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Tottenham boss Thomas Frank believes Xavi Simons is having the same struggles as Liverpool's Florian Wirtz.

Both Simons and Wirtz joined from Bundesliga sides this summer in big-money moves, with Spurs signing Simons for £51m from RB Leipzig, while Liverpool splashed £116m on Bayer Leverkusen's Wirtz.

But both players are yet to score for their new clubs as they have struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League.

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Simons, whose only assist came on his debut in the win over West Ham, has the chance to score his first goal for Spurs on Wednesday as they face Monaco in the Champions League, with Frank believing the Dutchman is trending in the "right direction".

Asked at his pre-match press conference about Simons' difficulties using the example of Wirtz, Frank replied: "I think that's a very good question. Also, a very good comparison with Wirtz, who is also a very good player, just like Xavi.

"A very good player coming into a couple of things - new country, new club, new city. You just need to settle in, and it is part of it.

"We are all getting judged every game. But we also need to see the little bit bigger perspective and see it over time.

"I always look for glimpses and bits and pieces we are working at. So, for example, Xavi, I think there were

some good bits. I worked with him and asked him to be more arriving in the box, which, when I looked back at the game, he did.

"Was there a big eye-catching moment? No, but there were good glimpses. So I think it's constantly going a little bit in the right direction."

Frank explains stark difference in home and away form

Tottenham face Monaco on the back of Sunday's home defeat against Aston Villa, which meant Spurs have now won just three of their last 18 Premier League home games.

But their away form has been in stark contrast under Frank, with his side unbeaten on the road in all competitions this season (excluding the UEFA Super Cup defeat to PSG on neutral ground).

Asked by Sky Sports to explain the imbalance between home and away results, Frank replied: "I don't know exactly. It depends on who you are facing - that can be home and away.

"I know at home you may play in a specific way and other teams are playing in a specific way against you compared to when you go away. And then the team opens up a little bit more, so you can hit them a little bit more on the counter, so you don't have to create everything from scratch and 11 players behind the ball.

"But I just think definitely the away form has been very good in terms of what we said before. I think we've been extremely good in the foundation in football, in terms of we have a good base in the middle, low block and also very high.

"I think it's very important that we probably have the most aggressive teams in the high pressure. And I think that's a big part of why we are also quite good away from home. We need to continue tomorrow against a very good team, but we're up for that."

Frank confirms Romero and Udogie to miss Monaco game

Tottenham are aiming to remain unbeaten in the Champions League this season on Wednesday, but Frank will be without defenders Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie in Monaco.

Captain Romero missed training on Tuesday morning due to an "abductor strain" after he pulled out in the warm-up of Sunday's 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa.

Frank said of Romero's injury at his pre-match press conference: "It's an abductor strain. We will assess it more this week before we come with any timeframe."

Asked whether fans should be concerned about the injury, Frank replied: "No, I don't think so.

"For me, it's an abductor strain. We'll assess him this week, and then we'll know more."

Spurs will also be without Udogie again after he missed Sunday's loss to Villa with a knee issue.

Frank said of the left-back: "The latest is that he got that knee irritation after the international duty.

"We are assessing and working very hard to get on top of. We will know more probably day by day or in the next week."

Dier injured for Spurs reunion with Pogba absent for Monaco

There will be no Tottenham reunion for Eric Dier, with the Monaco defender injured for Wednesday's clash.

The England international, who made 365 appearances in nine-and-a-half years at Spurs, misses out with a hamstring injury.

Asked by Sky Sports whether Dier was disappointed to miss out on facing his old club, new Monaco boss Sebastien Pocognoli replied: "Actually, it was more general disappointment to be injured because I felt he really wanted to start the journey with me on the weekend. He was really upset with the injury.

"For sure, it is deeply disappointing for him that he misses the game against Tottenham, but we didn't discuss this."

Paul Pogba will not make his long-awaited return to football against Tottenham, either.

The ex-Manchester United midfielder has suffered a setback in his comeback, having yet to feature for Monaco since joining in the summer as a free agent.

The France international is training with the squad, confirmed Pocognoli.

"I think the process for Paul is a process to make everything step by step," the Belgian said. "Yesterday, he trained with the group for the first time under my coaching.

"He was smiling, enjoying himself and interacting with the players, so for me that's the first step. This step can take days, two or three weeks, and then we can build on this through performance, the consistency.

"So that's the first step, and I'm very pleased to see him on the pitch."

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With the Women's Super League on a two-week break, Sky Sports columnist Laura Hunter tackles talking points from the latest Premier League matches, including a look at Nick Woltemade's eye-catching performances for Newcastle and a familiar problem at Tottenham...

