of what you might expect to be his ideal starting line-up is a mountainous challenge for any coach, never mind one taking his first game in charge. Those conditions perhaps lend themselves to chaos, and there were moments in the first half, notably Kolo Muani’s goal and Gabriel’s pull on the French striker on the edge of the box, which was waved away by the referee, where Spurs’ chaotic approach in forward areas granted potential goalscoring opportunities.

Whether it was a tactical decision by Frank or not, Spurs’ willingness to throw players forward late in games has rescued results on several occasions — and it goes some way toward explaining why Cristian Romero has five goals and four assists in the league and the Champions League this term. But while “control” for Premier League clubs is perhaps more difficult to attain now than ever, Spurs must do a better job at limiting their habit of inviting chaos in matches.

Lack of tactical and emotional discipline

Few will dispute Van de Ven’s world-class ability to recover, but occasionally his electric pace cannot compensate for positioning errors or broader structural issues. On the other side, Palhinha’s tackling ability can result in unlikely turnovers, allowing for fast break opportunities — but it can also leave him out of position, with quick forwards running in behind. That’s why a habit of tactical indiscipline, which plagued the latter months of Ange Postecoglou’s tenure in the league and became more prominent from November onwards under Frank, must be ironed out by Tudor.

In the build-up to Arsenal’s first goal, Spurs had an identifiable defensive shape, with all three of the opposition’s attacking bodies in the box accounted for.

Then, when Saka beat Sarr on the right wing and approached the box to cross, Kolo Muani left Eze to drift into danger, with the ball finding the England international to score. If Tottenham are to improve defensively under the new coach, they cannot afford players to take their eye off their assignments.

There is also the wider issue of discipline as a whole, with Spurs leading the league in discipline points (75), 10 more than Brighton & Hove Albion in second. Tottenham added to their total with three yellow cards against Arsenal, slightly above their league-worst average of 2.44 per game. Tudor will no doubt be keen to ensure Spurs do not lose any more players to suspension, with Romero still serving a four-match ban having received his second red card of the season in the 2-0 defeat by Manchester United.

Failure to prevent shots from the edge of the box

Just when we thought long-distance shooting was a thing of the past, shots from outside the box have spiked this season, with a notable increase in their overperformance compared to xG.

Arsenal’s shortest away trip of the season felt, going into the game, like their biggest test so far.

Reeling after sloppy performances had seen them throw away four points at Brentford and Wolves, Arsenal were under serious pressure and faced a side hoping to benefit from football’s fabled ‘new manager bounce‘.

Part of the problem of facing a side with a new manager, of course, is that you can’t be entirely certain how they will play. But Arsenal seemed well prepared for the new approach of Tottenham Hotspur interim head coach Igor Tudor, which was largely about man-marking in midfield. In fact, Arsenal seemed more comfortable with Spurs’ approach than Spurs did themselves.

Spurs’ basic shape was a 5-3-2 without possession, which featured Xavi Simons roughly playing in a front two with Randal Kolo Muani. Sometimes, formations don’t matter too much when a side is using man-marking, because the formation is essentially dictated by the formation of the opposition.

But Spurs’ problem throughout the game was the situation below: the Arsenal full-backs, particularly right-back Jurrien Timber, had no direct opponents. Everything stemmed from this.

Here’s the first example. Arsenal are playing out from defence, and Timber is free. Djed Spence has to push forward and close him down, but he’s too late to put any pressure on Timber, who plays it on to Bukayo Saka. This then drags Micky van de Ven out from the back, opening up the entire left half of Spurs’ defence. Eberechi Eze looks to run into that space. This set the tone.

Saka had his best game in several months, largely because he was afforded so much space. Here, Arsenal again look to play out to Timber, but Spence pushes up and closes him down. So David Raya instead launches an excellent ball downfield. Saka has drawn Van de Ven wide, then runs in behind him, and Guglielmo Vicario has to sprint off his line and head clear, to prevent Saka reaching the ball first.

Here’s another example. Timber is again free as Arsenal build from the back. Spence is again simply too deep to put serious pressure on him, and is easily bypassed as Timber plays the ball to Saka. Van de Ven is now acting as a left-back, and there’s huge space between him and the other defenders. Eze again looks to run into that space, but Saka can’t quite find the angle to slip him in.

