The Independent

Tottenham host rivals Arsenal in a north London derby where there is plenty on the line at both ends of the Premier League table.

Leaders Arsenal faced “bottlers” jibes after blowing a two-goal lead to draw at Wolves on Wednesday, with Manchester City closing the gap to Mikel Arteta’s side to just two points after beating Newcastle last night.

Tottenham would love to further dent Arsenal’s title hopes, but Spurs are desperate for three points to ease relegation concerns as new boss Igor Tudor takes charge for the first time since replacing Thomas Frank.

Tudor takes charge of a Tottenham side who are just four points clear of the bottom three after West Ham’s draw at home to Bournemouth yesterday. They are also without a win in eight Premier League games.

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal meet in a crucial Premier League clash as the North London rivals collide.

Spurs begin life under Igor Tudor looking to deal another blow to the league leaders after Arsenal squandered a two-goal lead against Wolves in midweek.

Tudor has been brought in to replace the dismissed Thomas Frank on a deal until the end of the season, and will need to spark a turnaround in form with Tottenham far from out of the relegation fight.

Success on derby day would represent an excellent start and prompt more questions over Mikel Arteta’s visitors.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Tottenham vs Arsenal is due to kick off at 4.30pm GMT on Sunday 22 February at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage on the channels from 4pm. A live stream will be available via Sky Go and NOW.

Richarlison has returned to first-team training for Tottenham, and may be considered for a matchday role. Pedro Porro is also nearing fitness, though there remains a long list of injury absentees for Igor Tudor to contend with. Cristian Romero is suspended, which may l

Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz could both be back to bolster the Arsenal squad and leave Mikel Arteta with a few tough selection decisions to make.

Tottenham XI: Vicario; Gray, Dragusin, Van de Ven; Porro, Gallagher, Palhinha, Spence; Kolo Muani, Solanke, Simons.

Tottenham vs Arsenal betting tips

Tottenham Hotspur take on Arsenal in a north London derby in the Premier League on Sunday, with the visitors looking to maintain their lead at the top of the table as the title race heats up once more.

The Gunners make the trip across the capital having seen their lead extended by just one point after the midweek draw to Wolves, but are still the favourites in the Premier League odds to take the crown to the red side of north London for the first time since 2004.

However, that draw means City can cut the gap at the top to just two points if they win this weekend, so this game against Spurs has taken on even more importance than usual for the Gunners.

However, while any derby is a tricky game to navigate no matter the gap between the two sides, the visitors arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to take on a Spurs side in turmoil, with Thomas Frank having been sacked just over a week ago.

Former Juventus boss Igor Tudor is the man tasked with steadying the ship until the end of the season, though he will have to contest with the same squad depth and injury issues as those that plagued his predecessor, and the mood around the club is notably negative ahead of the visit of their biggest rivals.

And while Arsenal have struggled in recent weeks, the Gunners are still huge favourites despite being the away side, with betting sites pricing Arteta’s men at odds-on to get the win this weekend compared to odds of 5/1 for a Spurs victory.

Tottenham vs Arsenal prediction: No dream start for Tudor

Arsenal come into this match in the midst of a fairly poor start to 2026 by their lofty standards, with the Gunners having won just three of their eight Premier League matches so far this year.

Recent draws to Brentford and Wolves have certainly damaged their hunt for the title, but Arteta and co. are still in the driving seat this season even if their lead is a lot less comfortable than it was just a few weeks ago.

While their attacking struggles have been well documented, Arsenal remain the most formidable team in the league in defence, and have more than enough firepower to get past most teams, as shown in the 4-1 win in the reverse fixture in November.

In any case, whatever struggles Arsenal might be facing pale in comparison to those suffered by their local rivals, with Tottenham currently languishing closer to relegation than European football.

Spurs have not won a single one of their last five matches, with three losses and two draws over that time bringing Frank’s reign to an end. While Tudor arrives with the hope for brighter days ahead, the fact remains that Spurs have conceded 10 and scored six over their last five, and have conceded twice in their last six matches in the league.

Though the hosts will have home advantage this weekend, the depth of their injury crisis and the lack of preparation time afforded to Tudor means the odds are against them, and the Gunners should be able to pull off a fairly straightforward win despite their own struggles of late with a decent price available on football betting sites.

