The Independent

Ange Postecoglou knows the next month will be “significant” for Tottenham, but is confident they will improve and not be mid-table at Christmas.

Spurs travel to Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday reeling from a disappointing home loss to Ipswich before the international break.

The club’s problems have multiplied during the past fortnight with midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur handed a seven-match domestic ban on Monday and Cristian Romero (toe) joining a lengthy list of absentees.

However, Postecoglou remains bullish about Tottenham’s progress and acutely aware of the scrutiny set to come his way if they stay 10th.

“Christmas is a joyous occasion, irrespective, and I think it should be celebrated. If we’re still 10th then people won’t be happy, I won’t be happy, but we might not be 10th,” Postecoglou pointed out before nine games in 30 days.

“Certainly for us I think it’s a significant period because you look at those games and we’ve got the league where we’ve got to improve our position and a couple of important European fixtures that can set us up for the back half of the year, also a Carabao Cup quarter-final.

“At the end of that period we could be in a decent position for a strong second half of the year, so for us it is an important period.

“You know there’s no more international breaks, so the full focus is here. You can build some momentum through that, or if things don’t go well you could get yourself into a bit of a grind.

“Of course if we had beaten Ipswich, we’d be third and I reckon this press conference would be much different wouldn’t it?

“I’m not going to let my life be dictated by one result, I’m sorry. I take a wider perspective on these things because I know how fickle it can be, but we need to address our position for sure.

“And if we’re 10th at Christmas, yeah it won’t be great. There’d be a lot of scrutiny and probably a lot of scrutiny around me, which is fair enough, but that’s not where I plan for us to be.”

Tottenham’s immediate efforts to move up the table will require them ending City’s two-year unbeaten home run in the Premier League.

The champions have lost their last four matches in all competitions, but have some key personnel back for Saturday’s clash and will aim to toast Pep Guardiola’s new contract with a victory.

Postecoglou was pleased to see Guardiola commit to a further two seasons in England, adding: “I love the fact that there’s a massive target out there that can seem insurmountable.

“I look at it the other way. I go, ‘imagine if you knock him off, that’d be something’.

“I’m at the stage of my life where I’d rather have the chance of knocking him off than missing that opportunity.

“When greatness is around, you want to be around it. And hopefully it challenges you to be like that as well.”

Saturday’s fixture will be Postecoglou’s 50th league game in charge of Spurs and he knows what is required to bring up three figures.

“I took over a club that finished eighth,” Postecoglou said.

“No European football, significant player turnover, change of playing style. Where did I think we’d be after 50 games? God knows.

“It could have been a whole lot worse, but when you look at it in the current prism of we’re 10th, you’re going ‘it doesn’t look good’ and I understand that and we have to improve that.

“But over the 50 games, I think there’s enough there that shows we are progressing as a team and we are developing into the team we want.

“The key is the next 50 games, if they can be in totality better than the first 50? First, that means I’m here but second, I think we’ll be in a good space.”

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been hit with a seven-game ban over controversial comments made towards teammate Son Heung Min on Uruguayan television.

Bentancur apologised in June for appearing to say all South Korean people “look the same” during an interview.

The 27-year-old conceded it was “a very bad joke,” with Son later expressing his “love” for his teammate.

The host of a Canal 10 show asked Bentancur to display the shirt of a Spurs player, with the former Juventus star replying: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

Bentancur was then charged by the Football Association in September for “misconduct in relation to a media interview”.

Despite the apology, Bentancur will now be unavailable for Ange Postecoglou’s side due to being found guilty of an “aggravated breach” by an independent regulatory commission panel.

Bentancur will miss games against Man City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton, Manchester United and Liverpool before returning in the league against Nottingham Forest. The Uruguayan is free to play in the Europa League against Roma and Rangers.

“[Sonny] brother! I apologise to you for what happened, it was just a very bad joke!” Bentancur said on Instagram during the summer. “You know I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone else! I love you brother!”

While Tottenham also released a statement at the time and included quotes from Son.

“I’ve spoken with Lolo. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised,” said the South Korea international. “Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all.

“We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in pre season to fight for our club as one.”

Tottenham added: “Following a comment from Rodrigo Bentancur in an interview video clip and the player’s subsequent public apology, the club has been providing assistance in ensuring a positive outcome in this matter.

