London Evening Standard

Ange Postecoglou is expected to make changes against Southampton ahead of Tottenham’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.

Micky van de Ven, Heung-min Son and James Maddison are likely to be rested and Djed Spence could also be saved for Frankfurt after a recent bout of illness.

Pedro Porro, who was given a rare rest for the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea, is likely to return to the side at right-back, while Ben Davies could deputise for Van de Ven at centre-half.

Yves Bissouma has been replaced at half-time in three of his last five starts, so Lucas Bergvall, who only played an hour against the Blues, may continue at No6, with Pape Matar Sarr also likely to start.

Son could be replaced by Brennan Johnson or Mathys Tel in the front three, although Mikey Moore is also pushing for minutes and Richarlison is set to return to the squad after a muscle injury.

Postecoglou remains without Dejan Kulusevski (foot), Kevin Danso (hamstring) and Radu Dragusin (knee) but said he had no fresh injury concerns after a 16th defeat of the league season at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.

Asked if he would rotate at Saints, who Spurs beat 5-0 at St. Mary's in December, Postecoglou said: "To a certain extent, we are a little bit beyond that as the group is in a decent place physically where I don’t have to get players gametime.

"As I said, it is about getting some momentum leading into the game on Thursday. We will make a couple of changes but we won’t make too many."

Defeat at Chelsea on Thursday means it's now 16 Premier League defeats for the north London outfit this season, as they continue to languish down in 14th and closer to the relegation zone than the top four.

Postecoglou maintains he did not attempt to goad Spurs fans at Stamford Bridge, but results are always the best medicine and the visit of Southampton is crucial to build some momentum ahead of a crunch Europa League quarter-final with Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Saints will arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in not so great form despite Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace. Ivan Juric’s side are without a win in seven and relegation back to the Championship is a matter of when, not if.

Though, Spurs are heavy favourites to claim all three points, supporters in the UK will not be able to watch the game.

The game is being played at 2pm BST on Sunday, so does not fall within the blackout rules imposed across English football on a Saturday at 3pm.

But it has not been selected for live coverage by Sky Sports, who are instead showing Fulham vs Liverpool followed by Manchester United vs Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Ange Postecoglou has echoed his predecessor Antonio Conte by saying Tottenham need to change "a lot of things" to be successful and called for more influential voices inside and out of the club to speak out in defence of Spurs.

Postecoglou was speaking the morning after Spurs' 1-0 defeat at Chelsea, during which he cupped his ear at supporters following a disallowed equaliser by substitute Pape Matar Sarr, whose introduction for Lucas Bergvall had been jeered by the away end.

The Australian was again critical of the use of the VAR, saying the technology was causing him to "fall out of love" with the game, but insisted he would not allow "internal and external pressure" to derail the club's chances of success in the Europa League this season.

Asked if the pressure at Spurs was different to his previous clubs, Postecoglou said: "I knew this was going to be a tough gig for sure because there’s a whole weight of things you’re trying to rail against.

"So from that perspective it is different to other clubs I’ve been at for sure. A lot of it is also how the club is viewed externally. It seems like every fight ends up being an internal fight at this club.

"There’s never any sort of defending of the club or the club defending itself, it seems like to me, which makes it even more difficult because every club goes through tough moments and it’s how you react to them. That’s a unique challenge, but I accepted that challenge so I’ve got to try to find a way to overcome it."

"I think you hear enough from me, you probably hear too much from me to be honest, I think.

"It doesn’t have to be just from people at the club. I hear plenty of people talking and defending other clubs, but it seems with Tottenham wherever there’s a sore there’s a real pile on to sort of stick a finger in that sort and then we kind of accept our fate.

"I think the fact that out of last night the big story out of that is that my interaction with the fans and not the fact a game of football was materially changed by technology...I’d have thought that would be the story from last night but it’s not.

"Again, it’s my interaction with the fans and how I’ve made things more difficult. You kind of go, ‘Ok, well that’s the challenge we face.”

"I think in the time I’ve been here, we’ve had two decisions that have gone for us against Liverpool and there has been a national campaign, almost," he said.