Another typical example here. This is a strange one — Spence essentially presses too wide, and Timber simply takes a touch inside and goes past him. This means Pape Matar Sarr has to jump forward and close down Timber. Again, Eze is free to run into space, and if Timber had passed right, Saka and Eze would be overloading Van de Ven, who looked uncomfortable throughout the game with how much space he had to cover.

Tottenham’s sluggish press was the main reason Viktor Gyokeres suddenly looked like a world-beater, as the same was happening on the other flank. Piero Hincapie was free for a pass from Declan Rice, Joao Palhinha had to jump forward and close him down — inevitably, too late to prevent being bypassed — and this left Gyokeres able to find space on the outside.

He looked very sharp here, but look at the amount of space he has when cutting past Radu Dragusin — there’s no other defender close to the Romanian.

Then came Arsenal’s opener. Timber is again free. Spence shuts him down, but Saka is free out wide. Van de Ven doesn’t want to venture out there, so tells Sarr to move out and close down Saka. Sarr looks reluctant, and checks over his shoulder to note the situation in his midfield position. He half-tackles Saka, but Saka emerges with the ball, and this drags Yves Bissouma over to help out. Two central midfielders are almost at left-back, leaving various Arsenal players free for a cut-back. Eventually, Eze is the player to turn the ball home and give Arsenal the lead.

Spurs seemed to change their press at points. Here, Timber receives possession and it’s Sarr who moves out from midfield to shut him down. Van de Van is now the one tracking Eze, and Spence is on Saka. This probably made more sense, although it’s worth looking at how empty the centre of the pitch is, and how much space there is to get the ball directly into Gyokeres.

A few minutes later, Spurs went back to the previous approach. Spence was consistently too far away to put pressure on Timber, and this move was so easy for Arsenal — Van de Ven was too far from Eze to prevent him poking the ball in behind for Saka, although the pass slightly spun away from him, and Sarr was able to recover.

Throughout all this, it was never entirely clear what Simons was offering without the ball — one possible solution would have been for him to shift left into a 5-4-1, and focus on nullifying his compatriot Timber.

Saka, meanwhile, was causing all sorts of problems — here’s a second direct pass from deep, this time from the eternally unmarked Hincapie. Vicario has to save.

Into the second half, and the same old problems.

Here, Timber is free. Spence moves out towards him, but simply gets bypassed and Saka gets the ball on the outside. Van de Ven goes across, but so do Sarr and Bissouma. Spurs end up with four players primarily concerned with Saka, and — just like in the reverse fixture — Eze is free on the edge. Rice nods down the cross towards him, but Kolo Muani — the centre-forward — nips in to intervene.

Then came the second goal, which felt incredibly simple. No intricate build-up needed here — it was just Timber free, and able to play the ball directly into a zone where both Eze and Gyokeres were positioned. Eze got in the way of Dragusin, and Gyokeres was free to curl the ball home.

Spurs’ problems continued throughout the second half — Eze’s next goal came when Arsenal won the ball high, and the game was over by the time Gyokeres added a late fourth.

It was clearly a hugely impressive performance from Arsenal, with the individual displays from Saka and Gyokeres particularly encouraging.

One reason for caution, however, is that no other Premier League side will afford them this much space. Spurs didn’t really understand how to play Tudor’s system. They were never going to be fluent, in his first game in charge, against the league leaders — but in their current situation, they can’t afford any more matches like this.

Tottenham Hotspur knew it was going to be difficult to beat Arsenal on Sunday. Head coach Igor Tudor had only five days to work with the squad after replacing Thomas Frank on an interim basis until the end of the season. Tudor achieved success in previous short-term roles at Lazio, Juventus and Udinese by employing a 3-4-2-1 formation, but how would he implement it at Spurs with so many key players unavailable through injury or suspension?

To make matters worse, club-record signing Dominic Solanke struggled to train during the week due to a sore throat, while league leaders Arsenal were desperate to respond after dropping points at Wolverhampton Wanderers last Wednesday.

