Tottenham can solve specific Thomas Frank "problem" with Champions League victory over Copenhagen

Tottenham Hotspur could solve a major Thomas Frank home "problem" with victory over Copenhagen in the Champions League, a former Spurs midfielder has exclusively told Sports Mole.

The Lilywhites' struggles in front of their own fans continued in Saturday's demoralising 1-0 Premier League defeat to Chelsea, against whom they generated their lowest-ever Expected Goals total in a top-flight game since 2012.

Frank's side were booed off the pitch at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where they have taken just five points from five Premier League games this term, the fourth-worst home form in the division only above the three sides in the relegation zone - Nottingham Forest (4), West Ham United (3) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (1).

The Europa League winners can proudly boast the best away record in the division with 13 points, but Gus Poyet - who scored 23 goals in 98 matches for Tottenham - has warned Frank that dismal home form is usually a "sentence" for teams in demotion dogfights.

“It's a problem," Poyet told Sports Mole. "When you don't win at home, it's a problem for many reasons. First one, normally the teams that do well, they are stronger at home. That's for sure.

Gus Poyet: 'Tottenham's poor home form a problem for many reasons'

“It's a typical sentence for the teams at the bottom. You need to be strong at home to get points and then try to nick some ones away from home. It was always like that.

“Secondly, the stadium is amazing. It's always full. It's expensive and your fans, they want you to win at home.  You can win at home, great, but win at home because I'm coming to watch and we are 50,000 people.

“Normally, at home is where you create the atmosphere around the team. You don't want the team to start playing at home without feeling there is a bad atmosphere in there. The sooner they can put it right, the better."

Tottenham have the chance to put things right at home when they welcome Copenhagen to North London for Tuesday's Champions League league-phase clash, and the Lilywhites have already eked out a narrow win over Villarreal on their own patch in Europe this season.

The 1-0 victory over the Yellow Submarine prolonged an astonishing sequence for the Lilywhites, who have gone unbeaten in each of their last 21 European matches on home turf, winning 17 of them and playing out four draws.

What Thomas Frank is doing to correct Tottenham's torrid home form

However, such results have not translated into consistent home performances in the Premier League, although Poyet believes that Frank and his team may be analysing individual players to see if certain names put in better displays on the road.Â

“I think the coaches, Frank and his assistant, they probably analyse the difference between away from home and at home, which players are performing in the same way or not, or what they need to tweak to get the result," he added.

Tottenham come into the clash with Copenhagen as firm favourites, and Poyet believes that "one result" may be the ticket to a sustained improvement for the Lilywhites

“Sometimes you need just one result somehow, win a football game somehow," the Uruguayan added. "But obviously it needs to change soon because at home is where you can have problems as a coach. Away from home normally is not an issue.”

Frank was notably snubbed by Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence at full time on Saturday, but the Dane revealed in his pre-match press conference that both defenders had apologised for the incident.

Gus Poyet was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of BetWright.

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