"When we’re talking about the bigger clubs, there seems to be a lot more voices. And not always defending. You need scrutiny and constructive criticism as well. We definitely get enough of that! But we never get any of the other stuff."

In a parting rant before he was sacked, Conte predicted that Spurs could hire "a lot of managers" but the "situation cannot change" until the club itself adapted.

It was pointed out to Postecoglou that a succession of managers, including Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Conte, have been successful before and after Spurs but struggled in north London.

"At some point, I think the club needs to stick to something. If I say it now it sounds self-serving and defeats the purpose, so maybe not now…But I think if that if you want to change the course of your events, you need to change materially a lot of things in terms of your outlook as a club.

"From my perspective, while I’m in this chair, it is to see if I can find a way to navigate it that others have struggled to do that. But, as you rightly point out, there’s life after this for everybody, including Tottenham and including me.”

"We finished fifth last year," he added. "In another year, that would have been a Champions League spot. With people it just doesn’t register.

"If you have five years at a club and you have maybe one or two disappointing years but you have three really strong years you’d say: ‘I’ll take that.’

"But here you can’t have one good year … and last year was a good year, I don’t care what anybody says. We lost Harry [Kane]. I know everyone talks about our start.

"We changed the way we played. But it seems like, well, you have one good year, you have one poor year and then that’s it. Let’s move on to the next. But that’s what I accepted so I can’t sit here and say: ‘Ah, woe is me.’ That’s the challenge I accepted.

"Fair to say at the moment I’m not doing a good job of turning that mind-shift around. But as I said earlier, I am a fighter. I will continue fighting until told otherwise."

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Sport | Football

Tottenham vs Southampton: Prediction, kick-off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results, odds

Postecoglou’s men will look to build confidence ahead of Thursday’s Europa League outing

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Arthur Ferridge2 minutes ago

Your matchday briefing on Tottenham, featuring team news and expert analysis from Dan Kilpatrick

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Tottenham return to Premier League action on Sunday as they host relegation favourites Southampton.

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou is under more pressure than ever after losing to cross-town rivals Chelsea last time out, leaving the Lilywhites winless in four. Sat 14th in the league and out of the FA Cup, the side are well below their targets for the season.

A win for the hosts will be crucial as the Australian looks to rescue his relationship with the club and its supporters, and would also set the tone as Spurs prepare for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt, which will take place at Hotspur Stadium on Thursday.

If Spurs are to break their four-match winless run, it is not unlikely that it would happen against Southampton, who sit rock bottom of the Premier League, not deviating from that position since losing to Wolves on November 9.

The Saints have lost 10 of their last 12 matches, managing a rare win against Ipswich before claiming a battling draw at home to Crystal Palace last time out. Now 19 points adrift of safety, it would take a miracle for the south coast outfit to remain in the Premier League for next season.

Date, kick-off time and venue

Tottenham vs Southampton is scheduled for a 2pm BST kick-off on Sunday, April 6, 2025.

The match will take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Where to watch Tottenham vs Southampton

TV channel: In the UK, the game is not due to be televised live.

Live stream: Fans can follow radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog, with expert analysis from Dan Kilpatrick at the ground.

Free highlights: The Sky Sports app and YouTube channel will show highlights post-match, with Match of the Day 2 broadcasting on BBC One at 10:30pm.

Tottenham vs Southampton team news

Postecoglou’s side has been ravaged by injury this year, but the storm seems to be breaking of late. Brazilian forward Richarlison is back in full team training and could make the squad against the Saints, but Dejan Kulusevski and Kevin Danso remain unavailable.

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Radu Dragusin is out for the season as he recovers from an ACL injury.

Ivan Juric has not had an easy time since replacing Russell Martin at Southampton, though injuries have not been too big an issue. He has just one player out for Sunday as Will Smallbone recovers from a groin injury.

Midfielder Flynn Downes will miss out as he serves a two-match suspension. He picked up a tenth booking of the season in last week’s home draw to Crystal Palace.

Key man: Tottenham were without Dejan Kulusevski against Chelsea

AP

Tottenham vs Southampton prediction

It can be tricky to bet on Spurs this season as their results have been somewhat unpredictable (see January’s 2-1 loss to Leicester), but it is near impossible to justify putting any money behind Southampton.