Tottenham vs Arsenal prediction 1: Arsenal to win to nil - 13/8 BoyleSports

Tottenham vs Arsenal tip: Saka to star in Arsenal win

Arsenal talisman Bukayo Saka marked his new contract agreement with a goal as he featured in a new position for the Gunners, with the 24-year-old scoring within five minutes as he lined up in attacking midfield.

And while Saka was eventually subbed due to an unspecified issue as the visitors eventually fell to a draw at the Molineux, the England international should be fit to feature this weekend.

That is great news for Arsenal considering Saka’s record against Spurs, with the Gunners winger having registered two goals and four assists over his least five appearances in the north London derby.

While Ebere Eze stole the show at the Emirates in November, Saka provided the only assist in a 1-0 win in this fixture last season, and got goals and assists in both matches against Spurs the season before that.

Whether or not he is deployed in a central area once again remains to be seen, but wherever he plays he tends to carry the attacking burden for the Gunners, and considering the weaknesses in the Tottenham defence, Saka should be able to come away from this fixture with yet another goal contribution this weekend.

Tottenham vs Arsenal prediction 2: Bukayo Saka to score or assist - 23/20 Betway

Tottenham vs Arsenal team news

Tottenham vs Arsenal predicted line-ups

Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Dragusin, van de Ven, Spence, Gallagher, Palhinha, Sarr, Richarlison, Solanke, Simons.

Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Gabriel, Saliba, Calafiori; Rice, Zubimendi, Eze; Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli.

Tottenham vs Arsenal betting offer

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There have already been a few quips about how Thomas Frank would have overly focused on Arsenal, a factor that had started to grate some of those around the club.

They – and Arsenal – are also conscious of how the atmosphere on Sunday is going to be different. The toxicity that surrounded Frank will be gone, at least temporarily. The derby will only amplify this better mood.

That suddenly creates a new danger for Arsenal. This could be an especially bad week.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a longer-term risk for Spurs from some of this, and that goes beyond the threat of relegation.

This is the first time that a north London derby has involved both the title and survival since 1934-35, when Arsenal were champions and Spurs went down. Arsenal won those fixtures 5-1 and 0-6.

This season feels very much up for grabs at both ends.

But if Frank occasionally overstated the exact quality of Arsenal, and recent results make even discussing feel mistimed, Spurs would be unwise to ignore the wider point.

The club hierarchy are currently trying to figure out a way out of this unprecedented mess, but there is a good roadmap across north London.

The very fact Arsenal are so disappointed right now is at once a sign of their progress. Better to be frustrated in a title race than nowhere near. They are competing.

Spurs chief executive Vinai Venkatesham should know about that journey better than anyone at the club, since he was on it.

The official was part of a wider team led by former executive vice-chairman Tim Lewis, former sporting director Edu, the ownership and – of course – Mikel Arteta, in making Arsenal a serious operation again.

The hierarchy first stripped everything back, removing all old pretensions and hang-ups to rebuild anew. Arteta decided on an identity and went there.

Another irony in the eternal intertwining of these two clubs is that this Arsenal have almost represented an upscaled version of what Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur were, right down to the style and an initial emphasis on youth.

Above all, though, Arsenal have had a clear sense of where they are going.

Spurs haven’t really been able to say that since Pochettino took them to the Champions League final in 2019, but arguably even earlier.

Since the club lost the Argentine’s singular focus, they have been a mess of different ideas. It says much that all of 2025, 2023, 2021 and 2019 were cast as restarts when they really just perpetuated the same cycle.

A significant cause was the one constant at Spurs: Daniel Levy. The former chairman is still widely respected in the game for how he gradually built the club, but there were increasing criticisms about how virtually everything at Tottenham was done according to his preferences. Even executives at Arsenal quipped about how it was Levy’s way rather than the Spurs way.

It arguably says more that, outside Pochettino’s time and brief bursts like Antonio Conte’s Champions League qualification or Ange Postecoglou’s Europa League triumph, the club has been most associated with a dismissive eponymous adjective: “Spursy”. They are now a club who receive most attention for things going wrong.

The ultimate example might be the Eberechi Eze negotiations, which was one of Levy’s last acts.