Woltemade debunks Premier League myth

A move from the Bundesliga to the Premier League is a well-travelled path. Just this summer, another raft of high-profile names made the swap. Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Hugo Ekitike joined Liverpool, Benjamin Sesko was sold to Manchester United, Xavi Simons to Tottenham. All for big sums.

But the one who has made his acclimatisation look most natural is Newcastle forward Nick Woltemade. In just seven short weeks, he has become the toast of the Toon, and rubbished the theory that players arriving from Germany require a 'transition period'.

The 23-year-old, unmissable at 6ft 6in, has not needed the caveats most have offered Wirtz and Sesko. He has just got on with it. On his Premier League bow he joined an elite, but small, group of compatriots - Jurgen Klinsmann and Ilkay Gundogan - in becoming the third German to score on his debut.

He has netted another four times in all competitions since, five if you include his contribution for Germany.

In fact, Woltemade has made a mockery of plenty of conventional tags in the early part of this season. "The players are looking for me," he said at the weekend. It is easy to see why. A tall target man with a silky touch is a rare commodity in modern day football, much lesser seen than a more conventional type.

Newcastle might have eventually lost to Brighton on Saturday but Woltemade's remarkable back-heel flick to draw them level hinted at a unique intelligence. His individuality as a No 9/ No 10 hybrid makes him difficult to track. "Nick has done really well," said Eddie Howe, "and we're delighted for him, but we need more from the rest of the team."

Newcastle had failed to score in each of their last four Premier League away games until Woltemade made his mark at the Amex - and as a team, only Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Leeds have a lower conversion rate (7.3 per cent) this season. Woltemade himself (36.4 per cent) bucks the trend - his minutes-to-goals ratio second only to Erling Haaland - but as Howe acknowledged, he needs more help.

Still, the understanding with Anthony Gordon shows promise and a positive should be gleaned from his willingness to embrace a leading role so early in his Newcastle career. He rarely appears fazed. The range of his talent is deceptive, too, able to drop deep and act as the bounce player while also revealing himself to be a shrewd finisher.

He might not have been signed as a direct replacement for Alexander Isak, who is yet to score in the league for Liverpool, but Woltemade is filling the void admirably and proving the necessity of so-called transition time to be nothing more than a myth.

Spurs stifled at home

Thomas Frank has hit a stumbling block. The problem is not necessarily of his own making but will be his to fix. Since the start of last season, Tottenham have dropped more points from winning positions at home in the Premier League (19) than any other side.

They have lost five times after leading in that time, also a league-high tally.

Spurs would have gone second with a win over Aston Villa on Sunday and third with a draw. Instead they find themselves sixth. In many ways, following the debacle of last season, it's tangible progress. Those who pay their money to watch from the terraces of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, however, have a right to disagree. Based on home form alone Spurs would be 17th.

Why, then, are performances so stifled in more familiar surroundings? It's clear that from open play Frank's side lack cohesiveness, and that frustrates home crowds. Their open-play xG at the weekend was a pitiful 0.16. They did carry set-piece threat, but summer arrivals Mohammed Kudus and Simons struggled to combine effectively with Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel.

Tel's runs were predictable, and for the most part he wasn't served the ball anyway. Simons failed to gain any momentum. Kudus has been a bright spark since joining from West Ham but even centre-back Micky van de Ven carried more xG threat against Villa. Kudus actually generated zero.

Every forward foray seemed to be half-a-yard out, or mistimed completely - Spurs were caught offside six times in total, more than any other side across matchweek eight.

Unai Emery rather hit the nail on the head post-match: "We adapted to everything tactically," he said, and Villa played on an anxiousness that has come to define games in this part of north London.

When Tottenham let their lead go they tend also to let their ascendancy slip. Frank's foremost problem is to ensure that habit, inherited from the Ange Postecoglou era, is not a hallmark of his time in charge.

Forest failings expose wider problems

Nottingham Forest are about to appoint their third manager of the season and it's only October. A sad indictment of how far the club has plummeted in the space of a few short months. The highs and lows of football have scarcely been more acutely encapsulated.

Postecoglou sacked as Forest boss

The exact date of the beginning of such a sensational downfall is difficult to pinpoint. Was it in the first week of the season, when former boss Nuno Espirito Santo publicly labelled his squad "unbalanced" and called it a "major problem"? Was it 24 days later when he was sacked? Or is it better summarised by Ange Postecoglou's disastrous 39-day reign?

It's hard to say. But what is abundantly obvious is just how poor Forest have been on the pitch as well as off it. All this confusion has obviously unnerved players and rid them of the stability they used to drive last season's impressive push for Europe.