So, with everything that has happened over the past two weeks, Spurs deserve a lot of praise for their first-half performance against Arsenal.

However, it is still embarrassing to lose 4-1 to your bitter rivals.

Many fans will find it unforgivable that it has happened twice in the same season. For Eberechi Eze to be the architect of their misery again, after he rejected a move to Spurs last summer to rejoin his boyhood club, makes it even more infuriating.

The atmosphere at the stadium has been toxic for months, but Frank’s dismissal seems to have temporarily solved that issue, which is one positive. Stadium announcer Paul Coyte gave a rousing speech before kick-off, a tifo was unveiled in the South Stand, and the crowd roared when a pre-match video described Spurs as “north London originals”.

When Micky van de Ven disrupted an Arsenal attack by smashing the ball into the stands in the opening minute, all of the fans jumped to their feet. If they were disinterested in Frank’s final game, which was a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United less than two weeks ago, they looked and sounded reenergised. Tudor’s side have to capitalise on this connection in their remaining 11 league games.

Spurs started slowly but grew into the game. Frank repeatedly praised their resilience and ability to respond to setbacks during his reign, but that mainly happened in away matches. Spurs have only won two of their 14 fixtures at home in the league this season. They tend to wilt under the pressure, but Randal Kolo Muani equalised 122 seconds after Eze gave Arsenal a first-half lead. There is a long way to go until the squad and the fans have repaired their relationship, but on Sunday they were both fired up and brought the best out of each other.

The Athletic predicted Kolo Muani could benefit from Tudor’s arrival, as they worked together at Juventus, and he looked rejuvenated. The France international scored his first goal in what was his 19th appearance in the Premier League. Kolo Muani’s speed is his biggest asset and there were multiple occasions in the first half where Gabriel had to take extreme measures to slow him down.

Tudor refused to give a detailed answer on Kolo Muani’s disallowed goal in the second half, but at the time, he made a motion on the touchline which suggested he thought Gabriel had gone down softly. Spurs should feel aggrieved because it was a similar situation to the goal Hugo Ekitike scored for Liverpool against Tottenham in December. It happened at a crucial moment and Spurs could have capitalised on Arsenal’s nervousness around letting another lead slip.

However, what took place during the rest of the game will have made Tudor realise the scale of the challenge he faces. Viktor Gyokeres gained the upper hand in his battle with Radu Dragusin, while Eze ran through the midfield unopposed every time he received the ball.

Bukayo Saka weaved past his international team-mate Djed Spence and also Micky van de Ven. When Spence moved over to right-back towards the end of the game, he tried to dribble past multiple players and was dispossessed in the build-up to Gyokeres’ second goal.

Xavi Simons has been Tottenham’s most consistent performer over the past couple of months, but he had barely any impact along with Conor Gallagher and Pape Matar Sarr. Spurs were set up in a 5-3-2 formation out of possession, but looked vulnerable defensively throughout. Dragusin blocked a header from Gyokeres that was bouncing into the bottom corner in the third minute.

Frank never trusted Yves Bissouma and he played like he had a point to prove against Arsenal. He played with a tenacity and focus that have been missing too often throughout his time with Spurs, but he was caught out in the build-up to Arsenal’s third goal as Eze pinched the ball off his toes. Tudor said there is a “big gap in this specific moment between the two teams” and “a lack of confidence is very evident”.

“I’m very sad and very angry and everything, but in one way it is also good to understand where is our goal,” Tudor added. “What is the goal of this club. What is the goal of this team. What is the goal of this coach, these players, this staff. To become serious. Serious, not just a group of 20 players, and the medicine is you look in the mirror. Each of us look in the mirror and really try, really start to change the habits. Working hard is the only way.”

Spurs have only had a few training sessions with Tudor. He has a track record of making an immediate impact, but this was the worst possible game to start with. The north London derby will never be a free hit, but it is difficult to recall any time in the past decade when expectations were so low heading into this fixture.

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season, The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football.

This was the round where Arsenal answered a few critics with another 4-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool boosted their Champions League prospects with a smash-and-grab win at Nottingham Forest, moving them level on points with Chelsea, who stuttered at home to Burnley.