“This will include further education for all players in line with our diversity, equality and inclusion objectives.

“We fully support that our captain Sonny feels that he can draw a line under the incident and that the team can focus on the new season ahead.

“We are extremely proud of our diverse, global fanbase and playing squads. Discrimination of any kind has no place at our club, within our game or within wider society.”

Alessia Russo scored after 63 seconds to set Arsenal on their way to a 3-0 north London derby victory at Tottenham.

Russo’s early finish - the Gunners’ second fastest goal in Women’s Super League history - was added to by Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius to continue interim boss Renee Slegers’ impressive short-term reign.

Slegers, who replaced Jonas Eidevall on a temporary basis following his resignation in October, led Arsenal to a notable 4-0 win over Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday before another dominant showing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mariona Caldentey was at her creative best with two assists, the first coming in the opening exchanges. Spurs had hardly managed a touch before a cute pass between the lines by the Spain international was smashed home first-time by Russo into the bottom-left corner.

The visitors, who went into the game unbeaten since defeat to champions Chelsea in October, continued their positive start and added a second before Tottenham had managed an attack of their own.

England skipper Leah Williamson threaded a ball to Kim Little in space, and after the Gunners captain picked out Maanum inside the area, the forward made no mistake to double her side’s lead.

Arsenal began to turn the screw after the break. Spurs had been second-best all match and could not deal with Arsenal‘s intensity, with a third goal putting the match beyond reach.

Caldentey produced the pass of the match with a first-time clipped ball to send Blackstenius through one-v-one with the goalkeeper and she poked her attempt in at the near post.

That goal summed up the gulf in class between the two clubs as Arsenal claimed a much-deserved three points over a Tottenham side who have now won once in their last seven in the league.

PA

The new Women's Super League marks the start of a new era for reigning champions Chelsea, with long-serving boss Emma Hayes having departed in summer to start a new adventure with the USA Women's team.

Last year they just about did enough to claim the title on goal difference ahead of Manchester City, while Arsenal will again hope to make it a three-horse race for the WSL title. Meanwhile Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham will hope to progress after further rebuilding this summer.

Two of those sides meet in the north London derby on Saturday, with Spurs sat seventh in the table ahead of kick-off and Arsenal in fourth - but in good form since the sacking of Jonas Eidevall and under the caretaker guidance of Renee Slegers.

Follow the live action below as Tottenham Hotspur face Arsenal today in the WSL:

Kieran McKenna toasted a “special” first Premier League win for Ipswich in 22 years following a superb 2-1 victory at Tottenham, joking the pink kit designed by watching shareholder Ed Sheeran must have brought his team luck.

Singer-songwriter Sheeran was present to watch his boyhood club win in the top flight at the 11th attempt this season after first-half goals by Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap.

Rodrigo Bentancur reduced the deficit for Spurs with 69 minutes played, but they could not muster a grand finale as Ipswich, wearing the pink third kit designed by lifelong supporter Sheeran, defended resolutely to ensure it was a day to savour for their fans.

“It’s a really significant moment and a day to cherish in the recent history of the football club,” McKenna said, before revealing Sheeran visited the dressing room after the match.

“You look at the journey the club has been on in the last 22 years, the ups and downs, some heights but some of the depths as well… I think for the supporters to see their club win in the Premier League at a club like Tottenham, a fantastic club in a stadium like this against a team like that, is a massive day for them.

“For us who have been involved in the journey for the last couple of years, it’s a really significant day as well.”

On Sheeran, McKenna said: “Yeah, he popped in and it was nice to see him. He congratulated the boys and we had his designed kit on, so maybe it brought us a bit of luck!

“And everyone knows he’s been an important part of the club in the last few years with the support he gives us, so nice for him to be here.”

Before Ipswich went ahead in the 31st minute, Szmodics had been denied and Dara O’Shea and Cameron Burgess had gone close with headed chances from corners.

The breakthrough arrived when Jens Cajuste’s cross was sent up in the air and Szmodics was first to react with a fine overhead-kick from close range.

It was 2-0 just before half-time when Szmodics was played in and his cross managed to find its way to Delap to fire home on the line after poor Tottenham defending.