Except, the departure of someone as central as Levy has now naturally left a huge vacuum, and one that threatens to swallow up the whole club.

It is actually even worse than the obvious symptom of the lack of decisiveness over Frank, and how the complete absence of a plan saw them allow a dysfunctional situation to become one where relegation is a genuine risk.

Put bluntly, Spurs have no idea what they are, and multiple sources insist there are still not enough football people at the club to figure this out.

Those same sources point to how Tudor was previously a name raised by former director of football, Fabio Paratici.

This is a club badly in need of ideas, and especially one central idea.

As is often the case, it’s impossible not to feel some of this should be obvious, to the point it’s almost boring to repeat in a media article.

Spurs themselves even pronounce it before every home match. There are the inevitable references to Danny Blanchflower’s famous speech proclaiming that “the game is about glory… about doing things in style and with a flourish”.

This again feels incredible to say about one of the wealthiest clubs in football, but it should not have taken them this long to decide on a football ideology that evokes this; to appoint managers and sign players that fit into this.

Again, it should be obvious, but it hasn’t been properly tried at Spurs in years.

One fair argument right now is that the club do not currently have the football expertise to start going about such a project. Other Premier League figures are insistent that Spurs won’t be able to properly do anything like that until there is a change in ownership.

The rumours there refuse to go away. Many potential buyers are said to be interested. The Lewis family, however, are still described as “capricious” on this subject.

And of course it wouldn’t be modern Spurs without some other layer of complication.

Although it is usually at this point of one of their frequent coaching changes that they try to start thinking about the future and the biggest danger is a sense of drift, this time could see them get cut adrift.

They have to stave off relegation. Even the mere risk of this can affect preparation for next season, as Spurs may have to start considering two different plans.

The target will still be the same. They want to return to Pochettino after USA involvement in the World Cup ends.

The hierarchy feel the fanbase needs unifying after such a divisive period, and there is no better candidate. Pochettino’s football ideal, to be fair, also fits into that kind of Blanchflower proclamation.

But should this be based around one man? Is that not a superficial plan in itself? Is it even the same man as in 2019, let alone 2014, when Pochettino offered the fire that was necessary?

There is yet another little twist in how Arteta suddenly faces up to precisely the problem that Pochettino did, and potentially peaking at the wrong time, of not taking the project to fulfilment. Of maybe ending up with no title.

Spurs could have a significant say in that – but they know the club needs to be about so much more. Arsenal are still going for everything, while their great rivals still just need something.

Tottenham Hotspur has been accused of selectively editing the minutes from a fans’ meeting held earlier this month, with claims that a line stating the club "welcomed the input" of supporters was deliberately removed.

Representatives of the Spurs board, including chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, met with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) on 3 February.

This crucial meeting took place just over a week before the dismissal of head coach Thomas Frank.

THST asserts that a number of specific points raised during these discussions were not included in the final published version, despite their explicit request.

Among the lines THST claims were omitted was the statement: "The club welcomed the input of THST."

Furthermore, the Trust alleges that a section outlining fans’ concern at the risk of Premier League relegation was edited out, alongside the sentiment that the belief generated from winning the Europa League last season had now been "lost".

Concerns regarding the lack of young players progressing through the ranks, the club’s ability to generate profit, and what specific on-field targets underpinned the club’s ‘strategic principles’ were also requested for inclusion but ultimately left out, according to THST.

A statement published on the THST website read: "Publishing a full record of the points raised helps ensure accountability and allows members, and the wider fan-base, to understand how the Trust is fulfilling its role on their behalf. Transparency is integral to our role and in our dealings with the club."

Tottenham declined to comment on the accusations. However, sources close to the club indicated there was no intention to sanitise the minutes and had sought to produce a factual account of the matters discussed.

These allegations emerge as Spurs currently sit 16th in the Premier League with 12 matches to go, five points above the bottom three.

The club has since brought in Croatian Igor Tudor as head coach until the end of the season.

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Tottenham Hotspur interim boss Igor Tudor has moved swiftly to reshape his backroom staff, bringing in three new coaches following the dismissal of Justin Cochrane and John Heitinga.

The changes come in the wake of Thomas Frank’s sacking last week.

