Tottenham Hotspur

Robert Vilahamn believes the positive performance against Manchester City was a step in the right direction, but he was ultimately left disappointed with our narrow 2-1 loss in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday afternoon.

Looking to bounce back from our disappointing result in the north London derby before the international break, we made a strong start at Brisbane Road, with Ella Morris going close with a fierce left-footed strike, but, against the run of play, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock thanks to Vivianne Miedema after 11 minutes.

However, our spirit wasn’t damped from going behind, as we showed great character to get back on level terms just after the half hour mark, with Bethany England grabbing her eighth goal of the campaign. Both sides created further chances after the break – Matilda Vinberg had a massive one-on-one opportunity while Ashleigh Neville produced a fantastic acrobatic clearance off the line to deny the visitors.

But a moment of quality from Aoba Fujino in the final quarter-of-an-hour of the game restored the Citizen’s lead and, with the last kick of the game, Ayaka Yamashita denied England from close range to see our brave performance come unrewarded in the end.

“Mixed emotions,” Robert told SPURSPLAY after the game. “I’m very frustrated that we lost this game, it was a tough game, but we actually had some really good moments, so it’s tough to lose.

“But, in one way, the performance is so much better than the Arsenal game, the players are buying into it, they are defending, pressing and creating chances, I think we had around 13 chances against them, obviously they had more of the possession, we knew that, but I think the performance and how the players acted, it was brilliant. It was just very frustrating to lose.”

Robert on the character from his players to respond after the early setback…

“The first 10 minutes was really good, we were in their half, creating chances, and then they scored with their first chance, we have practiced against that, but they scored because of their quality. But, to come back, score that goal and get back into the game and create chances, in the second half, we had a few really good opportunities, but they have some top players and they found that goal to make it 2-1.”

Robert on not being clinical with our opportunities…

“We had our chances, I think we had a better XG than them as well, obviously they also had a good few opportunities and Lize [Kop] was amazing in goal, we competed with City and we could have had at least one point and, for me, that’s one step forward from the Arsenal game, but we’re not happy yet. We need to make sure we can compete and take points from these games.”

Robert on players returning to the starting XI…

“It’s a big thing. The squad we have now and what we want to do with that, we needed competition, the players stepping up and they did that today. Charli [Grant] playing in a new role and did excellent as well, Luana [Buhler] coming in, I think many players showed great quality they have, and for us to develop and close that gap, to compete, we need that.”

Robert on taking the positives…

“I think it’s going to be two weeks where we can work with the whole squad together, in and out of possession, we want to go into that Brighton game with the fans and make sure we score a lot of goals and start winning games again because we have lost a few in a row against top teams, but it’s now to take the next step.”

An impressive and dominant display went unrewarded against Manchester City on Sunday as we were narrowly beaten 2-1 in the Barclays Women's Super League.

Looking to end a run of three games without a win, we flew out of the traps at Brisbane Road, causing the Citizens all kinds of problems in the opening stages only to fall behind on 11 minutes as Vivianne Miedema crashed home a header against the run of play.

Undeterred by going behind, we continued to apply ourselves well and deservedly got back on terms on 32 minutes as great pressing from Olivia Holdt, Charlie Grant and Bethany England saw the latter played in before she produced an unerring finish to level the scores.

We had chances to take the lead coming through England and Matilda Vinberg but we were unable take them before Ashleigh Neville produced a spectacular acrobatic goalline clearance to deny the visitors the lead. Despite our brave performance, we were unable to stop Aoba Fujino's wicked half volley on 78 minutes which turned the tide in the Citizens' favour.

With the final kick of the game, we had a great opportunity to secure a point through England, but Ayaka Yamashita was a match to the effort, claiming the ball bravely in the six-yard box.

More to follow...

We can confirm the starting line-ups and substitutes for today’s Barclays Women’s Super League clash with Manchester City (kick-off 2pm UK).

Robert Vilahamn has made six changes to the team that started our last outing in the WSL against Arsenal.

At full-back, Ella Morris makes her first start since our 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the Women's League Cup back in November, replacing Amanda Nilden on the left, while Luana Buhler comes in for Clare Hunt, who misses today’s game due to an accumulation of five yellow cards.

Eveliina Summanen returns to the starting XI after returning from a hamstring injury, replacing Maite Oroz, who starts the game amongst our substitutes. Drew Spence replaces Anna Csiki in midfield.

Meanwhile, Martha Thomas and Charlotte Grant come into our forward line in place of Jess Naz and Hayley Raso.

Here's how we line-up...

Starting XI: Kop, Neville, Bartrip, Buhler, Morris, Summanen, Spence, Vinberg, Thomas, Grant, England (c).

Substitutes: Heeps, Nilden, Rybrink, Oroz, Csiki, Holdt, Naz, Ayane, Gunning-Williams.

George Abbott was directly involved in both goals as he helped loan side Notts County to rescue a point against Fleetwood Town at Highbury Stadium on Saturday.

