Igor Tudor will become only the second Tottenham manager in history to face Arsenal in his opening game this weekend.
Tudor has been brought in by Daniel Levy to try and steady the ship after the disastrous appointment of Thomas Frank.
The new Tottenham boss will be under pressure to turn things around quickly but likewise, beating Arsenal will be a task of the toughest order.
Fill in the blank: I would pay £___m to bring Rafael Leao to Arsenal next summer…
Indeed, should Tudor win, he will manage what the only other Spurs boss in history to face Arsenal on their managerial debut, Glenn Hoddle, couldn’t do.
What happened when Glenn Hoddle’s Tottenham faced Arsenal in 2001
Remarkably, we have to go back 25 years to get to the only other occasion when a Tottenham boss took on Arsenal in their opening match in charge.
The man to lead Spurs into battle that day was none other than Glenn Hoddle. Fresh off his spell with England and then a short spell with Southampton, Hoddle returned to Tottenham to fill the vacant seat left by George Graham.
Hoddle knew the ask was tough and he faced Arsenal in his opening fixture. To add fuel to the fire, it was an FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford.
Unfortunately for Hoddle – but in good news for the Arsenal – it was the Gunners’ day.
Despite going behind to a Gary Doherty goal, Arsenal’s immense quality told as goals from Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires sealed the comeback win for Arsene Wenger’s side.
As for Hoddle, he never quite got Spurs going as he wanted, culminating in him losing his job in 2004.
Igor Tudor’s worrying record in derby matches
Any Tottenham fan hoping for their team to hit the ground running under Igor Tudor might be in for a disappointing week.
In fact, his record as a manager in games involving local rivals is pretty dire.
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In his time, he has overseen losses in the Rome derby, the Istanbul derbies and the Juventus v Milan rivalries.
Overall, his record is poor, with Tudor having won just four out of 23 derby matches and suffering 17 defeats.
Tottenham fans, then, will find little solace looking at this record and come Sunday, that loss column is more than likely to read 18.