Bentancur pulled one back for the hosts, after VAR had ruled out Dominic Solanke’s close-range effort at the start of the second half for handball, but Arijanet Muric was only required to block from Solanke late on as Ipswich claimed a long-awaited Premier League win.

It carried extra significance for McKenna, who spent 14 years at Tottenham as both player and coach after he first moved to England in 2002.

McKenna added: “I come to this club as a 14-year-old, I left home and I never went back. So, yeah it’s nice to do it here, there is no doubt about that.

“My father was in the crowd and lots of people will be very proud.

“It’s nice to do it here, a club where I have got a great affinity for but also it’s good to do it against a really good team.

“Tottenham are a fantastic team, playing really well at home, amazing atmosphere in the stadium so to come here and do it, it is more special for everyone.”

Spurs could have moved into the top four with victory, but are 10th.

“We gave ourselves too much of a deficit to try to overcome,” head coach Ange Postecoglou said.

“That’s my responsibility. The inconsistency we’re having this year, ultimately it comes down to me and my approach and something I need to try and fix and see if I can help the players in that area.”

Follow live coverage as Tottenham Hotspur face Ipswich Town today in the Premier League. Another top-flight season will be covered in full right here with The Independent, as reigning champions Manchester City look to make it an unprecedented five titles in a row come the end of 2024/25.

The likes of Arsenal and Liverpool will be chasing Pep Guardiola's side, but just as fascinating will be the race for Champions League places, with more teams than ever before having designs on top-four finishes. Chelsea remain big-spending, Manchester United's latest rebuild continues and both Tottenham and Newcastle will expect improvements this year - yet it was Aston Villa who snared fourth last term.

Meanwhile, it's Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town who made it back to the elite after promotion last year and each will have hope they can make it more than a one-year stay. Follow the latest live action from the Premier League below:

Hugo Lloris has revealed that the gift of a watch engraved with the words “Champions League finalist” from Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy made him question if the club “really want to win”.

Lloris spent 12 years in north London, including a long stint as club captain, but failed to help Spurs to a trophy during his tenure.

His time at Tottenham included two League Cup final defeats and a 2-0 loss to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League decider, with Lloris beaten from the penalty spot early on after a controversial Moussa Sissoko handball.

But the Frenchman had been left unsettled ahead of kick-off by a presentation from Levy to the playing squad simply celebrating the side for reaching the final.

And Lloris feels it perhaps betrayed a problem with the club’s mentality that their long-serving chairman appeared happy with second best.

“Four days before the final, Daniel Levy called us all together to announce that, with the support of a sponsor, we would each receive a luxury aviator watch from the club,” Lloris recalls in his forthcoming autobiography Earning My Spurs, as serialised by The Guardian. “At first, we were excited to see the elegant boxes. Then we opened them and discovered that he’d had the back of each timepiece engraved with the player’s name and ‘Champions League Finalist 2019’. ‘Finalist.’

“Who does such a thing at a moment like this? I still haven’t got over it, and I’m not alone. If we’d won, he wouldn’t have asked for the watches back to have ‘Winner’ engraved instead.

“I have considerable respect and esteem for the man and all he has done for the club as chairman – I got to know him – but there are things he is simply not sensitive to. As magnificent as the watch is, I have never worn it. I would have preferred there to be nothing on it. With an engraving like that, Levy couldn’t have been surprised if we had been 1–0 down after a couple of minutes: so it was written.

“At the post-match reception at the hotel, I had the impression that some people from the club and certain players were not sufficiently despondent at having lost. I would have liked people to come up to me and say, ‘Don’t worry, Hugo. Never again. We’ll give you the means for a comeback.’ But when I returned to my room on the night of the final, I think I had the same feeling as Mauricio [Pochettino] and Harry {Kane]: does the club really want to win? Real Madrid would never have celebrated a lost final, and we shouldn’t have either.”

Tottenham Hotspur resume their Europa League campaign on Thursday night and face one of their tougher tests with a trip to Galatasaray.

Ange Postecoglou watched his side pick up an impressive 4-1 win over Aston Villa at the weekend, with big-money signing Dominic Solanke scoring twice, but consistency has been the biggest problem for Spurs and he will want the side to maintain that level for the last couple of games before the international break.

Neither of these clubs have lost in the Europa League yet, Spurs winning all three and sitting second, while Gala have two wins and a draw to lie in fifth.