Heitinga only arrived at the club on 15 January, but has now been shown the exit door.

He was previously part of Arne Slot’s coaching staff at Liverpool last season when the Reds stormed to the Premier League title, but left Anfield last summer to pursue a job in management.

Heitinga was named Ajax boss before the start of the season but lasted just 15 games in charge as he was sacked in November after a poor run of form.

Frank’s seven-month tenure at the club concluded last Wednesday, a day after a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United left Spurs languishing in 16th place in the Premier League, just five points clear of the relegation zone.

Press Association understands that Cochrane, Heitinga, and Chris Haslam have all now departed the North London club.

Tudor is set to introduce Ivan Javorcic as his assistant coach, Riccardo Raganacci as physical coach, and Tomislav Rogic as goalkeeper coach.

Cochrane and Haslam had joined Spurs last summer, having previously worked with Frank at Brentford.

Cochrane, who began his coaching career at Tottenham and was instrumental in bringing Frank to the club, had been billed as making a special return.

Both he and Haslam have now followed Frank out of the exit door. Heitinga’s spell at Spurs was particularly brief, lasting only a month after he was hired by Frank on 15 January, following Matt Wells’ departure for Colorado Rapids.

Tudor’s new coaching team – Javorcic, Raganacci, and Rogic – are familiar faces to the Croatian, having worked alongside him in his previous role at Juventus. Their official start at Tottenham is contingent on securing work permits.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri faces a potential ban after allegedly questioning the integrity of officials.

The Spain international said referees “have to be neutral” after City’s 2-2 draw at Tottenham in the Premier League on 1 February.

The Football Association announced on Friday that the Spain international had been charged with misconduct over his remarks, which were made in a TV interview with an Australian broadcaster.

City, who had led the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 2-0, were frustrated that Dominic Solanke’s first goal in Spurs’ fightback was not disallowed for a foul on Marc Guehi by referee Robert Jones.

Rodri said: “I know we won too much and the people don’t want us to win but the referee has to be neutral and for me honestly, it’s not fair.

“It’s not fair because we work so hard in these situations and now to make these decisions, we have to move on.

“Of course you need to come back but at the end, when everything is finished, we are frustrated because it’s so clear, the foul.”

A statement from the FA read: “Manchester City’s Rodri has been charged with misconduct in relation to comments that he made after their Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday February 1, 2026.

“It’s alleged that the midfielder acted in an improper manner during a post-match media interview by making comments that imply bias and/or question the integrity of a match official and/or match officials, contrary to FA Rule 3.1.”

Rodri has been given until Wednesday 18 February to respond.

The matter will be adjudicated by an independent panel with suspension a potential sanction.

In 2023, then Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was handed a touchline ban after suggesting referee Paul Tierney had “something against” his side.

However, there is no set punishment for the breach of this FA rule, meaning any penalty could vary from previous instances.

Almost immediately, during Thomas Frank’s brief time in charge, certain figures at Tottenham Hotspur realised that the adjustment might be more difficult than anticipated. The Dane had asked a casual and understandable question about squad “discipline” and how it was taken care of.

At Brentford, after all, the club was so meticulously structured that staff members were assigned to such responsibilities.

At Spurs, this was the manager’s job.

The difference offers one of many reasons that explain why Frank failed – and more spectacularly than anyone could have imagined – but also, why Spurs still have so much to fix.

The identity of the head coach is only the most immediate of their problems, to say nothing of survival.

Frank walked into “a basket case of a club”, multiple sources tellThe Independent, but also created many big problems of his own.

On that issue of discipline, Frank’s control over the group is understood to have been “loose”, which eventually gave way to total collapse.

Although an expensive squad, it was not one primed and focused for success in the way Arsenal are, to use an example ill-advisedly repeated by Frank on a regular basis. Tactical messages weren’t sinking in, partly because they weren’t convincing. So many messages were geared toward defensive protection rather than taking the game to the opposition. The best performances seemed to come when the squad took matches into their own hands, which some sources maintain was a continuation of last season’s Europa League campaign. The same injury issues also persisted.

The 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United just proved the football nadir that no one could go beyond. It was like something had finally gone. Players were now losing almost every duel. Newcastle, a team going through real struggles themselves, were enjoying a rare amount of space.