We will ask whether talk over Arsenal’s supposed fragile mentality is valid, question just how much trouble Spurs are in and ponder what on earth has happened to Crystal Palace.

Will Arsenal’s ability or mentality decide the title?

Questions keep being asked of Mikel Arteta’s team and, in their own time, they just about keep answering them.

One month ago, after losing at home against Manchester United and going three league games without a win, their title challenge had hit the rocks, they looked mentally weak and were playing football in treacle.

How did they respond? With emphatic victories over two tough opponents in Sunderland and Leeds United.

In recent days, they have been barracked — not without cause — from all quarters after letting a two-goal lead slip against Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team on track to be one of the worst in Premier League history.

This time, Arsenal’s answer was to dish out yet another north London derby hiding to Spurs, repeating their 4-1 victory from earlier in the season.

There is definitely an element of ‘it’s only Spurs’, given how dreadful Igor Tudor’s new team were. As Declan Rice had correctly suggested in the build-up, a derby against struggling opponents was the ideal follow-up match after the midweek slump at Wolves.

But given how another individual mistake from an Arsenal player, this time Rice, gifted Randal Kolo Muani the opportunity to equalise in the first half, Arsenal deserve credit for showing the mental fortitude to overcome adversity and reclaim their five-point lead at the top.

They have not been in imperious form this year — four wins, four draws and one defeat from nine league matches in 2026 — but evidence is starting to stack up that mentality is less the question that Arsenal have to answer this season. It’s just about whether they’re good enough to stave off Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s mind games have started in earnest. His call for City’s players to have a few days of cocktails and “enjoy life” could not be more at odds with Mikel Arteta’s “go and do something else” rallying cry on Friday, when stating that if his players couldn’t handle the “noise”, they should play for a different club.

Life feels intense at Arsenal right now, what with team meetings and firm chats after the Wolves debacle, but that’s the course Arteta has plotted.

Even the Tottenham stadium announcer played the mentality card, shouting that Arsenal were “worried” and “nervous as hell” before kick-off, but it increasingly feels that Arsenal’s fluidity from open play, for example, is far more relevant than how much bottle they’ve got.

Was it really mentality that saw them put in such a stodgy performance at Wolves? Or were they just very poor from open play? Conversely, at Spurs, was it a sudden newfound winning mentality that led to them winning so comfortably, or was is Bukayo Saka being back in his best position on the pitch to set up the opener, or Viktor Gyokeres finding his shooting boots (with help from flat-footed defenders) with probably his best performance and certainly his best day in an Arsenal shirt?

And then Eberechi Eze, with, remarkably, his first shots on target in the league since his hat-trick in the reverse fixture, produced his best form in months and cut through a desperately fragile Spurs midfield.

It all came together on one of Arsenal’s best days of the season. Finding that rhythm and flow in attacking positions is the key to them winning the Premier League.

Are Spurs the worst team in the league right now?

“Thinking about relegation doesn’t bring you anything to anybody.”

Tudor may not want to think about it, but Tottenham fans may be thinking about little else until their team starts winning again.

Spurs actually had a better weekend than many of their long-suffering supporters will have probably expected. Sure, they lost the derby, no surprise there, but Forest losing in stoppage time against Liverpool and West Ham United failing to beat Bournemouth were two very good results for Tottenham, who faced being in 17th and only two points above relegation had everything gone against them this weekend.

Relegation remains a distinct possibility and while we can’t judge the ‘Croatian Sam Allardyce’ on this performance alone, there will be concerns Spurs have not shown an instant improvement simply because Thomas Frank has left.

“The team is full of problems,” Tudor added, in the understatement of the weekend.

His usual approach of ranting, raving and generally firing rockets at players to get them to perform may have to be quelled a touch here, given how utterly bereft of confidence his new team look.

You also have to question whether his preferred three-at-the-back formation is necessary, seeing as Spurs don’t have enough defenders or wing-backs to play that system. Joao Palhinha at centre-back and Archie Gray at wing-back don’t feel like solutions to the squad’s injury problems.

A rare glimpse of positivity at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the atmosphere was briefly flavoured by hope and optimism before kick-off, soon dissipated and when the clock turned to 90 minutes, the stands were almost empty.