The Turkish team’s only defeats this season have come in the Super Cup and the Champions League qualifiers, leaving them on a run of 11 unbeaten in all competitions since then.

Here’s everything you need to know.

When is the match?

Spurs head to Galatasaray with kick-off set for 5:45pm GMT on Thursday 7 November.

Where can I watch it?

The match will be broadcast on TNT Sports 1 and subscribers can stream on discovery+.

You can purchase a TNT Sports subscription via discovery+ here, for only £30.99 per month. If you want to stream major sporting events while you are travelling or watching from abroad you’ll need a VPN. Get the best VPN deals in the UK. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

What is the team news?

Galatasaray only have Ismail Jakobs missing but Okan Buruk has shifted his team from 3-4-3 to 4-2-3-1 depending on which attackers he wants on the pitch, so Mauro Icardi and Victor Osimhen may be battling for a single spot.

Spurs are without Richarlison, who went off injured at the weekend after assisting a goal, as well as Wilson Odobert, Micky van de Ven and centre-back partner Cristian Romero. Ange Postecoglou has tended to switch around his side significantly for Europa matches so the likes of Ben Davies, Timo Werner and impressive youngster Mikey Moore will all be hoping for game time.

Predicted lineups

GAL - Muslera, Ayhan, Sanchez, Bardakci, Kutlu, Torreira, Sara, Yilmaz, Mertens, Akgun, Icardi

TOT - Vicario, Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie, Bentancur, Bergvall, Maddison, Moore, Solanke, Werner

Odds

Gala 13/10

Draw 3/1

Spurs 19/10

The Independent vets betting sites for useability, security and responsible gambling tools. You can claim free bets here to use across a range of sports. Please read the terms.

Prediction

Galatasaray to just about edge victory in a tight game, mostly due to playing more senior starters. Galatasaray 2-1 Tottenham.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Mohammed Kudus will serve an extended ban after the West Ham United forward was sent off for violent conduct in the defeat at Tottenham Hotspur last month.

Kudus kicked and slapped Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven before pushing his hands into the face of Pape Matar Sarr in an extraordinary meltdown towards the end of the 4-1 defeat.

On-field referee Andrew Madley initially showed Kudus a yellow card but the VAR recommended a review and the Ghana international was shown a straight red.

And the 24-year-old, who had scored West Ham’s opening goal in the London derby, will now serve an extra two-match suspension and pay a £60,000 fine in addition to his initial three-game ban after the Football Association decided to enforce a stronger punishment.

His three-match ban was set to end after the Hammers’s clash with Everton this weekend but he will now also miss the games against Newcastle and Arsenal after the international break. West Ham have also been fined £30,000 for failing to control their players.

A statment from the FA read: “West Ham United and Mohammed Kudus have been sanctioned in relation to incidents during their Premier League fixture against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday 19 October.

“It was alleged that the club failed to ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative and/or violent way around the 82nd minute. West Ham United admitted to this charge, and an independent Regulatory Commission subsequently fined the club £30,000.

“It was also alleged that Mohammed Kudus acted in an improper manner and/or used violent conduct after the offence that he was sent off for. The forward admitted to this charge, and he has been given a two-match suspension and £60,000 fine by the Regulatory Commission.”

His additional suspension is a further blow to under-pressure West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, who saw his side get beaten 3-0 by Nottingham Forest in their most recent fixture. The Hammers have won just three of their 10 Premier League games since he replaced David Moyes and lie 14th in the table.

“I am not going to say here what I am going to talk with him (about), but for sure we are going to talk,” Lopetegui said when asked about the Kudus incident at the time.

“We are going to have time and I am sure he will be aware that he can improve his answer in this moment because it’s not good for him, for the club and not good for the team.

“But I can’t say anything more because I don’t see the action.”

A memorable second half from Tottenham Hotspur, borne out of a memorable message from Ange Postecoglou.

“I keep saying to the players, if I was a racehorse, I’d have blinkers.”

The point that Postecoglou was making was to block everything out and just go for it – and his team duly hit a pace that Aston Villa couldn’t reach. The entire second half was a manifestation of the manager’s ideal. It was a whirlwind that Aston Villa got caught up in, as the control that Unai Emery attempted to assert in the first half was simply blown away. Spurs, by the end, were good value for a 4-1 victory. They’d kept going, attempting to play the football that Villa wouldn’t.