Forest have now failed to score in three successive league home games for the first time since October 1998. Saturday marked the first time they generated an xG value over two (2.35) and failed to score since returning to the Premier League in 2022. The upheaval has unpicked everything good about Forest under Nuno. They have slipped 11 places in the table between May and now.

With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps even Evangelos Marinakis might admit hiring a manager whose style of play is the antithesis of the previous regime - the most successful in the club's recent history - was a mistake.

Postecoglou was the first manager to see his team score only one goal in his first five Premier League matches in charge since - drumroll, please - Sean Dyche at Burnley in 2014. Marinakis might not be privy to that information because he has enlisted Dyche himself to enact the turnaround. He will be the ninth Forest manager in eight years.

This soap opera style of club management cannot be sustainable. Blame can of course be shared around but really the only way to ease such turbulence is to settle the noise by winning football matches. Forest find themselves marooned in the relegation scrap with the worst offensive record and second-worst defensive record in the league.

Dyche's job is gigantic and he can't afford to get it wrong.

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Substitute Emiliano Buendia’s late winner sealed a 2-1 turnaround win for Aston Villa at Tottenham to continue their resurgence.

Villa's first away league win of the season gave Unai Emery's side their fifth straight victory in all competitions, after they had failed to win their first six games this season.

But for Spurs, their home woes worsened - their four points in four home Premier League games this season is their poorest home start to a league campaign since 2008/09 (one point from four games).

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Villa had to recover from Rodrigo Bentancur's fifth-minute opener as he slammed home from close range to give Spurs the perfect start.

But Villa grew into the game, and Morgan Rogers brought them level with a stunning 37th-minute strike.

Rogers' first goal of the season was described as "beautiful" by Sky Sports' Roy Keane after he arrowed a dipping effort from distance past Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

The England international's upturn in form, having assisted in the wins over Burnley and Fulham, has coincided with Villa's strong improvement that told in the second half.

In the 77th minute, wonderful link-up play between full-backs Matty Cash and Lucas Digne, with Keane calling Cash's pass "ball of the season", saw Digne tee up substitute Buendia to curl home into the bottom far corner.

Tottenham failed to have a shot on target after Buendia's goal as their seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end.

The defeat also means Spurs have now won just three of their last 18 Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Thomas Frank's side dropped to sixth as 10th-place Villa climbed into the top half to move three points off the top four.

Emery: Villa still have work to do

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking at his post-match press conference on five wins on a row:

"Still work to do, and still players can increase their level. Some because they were coming back from injury, we have some players injured, and we can have more players to choose to play each match, which is better for the coach and for our performance.

"We learnt last season, the second part of the season, we were performing fantastic, and we had a lot of players in different positions, ready to play and adding their quality in 30 minutes, like today.

"In the [final] 30 minutes, Buendia and (Ollie) Watkins, were fantastic after (Donyell) Malen and (Evann) Guessand did very well and then in the 15 minutes, (Ian) Maatsen and (Ross) Barkley, played fantastic.

"We are trying to build positive energy, enthusiasm and qualities. Of course, respecting the opponent and trying to compete, because competing is adapting to everything, tactically, individually, duels, set-pieces, throw ins.

"And we competed today, fantastically."

Frank: Villa goals were 'quality in nothing moments'

Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank speaking at his post-match press conference:

"I think the way the game panned out was exactly how I expected it to be. A very even game against a very good Villa team, set up very well by Unai, where we performed quite well.

"We dominated in good spells. We came out with very good intensity, very aggressive, we were good in high pressure.

"Defensively, we were excellent. There's a couple of things you can look into when you look at it defensively. We gave away eight shots, not even a cross, a very, very low xG, and Vicario didn't have a save.

"We gave two goals away in a position outside the box with a lot of players behind the ball. If you said to me before the game, they will shoot from there, Rogers and Buendia, with that situation, 'Ah yeah, of course, no problem, it's not dangerous'.

"But a fantastic quality shot from Rogers. So in those nothing moments, they had more quality."

Rogers repays Emery's faith with hard work

"I suppose I might have been a surprise package last year, but now people know about me and know my game."

Morgan Rogers admitted to Sky Sports last month that his task in the Premier League has become harder. He is no longer the new kid on the block at Aston Villa. He is the player every team knows they must stop.

And his start to the season, without a goal in seven games, reinforced how he has become a marked man.

Head coach Unai Emery wasn't prepared to give up on him, though. Rogers has started all of their Premier League and Europa League matches.

"He is always doing his task. He is a hard worker," explained Emery. "And through it, the performance is coming.