With County for the 2024/25 campaign, George has starred for the Nottinghamshire side as they push for promotion to League One - and he had another afternoon to remember on Saturday as he grabbed a goal and assist in his side's 2-2 draw.

Making his 30th appearance of the term in what is his first full season as a professional, the 19-year-old opened the scoring for the visitors to Highbury as he was alive to a mistake at the back, latching onto a loose ball before running through on goal and slotting home in the 16th minute.

Fleetwood responded though and had turned the game on its head by the 70th minute with Ryan Graydon bagging two goals in as many minutes for the hosts.

Yet, Notts, who are in the running for one of the automatic promotion spots in League Two, were not to leave the north west empty handed as, in the 89th minute, George laid it on a plate for frontman Alassana Jatta to tap home his cross to the back post.

Those goal involvements put the midfielder onto double figures for the season with five goals and five assists to his name since his move to Meadow Lane.

Notts currently sit in fourth, three points outside the automatic promotion spots but with a game in hand on the sides above them.

In May, 2023, George became one of the 10 youngest players to make an appearance for the Club in the Premier League when he made his Spurs debut at Leeds United. Can you name the rest?

Allan Nielsen, our matchwinner in the 1999 League Cup Final, is the latest player to join the Spurs Legends squad to face AC Milan Glorie at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 23 March (2pm).

It will almost be 26 years to the day that the midfielder produced one of the great moments of the club's modern history when he secured a late, late victory against Leicester City at Wembley Stadium - 21 March, 1999.

Allan joins Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Sebastien Bassong, Dimitar Berbatov, Stephen Carr, Michael Dawson, Jermain Defoe, David Ginola, Heurelho Gomes, Younes Kaboul, Ledley King, Aaron Lennon, Sandro, Teddy Sheringham, Teemu Tainio and Michel Vorm in the squad for the charity match in aid of the Club’s Foundation.

Meanwhile, all-time great Andrea Pirlo has been confirmed as part of AC Milan Glorie's squad - with more names to follow soon...

Legacy Number #625, Allan’s early career saw spells at FC Bayern, Sion, Odense, FC Copenhagen and Brondby before he joined us in July, 1996. He went on to make 115 appearances for us between 1996-2000, but will always be remembered for his stooping header to secure the League Cup trophy in such dramatic style that afternoon at Wembley.

He moved on to Watford in 2000, playing over 100 times for the Hornets before ending his career as player/coach at Herfolge Boldklub. Capped 44 times by Denmark, Allan featured in three major tournaments, the 1996 and 2000 Euros and the 1998 World Cup in France, where he scored the group stage against South Africa.

Allan recently recalled his golden goal at Wembley. “It was a fantastic moment to win the League Cup in that manner," he said. "It came at a time where every year we were pushing for consistency but couldn’t really find it. Because of that, I remember there being a feeling of great relief as well as enjoyment that we had won a cup final. For myself, it was obviously great in regards to scoring the winning goal and, even after we went down to 10 men, just the way the whole thing happened was superb.”

Barclays Women’s Super League action returns after the international break and we’re back at Brisbane Road with Manchester City are the visitors on Sunday afternoon.

Here’s all the key info you need to know…

What time is kick-off against City?

The match starts at 2pm UK time.

How can I watch the game?

Tickets are available at Brisbane Road on the day for supporters who wish to come and watch the game in person.

Sunday’s match will also be streamed live on SPURSPLAY and on the WSL's official YouTube channel.

If you’re not already a subscriber, find out more and sign up today to enjoy the City game along with a host of other live matches from across the Club for the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign.

You can also keep up to date with minute-by-minute text updates on our Match Centre here on tottenhamhotspur.com and the Spurs Official app.

Video highlights of all the action will be available on SPURSPLAY on Monday.

What is the team news?

Robert Vilahamn reported that Eveliina Summanen is back and available for selection for Sunday’s clash in the capital.

The midfielder has been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury ahead of our clash with Leicester City back in January, having featured in every WSL game before that.

Following an impressive 20 first team players on international duty over the last two weeks, Robert revealed that all players returned to Hotspur Way with no concerns.

Clare Hunt, meanwhile, will be suspended for the encounter with City after an accumulation of five yellow card offences. We will remain without Kit Graham as a long-term absentee.

For the visitors, Rebecca Knaak will be out for a ‘few weeks’ after suffering an hamstring injury on international duty. Lauren Hemp, Ales Greenwood and Laura Coombs will all unlikely be involved for this weekend’s fixture.

Who is the referee?

Amy Fearn will take charge of the game on Sunday.

She will be assisted by Sophie Dennington and Levi Gray, with Grace Lowe serving as the fourth official.

Becky Spencer has joined Chelsea on an emergency loan for the rest of the season.

A July, 2019, arrival from West Ham United, she has made 95 appearances for us in all competitions to date.

In her five-and-a-half-seasons at the Club, she has kept 18 clean sheets across all competitions, with 14 of those in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

Our youngsters let a 2-0 lead slip through their fingers as Southampton ran out 4-2 winners in the Under-18 Premier League at Hotspur Way on Saturday lunchtime.