This has been coming.

It’s why some of the Spurs leadership felt they should sack Frank as long ago as four months ago, The Independent understands. They could see this. Certain figures in the hierarchy then pushed that again just before Christmas, until it became a repeated subject of debate every Saturday over January.

Figures close to the board were even complaining about “Groundhog Day” as it felt like they were having the same discussion every weekend.

The 2-1 home defeat to West Ham proved especially painful, which really should have been the point of no return. The atmosphere in the stadium was toxic. This was a licence to act.

As it was, a core of the hierarchy – led by chief executive Vinai Venkatesham – pointed to multiple bigger issues around Frank; precisely these issues of “structure” that the new leadership now realised they had to solve. Sources say Venkatesham and others gestured to Frank’s adaptation, the ongoing injury crisis and the more important idea of taking the long view.

The short term – in other words, every single match – just kept making that stance untenable. To repeat a phrase used about Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United, you can appeal all the extraneous reasons you want, but performances were unwatchable and results unjustifiable. As with Amorim, Spurs were performing to a level which just shouldn’t be possible with their wage bill. It was chronic underperformance.

This ongoing split in the hierarchy nevertheless points to this bigger problem, which is not just how the next manager is decided on, but how such decisions are taken at Spurs at all.

Such was Daniel Levy’s control that there has been an obvious vacuum since he left in September. The primary authorities now are the family of former owner Joe Lewis, who now runs the club through a trust. Daughter Vivienne Lewis is the most involved of those, with son-in-law Nick Beucher also influential. They are still very much getting to grips with the football industry, though. And while there is considerable respect for Venkatesham in the game, he is seen as someone who tries to come to consensus conclusions rather than assertively make decisions.

Noise about a prospective takeover only adds to the uncertainty. This is repeatedly denied, but the point is that this is not how you acquire stability.

None of this would be a problem, however, if Spurs had a functioning football structure. They’ve instead lost a director of football and now another manager in the space of a few months, as they work to build something that an elite modern club should have. Too much had been built towards Levy for far too long.

Hence, as more than one former coach has pointed out, they have constantly seemed to shift from one profile of coach to the opposite. An ill-fitting squad is a product of that. Worse, “that squad has multiple football scars,” to quote one source. The majority have mostly experienced dysfunction while at the club.

From that, it should be acknowledged that there was a logic to appointing Frank. The analytics gave a persuasive case, ultimately convincing Levy, and the Dane had repeatedly spoken of wanting to play a more expansive game with better resources – including in interviews to Manchester United and Chelsea.

The core problem was that Frank couldn’t work to the same level without the structure around him, and quickly found himself overwhelmed. That became seen in media interviews, where the Dane had previously cut such a rounded figure. The extra scrutiny of a club like Spurs weighed on him. Unlike at Brentford, you couldn’t go three months without winning a game while being allowed to find your feet.

The noise around the club, as was heard in the stands, became too much. Once it got so toxic during that West Ham defeat, there was really no recovery.

That’s why there was an even greater logic in dispensing with Frank long before. The signs were clear.

The Spurs hierarchy is now so conscious of this “toxicity” among the fanbase that they realise they need a “unity candidate”. That has led to the obvious and ideal choice of Mauricio Pochettino. Some on the board are pushing to make it happen now.

It is understood that there has repeatedly been informal contact over 2026.

The feeling is nevertheless that Pochettino won’t leave the US job before the World Cup. Spurs would consider an interim until then, but there aren’t too many viable candidates. Johnny Heitinga may step up.

As multiple sources argue, “this sums it up – outside Pochettino, it looks like they don’t currently have a proper plan”. That’s partly why some just hoped that Frank would work out, even for a time. They were hoping for space. That’s also why they could go in a total opposite direction, and seek to get Roberto De Zerbi in. Again, it’s one extreme to another.

Spurs at least have another 11 days before their next game to figure this out. On the other side of that, though, it’s a north London derby against the league leaders. If Arsenal win, as they should, it will only show that Spurs are very much running out of time in another way.

They’re in a relegation battle. That puts them in another unenviable situation, in that they have to think about the short-term, medium-term and long-term all at once.

Like so many of Frank’s performances, it is one big mess.