This isn’t to criticise Emery. His first-half tactics looked right for the situation, and the squad is obviously being tested to a deeper degree with the greater intensity of the Champions League.

It’s also why talk of a title challenge was hasty, but then you could say the same for pressure on Postecoglou. The Spurs manager’s comments are arguably even more relevant in that context. His side have endured a lot of noise, but that has been in keeping with the wider Premier League narrative.

This has been a strange season so far, where no one except Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have really been seizing opportunities. All others have looked fallible, to more pronounced degrees than normal. Hence you look at the table and there’s a Spurs team supposedly recently in crisis that are actually in the relatively OK position of seventh.

Something like this is admittedly said every season – that it’ll be lower points this year, that it’s open, that Manchester City look off it – and then tends to self-correct. Even allowing for that, though, these early games have had a lot of margin for error. Very little seems to be a guarantee.

This match was arguably a case in point. If anyone had been going by the “feel” of the two clubs’ campaigns, as well as some of the results, a game prediction would have looked a lot like the first half.

The match had seemed as if Villa were “doing a number” on Spurs. Any time Postecoglou’s side had the ball around the halfway line, Emery was urging his players back, clearly not wanting them to press too high. The rationale was obvious. Anything else would have been playing into Postecoglou’s tactics. Villa would have been offering up the space in behind that Spurs love to surge into. Why bother, when you can just wait for the kind of opportunity from a counter or set-piece that a Postecoglou team will inevitably give you?

That arrived in the 32nd minute, Morgan Rogers allowed to smash in from close range after Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke combined to somehow flick a corner on. There was even a breakaway chance from Ollie Watkins, that the forward sent well wide in a way he wouldn’t have amid last season’s form.

That also points to one huge reason why you do bother to do something different. While Postecoglou’s Spurs have this residual inconsistency, both due to the manager’s approach and the young profile of the squad, he has also ensured they have this capacity to suddenly turn it on. It can be a dangerous game to play but Spurs do have these spells where threats are coming from every angle.

The manner of their goals were the perfect illustration. For the first, just after half-time, Son Heung-Min played in a brilliant cross from the left that Brennan Johnson showed his opportunism to finish. The delivery was close to unstoppable, which was eventually what Spurs’ football became.

Just when the game seemed to be petering out, they upped it again. “The thing with us, we've got another gear in us, another two, three gears,” Postecoglou smiled.

They showed that, while Villa faded, as Emery admitted: “We are accepting the result because we were making mistakes. We made mistakes in the first half but corrected them quick.”

The second-half difference was shown in a key area. Villa had spent most of the game focusing on congesting that area in front of their own goal, knowing it is exactly where Dejan Kulusevski and the two driving full-backs can do such damage. It was gradually emptied, as Spurs further opened it. Pape Matar Sarr, Johnson and Kulusevski had a wondrously swift interchange through the centre to put Solanke through for a delightful lifted finish.

Yashin Trophy winner Emiliano Martinez could do nothing and suddenly had to start speeding up his kick-outs. Spurs instead killed the game in quick fashion, with Solanke slotting in his third. It was another ball from Villa’s right, which raises an issue for Emery.

Postecoglou, meanwhile, has a potentially good selection problem, thanks to a period where Spurs look like they have strength in depth. James Maddison came off the bench to score a divine free-kick and put the icing on the cake but the question now is whether that is his best use. Spurs looked a more driven team that fitted together better without him.

Then again, the entire game would be a lesson in not reading too much into short-term results. Villa aren’t yet title challengers. Spurs aren’t yet in a mid-table drift. The two teams are actually quite close on overall quality, ironically despite the scoreline.

This is what Postecoglou meant by the blinkers. Praise will now come his players’ way, but they shouldn’t read too much into it.

“You don't fall off cliffs and you don't climb mountains within a week,” Postecoglou said. “It’s all part of the same process for me. We’re going to have bumps along the way. It’s how you address them, how you cope with them, how you rebound and learn from them.”

Emery was saying similar to his own players: “Balance is the first message I sent in the dressing room, because it’s 38 matches.”

That’s the only time reality really comes into view.