Having established a two-goal advantage in an intense contest thanks to Tynan Thompson’s penalty and Luca Williams-Barnett’s strike on the counter-attack, we conceded just before the break and then shipped three more in a disappointing second-half display to slump to defeat at the hands of the second-placed Saints.

Although the visitors pressed from the off with some good blocks needed from our defence in the early exchanges, the outlook had been much brighter for us in the first period as we dictated the play for long spells and took our chances to establish the advantage. Thompson fired us ahead from the spot on 17 minutes after Ellis Lehane was fouled in the box by Abdulhalim Okunola, before Williams-Barnett ran from inside our own half following Tye Hall’s long ball out from the back to slot past goalkeeper Dylan Moody on the break for 2-0 just over 20 minutes later.

Southampton had largely been restricted to shots from distance during the first period but when Sufianu Dibaga’s half-volley glanced off the back of defender Jun’ai Byfield and spun inside the far post a minute before the interval, they found a route back into the game and pushed on to win in the second half.

Their equaliser came four minutes after the restart when Korban McMullan sent Harry Gathercole through in the left channel, he drew goalkeeper Sam Archer off his line and then laid it back for McMullan to crash a shot high into the unguarded net from the edge of the area. Reiss Elliott-Parris and Ellis Lehane couldn’t capitalise on a couple of openings for us – this being the first time the two strikers had started a league game together at this level, with usually one or the other leading the line – but the Saints were creating more opportunities and after Archer beat away McMullan’s close-range header, substitute Nick Orukunle latched onto Dibaga’s cut-back from the right and slid home to give his side a 74th-minute lead.

And five minutes later, it was 4-2 as McMullan squeezed the ball through to Gathercole and he finished clinically from the left angle inside the box. Substitute Dexter Oliver volleyed straight at Moody just seconds after coming on as we tried to find a response, but the Saints had it under control by that stage and it was only a good save from the advancing Archer that denied Orukunle another goal in stoppage time.

You can watch us take on Manchester City Women live on SPURSPLAY this Sunday.

Live from Brisbane Road, we take on the Citizens and we have the chance to move up to fifth with a win. Kick-off is 2pm (UK) and you can watch all the action live on SPURSPLAY.

We come into this game looking to end a run of three defeats on the spin while City have won five of their last six in all competitions.

In our last meeting at Brisbane Road, we came out on top as we met in the FA Cup quarter-finals almost a year ago to the day. With nothing to separate us in the 120 minutes of play as the tie finished 1-1, we prevailed on 4-3 on penalties to book our place in the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in our history.

Highlights | Our FA Cup quarter-final victory over Manchester City

Younes Kaboul will be part of our Spurs Legends squad to take on AC Milan Glorie at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 23 March (2pm).

The defender and former skipper’s career at Spurs will always be defined by big moments - the late equaliser as we came from 4-1 down to draw 4-4 against Villa in our 125 anniversary match in 2007, setting up the goal for Peter Crouch that got us into the Champions League in 2010, and it doesn't get bigger than scoring a derby winner against Arsenal at the Emirates – Younes did exactly that in November, 2010.

He was also a member of our League Cup winning squad of 2008, coming off the bench in extra time to help us secure a 2-1 victory against Chelsea at Wembley.

The former France international joins Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Sebastien Bassong, Dimitar Berbatov, Stephen Carr, Michael Dawson, Jermain Defoe, David Ginola, Heurelho Gomes, Ledley King, Aaron Lennon, Sandro, Teddy Sheringham, Teemu Tainio and Michel Vorm in the squad for the charity match in aid of the Club’s Foundation.

Meanwhile, all-time great Andrea Pirlo has been confirmed as part of AC Milan Glorie's squad - with more names to follow soon...

Legacy Number #724, Younes joined us as a young man from Auxerre, he was just 21 when he first arrived in 2007, signing at the same time as Gareth Bale and Darren Bent. He went on to make 140 appearances for us in two spells, 2007/2008 then 2010-2015, following 18 months away at Portsmouth. Named captain at the start of 2014/15, Younes moved to Sunderland in the summer of 2015, then to Watford, his final appearance in September, 2017.

Reflecting on his time at Spurs, he added: "I was happy to show the Spurs fans my two faces, my first spell and my second spell. I hope they enjoyed me being at the club and I want to tell them that I always wanted to represent the club the best I could by my performance, my work-rate, I gave my all."

As for that winner at the Emirates – we memorably came from 2-0 down at half-time to win 3-2 with goals from Bale, Rafa van der Vaart and then Younes’ header from Jermain Jenas’ free-kick five minutes from time. He recalled: "Harry Redknapp battered us at half-time, he basically said we weren't playing the game and that we might as well stay inside... he wanted a reaction and in the second half, we did that. It's all about feelings. You feel those moments. It's pride, basically. This is when I realised, again, going back to when I first joined in 2007, how much it means to everyone. I understood then. I could feel it.”

Now 39 and a father of three, Younes revealed on his Off The Shelf podcast appearance last year that he’d started his coaching badges and was looking after the Under-14s at Luton Town.