The squad will recognize the now-or-never nature of the game. Ahead of next week’s season-defining Europa League tie, there could be no better preparation than a straightforward, confidence-boosting league win. Southampton should not pose too much of a threat to the Lilywhites.

Tottenham 4-0 Southampton

Head to head (h2h) history and results

Tottenham wins: 46

Draw: 22

Southampton wins: 27

Tottenham vs Southampton match odds

Tottenham win: 1/3

Draw: 10/3

Southampton win: 11/2

Odds via Betfair (subject to change).

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Under-fire Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou is expected to make changes for the visit of rock-bottom Southampton, with the first leg of Spurs' crucial Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt to follow on Thursday night.

Micky van de Ven, Heung-min Son and James Maddison are likely to be rested, while Djed Spence could also be saved for the German side after a recent bout of illness.

Pedro Porro, who was given a rare rest for the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea, is likely to return to the side at right-back, while Ben Davies could deputise for Van de Ven at centre-half.

Yves Bissouma has been replaced at half-time in three of his last five starts, so Lucas Bergvall, who only played an hour against the Blues, may continue at No6, with Pape Matar Sarr also likely to start.

Son could be replaced by Brennan Johnson or Mathys Tel in the front three, although Mikey Moore is also pushing for minutes and Richarlison is set to return to the squad after a muscle injury.

Postecoglou remains without Dejan Kulusevski (foot), Kevin Danso (hamstring) and Radu Dragusin (knee) but said he had no fresh injury concerns after a 16th defeat of the league season at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.

Asked if he would rotate at Saints, who Spurs beat 5-0 at St. Mary's in December, Postecoglou said: "To a certain extent, we are a little bit beyond that as the group is in a decent place physically where I don’t have to get players gametime.

"As I said, it is about getting some momentum leading into the game on Thursday. We will make a couple of changes but we won’t make too many."

Sport | Football

Chelsea vs Tottenham LIVE: Premier League result, latest updates and reaction after Blues win London derby

A low-key London derby to rounds off the midweek Premier League action

The manager appeared to goad his own fans in a move which quickly backfired

Regrettable: Ange Postecoglou

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Dan Kilpatrick @ Dan_KP1 minute ago

Your matchday briefing on Chelsea, featuring team news and expert analysis from Malik Ouzia

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Ange Postecoglou clashed with Tottenham's travelling supporters at Stamford Bridge as he became the first Spurs manager to lose with his first four league games against rivals Chelsea.

Enzo Fernandez’s header five minutes after the interval settled a chaotic game, which saw both sides have a goal disallowed.

Caicedo thought he had doubled Chelsea's lead with a brilliant volley, but it was ruled out by the VAR for offside.

Spurs substitute Pape Matar Sarr then equalised with a low-range strike, prompting Postecoglou to cup his ear to the away end, who had jeered en masse the decision to introduce the Senegalese for Lucas Bergvall.

But Sarr’s goal was also ruled out for a foul on Caicedo, and Chelsea held on to boost their top-four hopes.

Here’s how we rated the Spurs players…

Guglielmo Vicario 6

Pulled off a stunning one-handed save to deny Sancho at the end of the first half but shaky with his feet and flapped at crosses. Powerless to keep out Fernandez’s close-range header.

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Djed Spence 6

Stood up well to Sancho’s tricks but left him and Cucurella free at the back post for a big Chelsea chance at the end of the first half.

Cristian Romero 5

Relished the needle of a big derby but struggled to shackle the returning Nicolas Jackson, and was shrugged off the ball by the striker more than once.

Micky van de Ven 5

Lucky when his clearance struck Jackson and came back off the post inside a minute, and should take his share of the blame for Fernandez being unmarked for the goal.

Destiny Udogie 5

Looked sharper after a much-needed rest and got stuck into tackles. Like Spence, frequently found himself outnumbered at the back post, including for the winning goal.

Rodrigo Bentancur 5

Offered little in the way of protection for Spurs defence and wasn’t adventurous enough with his pass to be a threat in the final third.