"He's playing and he's scoring because he's helping the team for 90 minutes."

Rogers' stunning strike against Tottenham was the only shot he had during the match. It was a bolt from the blue, but one that can help reinstall his confidence after a tricky period in his career.

David Richardson

Spurs' home form 'alarming'

The sound of boos at the full-time whistle has become a regular occurrence at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs' home form is alarming. Their supporters have seen just three wins at home in the last 18 Premier League games.

In fact, the 2-1 loss to Aston Villa means it is Tottenham's poorest home start to a league campaign since 2008/09.

Since November 10 last year, Spurs have lost more home games than any other ever-present Premier League side.

Frank has been unable to solve an issue which developed under his predecessor Ange Postecoglou.

Asked to explain their home struggles, the Dane said at his post-match press conference: "I don't think it's that simple. It's about looking into the performances.

"I think we performed well against Burnley, I think we performed well today. I think we had one very good first half against Wolves, and we were bad against Bournemouth.

"We could easily have won it instead of Villa, and then it would have been a different narrative, so I look at the performance on the pitch at what we did well and look at what we need to improve."

Frank, then, will be relieved their next three games are all away.

They next return at home on November 1 as they host Chelsea, live on Sky Sports. The boos will only be louder if they suffer yet another home defeat against their London rivals.

Declan Olley

Opta Stats: Spurs lose again without Romero

Since the start of 2023-24, Tottenham Hotspur have won just 23 per cent of their Premier League games without defender Cristian Romero (6/26), compared to a 50 per cent league win rate when he has played in this time (29/58).

Since the start of last season, Tottenham Hotspur have dropped more points from winning positions at home in the Premier League (19) than any other side, losing five times after leading at home in the division in this time, also a league-high tally.

In his 160 Premier League games as a manager, Aston Villa's Unai Emery has seen his sides both score and concede in 101 of them, a ratio of 63 per cent. This is the highest proportion of the 80 managers to take charge of 100+ Premier League matches.

Aged 23 years and 85 days, Morgan Rogers became the sixth-youngest player to record 25 Premier League goal involvements for Aston Villa (12 goals, 13 assists), and youngest since Christian Benteke in August 2013 (22y 257d).

Story of the match in stats...

What's coming up in the Premier League?

Substitute Emiliano Buendia’s late winner sealed a 2-1 turnaround win for Aston Villa at Tottenham to continue their resurgence.

Villa's first away league win of the season gave Unai Emery's side their fifth straight victory in all competitions, after they had failed to win their first six games this season.

But for Spurs, their home woes worsened - their four points in four home Premier League games this season is their poorest home start to a league campaign since 2008/09 (one point from four games).

As it happened | Teams | Stats

Live PL table | Watch FREE PL highlights

Got Sky? Watch Premier League games LIVE on your phone📱

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Villa had to recover from Rodrigo Bentancur's fifth-minute opener as he slammed home from close range to give Spurs the perfect start.

But Villa grew into the game, and Morgan Rogers brought them level with a stunning 37th-minute strike.

Rogers' first goal of the season was described as "beautiful" by Sky Sports' Roy Keane after he arrowed a dipping effort from distance past Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

The England international's upturn in form, having assisted in the wins over Burnley and Fulham, has coincided with Villa's strong improvement that told in the second half.

In the 77th minute, wonderful link-up play between full-backs Matty Cash and Lucas Digne, with Keane calling Cash's pass "ball of the season", saw Digne tee up substitute Buendia to curl home into the bottom far corner.

Tottenham failed to have a shot on target after Buendia's goal as their seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end.

The defeat also means Spurs have now won just three of their last 18 Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Thomas Frank's side dropped to sixth as 10th-place Villa climbed into the top half to move three points off the top four.

Opta Stats: Spurs lose again without Romero

Since the start of 2023-24, Tottenham Hotspur have won just 23 per cent of their Premier League games without defender Cristian Romero (6/26), compared to a 50 per cent league win rate when he has played in this time (29/58).

Since the start of last season, Tottenham Hotspur have dropped more points from winning positions at home in the Premier League (19) than any other side, losing five times after leading at home in the division in this time, also a league-high tally.

In his 160 Premier League games as a manager, Aston Villa's Unai Emery has seen his sides both score and concede in 101 of them, a ratio of 63 per cent. This is the highest proportion of the 80 managers to take charge of 100+ Premier League matches.

Aged 23 years and 85 days, Morgan Rogers became the sixth-youngest player to record 25 Premier League goal involvements for Aston Villa (12 goals, 13 assists), and youngest since Christian Benteke in August 2013 (22y 257d).

Story of the match in stats...

What's coming up in the Premier League?

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