Nine league games in 2026, no wins, four draws, 18 goals conceded… is there a team playing worse in the league? The form table says no (their nine-game record is three points worse than anyone else, with Burnley and Wolves on seven points). Spurs’ trajectory is heading towards the Championship.

They were inept in the second half against Arsenal, second in every facet of the game. Home games against Forest and Crystal Palace in March loom large. If Tudor can’t inspire improvements by then, the relegation question could become unavoidable.

How sad is Glasner’s fallout with fans?

“The biggest success is not lifting a trophy, it’s that we could give tens of thousands of our fans, south Londoners, a moment for their life — we could give them great times.”

That was Oliver Glasner after guiding Crystal Palace to FA Cup glory last year. It was an emotional press conference on an incredible day. Glasner spoke warmly of giving their supporters a break from the troubles and woes of regular life, giving them joy and happiness for a couple of hours a week. Yep, honestly, Crystal Palace.

Eight months later, a banner unfurled at Selhurst Park on Sunday read: “Fans disrespected — Glasner finished.”

A fortuitous 1-0 win over Wolves, aided by the visitors missing a penalty and having a man sent off, ended Palace’s long wait for a first home win since November, but did nothing to improve relations between Glasner and Palace fans.

They called for him to be sacked last week, he told them to stay humble. It’s all got a bit ugly.

There can still be a happy ending here if, say, Palace win the Conference League, but that looks increasingly less likely. The disintegration of Palace and the relationship between Glasner and the club’s supporters is one of the saddest stories of the season.

Coming up this week

For Arsenal, it was the perfect way to breathe fresh life into their Premier League title charge. For Tottenham Hotspur, a damaging defeat against their north London rivals leaves them worryingly close to the drop zone.

Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze both scored twice at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to send Mikel Arteta’s side five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, having played a game more than Pep Guardiola’s side.

Arsenal started the brighter side, but their momentum was punctured after communication problems with the match officials led to a six-minute delay.

Eze eventually put Arsenal in front in the 32nd minute, with a right-footed finish after the ball sat up nicely for him following good work by Bukayo Saka. Declan Rice immediately called an on-pitch team meeting to encourage his side to keep their heads, but the England midfielder’s error in possession led to Randal Kolo Muani equalising just two minutes after that opener. It was the Frenchman’s first Premier League goal since joining on loan from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.

But Spurs were second-best in Igor Tudor’s first game in charge since replacing Thomas Frank. Arsenal responded in style in the second half, with Gyokeres arrowing home a shot from the edge of the area in the 47th minute. Spurs were frustrated in the 53rd minute when Kolo Muani had the ball in the back of the net for a second time, but he was judged to have pushed Gabriel. Eze gave Arsenal further breathing space in the 61st minute as he made it eight goals in five games against Spurs, the side who tried to sign him last summer.

Gyokeres made sure of the win by running onto a ball and finishing past Guglielmo Vicario in the 94th minute.

Here, Jay Harris, Elias Burke, Art de Roche and Conor O’Neill analyse the key talking points.

How did Eze make his mark again?

For this season at least, the north London derby belongs to Eze. The 27-year-old scored five goals from these two matches.

There seemed to be an element of fate hanging over the match — Eze was named in a starting line-up for just the second league game this calendar year, and his first shot on target since November’s meeting between the sides opened the scoring.

This was a massive chance for Eze. He has not always looked his confident self, but that conviction grew during the game.

For the first time in months in the Premier League, he displayed the feints, nutmegs and quick passes around the corner that make him such a joy to watch.

That confidence seemed to be contagious, as those across the front line were equally impressive throughout.

Gyokeres’ powerful first strike was jaw-dropping, but his all-round performance was much improved even before the goal.

Early in the match, he attacked the left channel to unsettle Spurs’ back line and brought others into play nicely as his side gained control. In the second half, a quick one-two created the opening for Arsenal’s third goal. He returned to the same area to score his second of the game, rounding off his performance nicely.

This might be the blueprint for a true centre-forward display from Gyokeres (illustrated below in his player dashboard). Arteta will also be pleased that his front four functioned well as a whole, not just because of his two scorers.