Lucas Bergvall 7

His dribbling was eye-catching and he looked the likeliest to make something happen for the first hour. His withdrawal prompted loud criticism of Postecoglou from the away end.

James Maddison 5

Passing ranged from brilliant to atrocious, and the game passed him by for long spells.

Wilson Odobert 5

Had a couple of bright moments but faded, and was hooked on the hour.

Heung-min Son 6

Extended Robert Sanchez at the back post in the closest Spurs came to a late equaliser.

Dominic Solanke 7

Worked tirelessly and used the ball cleverly at times. But had no sniff at goal, and was well-marshalled by Caicedo.

Subs

Brennan Johnson (Odobert 64’) 6

Set up a great late chance for Son with a low cross but guilty of some petulant fouls, too.

Pape Matar Sarr (Bergvall 64’) 7

Thought he had levelled the game with a long-range strike but ended up booked for a foul on Caicedo instead.

Pedro Porro (van de Ven 87’) 5

Booked for dissent after being a rare rest from the start.

Mathys Tel (Maddison 87’) 6

Had a couple of bright moments on the ball from the left wing as Spurs pushed for a leveller.

Not used: Kinsky, Bissouma, Gray, Davies, Moore.

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Another huge derby day is upon us as Chelsea and Tottenham tonight face off at Stamford Bridge in what is historically been a bad-tempered - and action-packed - affair.

The Blues’ form has faltered of late, taking just six points from their last five Premier League matches before the international break, but they will be bolstered by the returning Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Noni Madueke.

Jackson and Madueke’s output has been sorely missed as the Blues have struggled to find the back of the net in their absence. The club have scored more than two goals in a match on just one occasion since January, a 4-0 win against rock-bottom Southampton.

As such, manager Enzo Maresca has come under pressure from fans, who have quickly tired of his patient, possession-focused style and apparent lack of innovation as results slump. He has not been helped by awkwardly timed injuries, though many a fan has been left wondering what became of Chelsea’s high-flying pre-Christmas form.

That is not to say the grass is any greener at Tottenham, who are languishing in 14th place in the table. Ange Postecoglou’s side also ravaged by injuries with the manager at one stage without 11 first-team players.

Winless in three in the league having lost to Fulham and Manchester City either side of a home draw to Bournemouth, time is running out for Postecoglou to get his side on song. Pressure is mounting as club leadership are reported to be considering a change of head coach.

While Chelsea are realistically the more likely candidates for the win on Thursday, one must remember that the Blues do nothing the easy way. See, for instance, the away loss to Servette which nearly saw them miss out on Conference League qualification or last month’s laboured 1-0 win over Leicester. Perhaps low on morale after a string of shaky performances, Chelsea will be vulnerable.

Whether Spurs can take advantage of said weakness, though, is another question entirely. They historically do not perform well at Stamford Bridge, failing to win there since 2018, and are winless - and pointless - in their last three against Chelsea, who will hope to continue the trend.

Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven start together for Tottenham in the Premier League against Chelsea for the first time since the reverse fixture in north London in December, in which they were both injured.

Ange Postecoglou has gone with his strongest possible side for big game at Stamford Bridge, and is likely to rest players for Sunday's visit of Southampton ahead of the Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Dejan Kulusevski (foot), Kevin Danso (hamstring) and Radu Dragusin (knee) are sidelined, while Richarlison has returned to full training but Postecoglou said he will not be involved in west London.

Postecoglou has opted for Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie at full-back, with Pedro Porro the one to drop out.

Rorigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison are selected to make up the three-man midfield, although Pape Matar Sarr and Archie Gray are on the bench if changes are required.

Wilson Odobert impressed for France's Under-21s during the international break and has the edge of Brennan Johnson, Mathys Tel and Mikey Moore on the right wing, while Heung-min Son and Dominic Solanke will make up the front three.

Van de Ven and Romero were both forced off with injuries during Spurs' 4-3 defeat to Enzo Maresca's side earlier in the campaign. Romero was sidelined for three months with a thigh injury, while van de Ven briefly returned in January before appearances against Bournemouth and AZ Alkmaar last month.