Saka always performs well against Spurs, with direct goal involvements against them in each of the past five seasons, but he needed to be sharp from the off. Djed Spence was touch-tight within minutes of the kick-off, and Saka was fouled four times inside the opening half-hour, but Arsenal’s captain for the day kept going and was the reason Eze had a chance to open the scoring.

With Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz on their way back from injury, Arteta's options going forward will be a great source of encouragement.

The Arsenal manager got the make-up of his front four right this evening, and will hope the injury that forced Saka off late on will not prevent him from maximising those options in the final 10 league matches of the season.

Art de Roche

What was Rice's mistake for Spurs' equaliser?

Arteta said Arsenal only had themselves to blame after their 2-2 draw away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and that was the case again with Spurs’ equaliser, which came just 24 seconds after the restart from Eze’s opener.

Rice could be seen imploring his team-mates to focus as they celebrated, but his involvement in Kolo Muani’s goal highlighted how actions speak louder than words.

The England midfielder did well to intercept the initial pass…

… but just outside his own penalty box with two Spurs players bearing down on him, the 27-year-old should have known it was no place to take on an opponent.

Kolo Muani robbed Rice of the ball and drove into the area before firing into the net.

Rice could be seen apologising to his team-mates afterwards.

That was Arsenal’s fifth error leading to a Premier League goal this season. Four of those have been in 2026 — joint-most with Aston Villa since the turn of the year.

Of those five errors, both against Spurs came from staying on the ball too long, two were from loose passes, and the other from a misjudged cross. Most of these seem to come from players not being aware of their surroundings, which brings their overall concentration into question.

Rice was not the only player guilty of making an error that provided Spurs with an opening.

Arsenal started the game well, having five shots to Spurs' zero in the opening 20 minutes. In the 10 minutes between then and Eze’s goal, however, each member of their back line gifted possession to Tottenham and helped them back into the game.

These issues have been holding Arsenal back for weeks. The longer those mistakes occur after they go ahead, the harder it will be for Arteta's side to maintain their lead in the title race against Manchester City.

Thankfully for Arsenal, it did not matter on Sunday. Arteta will be pleased by their reaction after the break. Before the game, he spoke of the need for his team to keep the ball for extended periods to help kill games off, and they did that well.

David Raya also showed that, even after his mistake in midweek, his contributions will be vital. Earlier in the season, Raya made many saves at vital moments to either keep Arsenal level or ahead. This time, it helped them extend their lead.

Art de Roche

What was Spurs' post-Frank atmosphere like?

Frank never connected with the Spurs fan base and boos became a regular sound at home and away games. Spurs only won two of their 13 home league games during the former Brentford coach's brief time in charge.

The atmosphere felt completely different on Sunday. Former Spurs winger David Ginola was a guest on television for foreign media and he was warmly applauded before kick-off, before stadium announcer Paul Coyte gave a rousing speech. A pre-match video on the big screens was greeted with a roar when Spurs were described as "north London originals", while there was an impressive tifo (banner) in the South Stand.

Spurs fans roared when Micky van de Ven clattered the ball into the stands in the opening minute and booed every time Eze, who they unsuccessfully tried to sign in the summer, touched the ball. They chanted Dele Alli’s name and gave their former midfielder a moving reception at half-time when he was interviewed on the pitch.

In the 23rd minute, Yves Bissouma charged down Eze and Leandro Trossard from an Arsenal free kick, which was cleared. He did something similar 60 seconds later, won a foul from Piero Hincapie and the crowd went wild. It felt like the fans had been liberated following Frank’s dismissal and were full of enthusiasm and energy again.

Crucially, they did not drop their heads after Eze opened the scoring, and the reaction to Kolo Muani’s equaliser was stirring.

The fans were slightly more subdued in the second half, especially as Arsenal went ahead so early, but the exodus only began when Gyokeres scored their rivals' fourth.

Jay Harris

Did Tudor change anything for Spurs?

With only 12 games to make his mark, Tudor has little time to implement sweeping tactical changes in an injury-depleted squad.

But he did instigate a change in shape here, with Tottenham lining up in the Croatian’s preferred 3-5-2 formation. As in the reverse fixture, however, the gap in quality meant they ceded almost total control and struggled to impose any on-ball identity. They had just 28 per cent possession in the first half, their lowest in any game this season.

The share was more balanced in the second half (illustrated by the game-end stats above) but Spurs remained narrow and compact, intent on limiting Arsenal through the middle. Despite Arsenal’s dominance, Spurs showed aggression without the ball. This was most evident in their attempts to lock down Saka, with Tottenham’s players sprinting out to swarm him whenever he received possession out wide.

A player of Saka’s quality can only be shackled for so long, though. His persistence down the right eventually paid off when he wriggled past Pape Matar Sarr and teed up Eze for the opener.

Tottenham’s tenacity was not just confined to their defenders, as shown when Kolo Muani picked Rice’s pocket for the equaliser.

There is no secret tactical formula capable of bridging the gulf between an injury-hit side fighting relegation and a title contender, and that showed in the emphatic scoreline. But Tudor will take some encouragement from Spurs' improved intensity. Their previous passivity ultimately cost Frank his job.

Tottenham fans will hope that, if that effort can be sustained for their remaining 11 games, it helps steer them clear of relegation trouble.

Conor O'Neill

What does this mean for the title race and relegation fight?

A trip to their north London rivals with a buoyant crowd and a new manager in charge was a potential banana skin for Arsenal.

But their quality shone through in what was their fifth successive win against Spurs. With another London derby coming up — they host Chelsea next Sunday — their performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium took them five points clear of Manchester City and provided a timely confidence booster.

At the opposite end of the table, the defeat leaves Tottenham just four points above West Ham United in 18th. Spurs are yet to win a league game in 2026 and have lost three on the bounce. Next Sunday, they are away to Fulham, who impressed with a 3-1 win over Sunderland today, a week before hosting Crystal Palace, the last team to lose against Spurs in the league.

Perhaps Tudor will take some encouragement from Kolo Muani finally opening his Premier League account for Spurs, but relegation remains a real prospect for a club that has not played second-tier football since the 1970s.

Elias Burke

What did Tudor say?

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the Spurs interim head coach admitted morale was low. “We need to come out from this moment,” Tudor said. “The only way is work, stay quiet, stay humble, stay where we are now and look at the future. Growing day by day, week by week.

“I'm sad because it was not good enough. Arsenal was much better. There is too much of a gap between the two teams. It's good to see this kind of team at the start — to show us where we need to be. It's about work, to work hard because we struggle in a lot of things.

“We need to run more, we need to play better, we need to defend better, we need to win duels, second duels, second balls.

“We prepared these four, five days but they were faster, even I can say that the players showed the passion, they wanted to run, but we pressed high. They (Arsenal) believe more, that is the key in the end. And that's it, so take the lessons.”

What did Arteta say?

In contrast, the Arsenal manager was unsurprisingly full of praise, claiming he always expected his players to respond positively to the 2-2 draw against Wolves. “I saw the reaction and what it means,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “When it’s a job, you don’t react like this — but when it’s your passion, and you love the game so much, that’s something else and it hurts you in a different way. I know what it means to them and how much they want it.

“You rewatch the game against Wolves (and think), ‘How the hell do you drop two points there?’. Nobody can explain it. But this is the beauty of it. It looks like it's the end of the world — but the attitude, the desire and dominance we showed today was really impressive. I’m really happy.

Arteta also thought it was Gyokeres' best performance since joining in the summer, adding that “his overall play was incredible”.

What next for Spurs?

Sunday, March 1: Fulham (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

What next for Arsenal?

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are level at half time in the north London derby in the Premier League.

An Eberechi Eze volley on 32 minutes put Mikel Arteta’s side ahead, before Randal Kolo Muani equalised after stealing the ball off Declan Rice just two minutes later.

Mikel Arteta’s league leaders are looking for a response to their disappointing midweek draw at bottom side Wolves. Tottenham, under newly appointed interim manager Igor Tudor, are fighting to avoid relegation after a disastrous season so far.

How to watch: Sky Sports (UK), USA Network (U.S.)

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Little hiding how much Arsenal had of that first half, but Tottenham won’t feel like they are out of the hunt for a win here. They’ll just need to be much more efficient than their visitors.

HT: Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal

Possession %: 27 — 73

Shots: 2 — 12

On target: 1 — 3

XG: 0.29 — 1.00

Big chances: 0 — 3

Blocked shots: 1 — 5

Touches in opposition box: 1 — 29

Duels won: 27 — 31

Dispossessed: 7 — 8

Getting into the Arsenal box would help too, of course.

There have been some interesting battles out there but the bright start from Bukayo Saka was something to behold.

He has been on some mazy runs and has caused problems today — can he be the difference in the second half?

Declan Rice, in particular, will not want to see that Spurs goal again.

His error in dallying on the ball allowed Kolo Muani to steal in and slam the ball home for the equaliser.

And that was just moments after the midfielder had called his team mates together to call for calm heads following Eze’s opener. Jinxed.

Gabriel is a touch fortunate to get away with that incident on Randal Kolo Muani.

The French striker was chasing down an Archie Gray lofted pass behind the Arsenal defender, which would have put him in on goal, when Gabriel — focused on Kolo Muani’s run — pulled his arm across the Spurs striker, forcing him down.

Had the referee decided it was a foul, it would have almost certainly been a red card for the Arsenal No 6.

A lengthy amount of added time here after those issues with the officials’ technology earlier. Eight minutes in total.

Meanwhile, it appears Declan Rice was the one pointing to his head and shouting at his team-mates immediately after Eberechi Eze scored — trying to remind his colleagues to not do anything stupid now they were ahead.

A few seconds later, Rice was the one losing the ball in his own defensive third as Spurs equalised.

The hands went up in apology pretty quickly after that.

Credit again to Radu Dragusin here, who’s had an impressive first half.

After recovering from an ACL injury that kept him sidelined for almost a year, the Romania international centre-back has played more minutes than anyone expected with injury and suspension issues across the backline.

Since returning to the team, he’s proven he can be relied upon.

It’s been a good response from Arsenal since the equaliser, and Leandro Trossard was within a few inches of rolling the ball the right side of the far post.

But Conor Gallagher’s involvement in the game is growing too, and this match is bubbling away very nicely right now.

A little bit of admin too. Archie Gray was booked in the aftermath of Spurs’ goal for kicking the ball away.

It’s been a good response from Arsenal since the equaliser, and Leandro Trossard was within a few inches of rolling the ball the right side of the far post.

But Conor Gallagher’s involvement in the game is growing too, and this match is bubbling away very nicely right now.

A little bit of admin too. Archie Gray was booked in the aftermath of Spurs’ goal for kicking the ball away.

Arsenal had control of the first 20 minutes of this match, but errors from each player in their backline and now Declan Rice have given Spurs a way back into the game.

That has been a theme of too many of their matches since the turn of the year, and when so many come in one half, punishment will come as a result.

They worked their opener well, but that work has been undermined.

Bukayo Saka makes it by his change of pace on the right, beating Pape Matar Sarr and pulling the ball back.

The first touch from Eze loops the ball up, and the second volleys home from about eight yards.

Lovely composed finish, that.

The north London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal was delayed for six minutes on Sunday due a technical issue with one of the match officials’ communication devices.

Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres fired a shot wide of Guglielmo Vicario’s post in the seventh minute of the game before referee Peter Bankes brought a halt to proceedings. The assistant referee on the far side of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium appeared to have issues with his communication and the game was paused for several minutes.

Bankes went over to explain the situation to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whose side had started brighter and were in control of the game through the opening phases.

The match was eventually restarted with a goal kick in the 13th minute and eight minutes were added on in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville described the situation as an “absolute shambles” on the broadcast.

“This is ridiculous, the whole game cannot stop just because of an IT issue — this is an absolute nonsense, one of the most important games of the season and the players all now have to reset,” said Neville.

“This is an absolute nonsense. One of the most important games of the season, fantastic start to it, really quick. And we’re now two or three minutes stopped, players having to sort of re-warm up again, reset. Absolute shambles.”

Eberechi Eze opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with his fourth goal against Spurs this season before Randal Kolo Muani scored the equaliser two minutes later.