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You can get sevens on Tottenham Hotspur to win tonight. That doesn’t seem particularly generous seeing they’ve only won one of their last 31 Premier League visits to Arsenal, that victory coming all the way back in late 2010. To be fair to Spurs, their 3-2 triumph that day was one for the ages: relive it here in the old-style MBM format. [Contains references to Charles Mingus and Lester Young. Any old excuse… ]

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Ange Postecoglou talks to TNT Sports. “It’s a special game … we should all embrace that part of it … it’s not just another game … [Antonin Kinsky] has handled things really well so far … some big games, some tricky games … it’ll be a great test for him but I’m sure he’ll cope well … apart from [Archie Gray] helping us through this period, the growth we’ve seen in him and the benefit we’ll get from that once we get some players back will be enormous … we’re super pleased to get [Richarlison] back … him and Mikey Moore give us a few more options in the front third … Richy can’t wait to get out there and will see some action tonight … hopefully we can give the fans a night to remember.”

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It’s derby day, so chances are the Emirates will be a cauldron of bedlam tonight. That’ll be just as well from Arsenal’s perspective, argues Jonathan Liew. “For all the focus on Arteta’s attention to detail, the fixation on things such as set pieces and defensive spacing, at root he is a vibes coach.” Click below for more.

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Arsenal make four changes to the XI that started the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United. Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey are in from the off; Gabriel Martinelli, Mikel Merino and Jorginho drop to the bench, while Gabriel Jesus prepares for surgery on his ACL.

Tottenham Hotspur make five changes to the side that began the win at Tamworth. Lucas Bergvall, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Son Heung-min and Djed Spence step up; James Maddison, Sergio Reguilón, Brennan Johnson and Mikey Moore drop to the bench, while Timo Werner misses out altogether.

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The teams

Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Sterling, Havertz, Trossard.

Subs: Neto, Tierney, Martinelli, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Merino, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia.

Tottenham Hotspur: Kinsky, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence, Bissouma, Sarr, Bergvall, Kulusevski, Solanke, Son.

Subs: Austin, Reguilon, Richarlison, Maddison, Johnson, Lankshear, Moore, Olusesi, Hardy.

Referee: Simon Hooper

VAR: Peter Bankes

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Updated at 20.03 CET

Preamble

Neither of these teams covered themselves in glory in the third round of the Cup. Both could do with a big bounce-back result in the Premier League, with the title race, robustness of peg for Ange’s coat, local pride, etc., all in mind. Kick-off at the Emirates is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!

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Antonin Kinsky has bred confidence in his new Tottenham teammates and liberated them, according to the manager, Ange Postecoglou, who is ready to pitch him into another huge challenge on Wednesday night – the north London derby at Arsenal.

It has been a whirlwind period for the 21-year-old goalkeeper since his arrival from Slavia Prague on the Sunday before last; the £12.5m fee made it one of the most expensive transfers from the Czech league.

With the regular Spurs No 1, Guglielmo Vicario, out with a fractured ankle, Postecoglou put Kinsky into the lineup for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at home against Liverpool last Wednesday. Everybody knew how it would have been portrayed if Kinsky made a mistake but he starred in the 1-0 win, making a couple of fine saves, and was largely assured with his distribution.

Then came a different game in the FA Cup on Sunday at non-league Tamworth, who brought a no-frills aerial approach on set pieces, including long throws. Kinsky stood firm in the 3-0 extra-time victory to become the first Spurs goalkeeper for more than 100 years to keep clean sheets in his first two matches. Postecoglou said he could talk up Kinsky’s technical ability but what had really impressed him was his mindset.

“It’s more to do with being prepared to embrace the challenge,” Postecoglou said. “It’s not easy going to a place like Tamworth and they’re throwing balls literally under the crossbar and you’ve got about 20 bodies around you. It’s more about mindset and tackling that, and he didn’t shy away from it.

“It does give some comfort to the players around him if they see he’s handling it well. It means they can focus on their own job and be a lot more clear-headed. When he came out and dealt with the first two and caught them, the players around saw that he’s got this. If he didn’t and there was uncertainty, it tends to filter through the whole team.”

The atmosphere at Tamworth was hostile, with Postecoglou receiving terrible abuse from the fans behind his bench. “The stuff I heard was pretty vile and detestable, and getting things thrown at me … not a great experience,” he said. “We’re kind of expected to be the bigger person, but I would love to have turned around and not been the bigger person in that moment.”

Kinksy may reflect that the Tamworth experience will prepare him for what Arsenal will seek to do on set pieces – get men in his six-yard box; physically unsettle him. When Arsenal won 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the fourth game of the Premier League season, Gabriel Magalhães’s goal came from a corner and it continued a trend.

Spurs had conceded from a set piece in their previous match – the defeat at Newcastle – and were breached 16 times from set pieces in the league last season; only three clubs conceded more. Since Gabriel’s goal, though, they have let in only four from set pieces. As an aside, Spurs have conceded the fewest goals in the division away from home – nine.

“It’s the evolution of the team,” Postecoglou said. “Last year, people were pretty simplistic in their outlook when I spoke about set pieces, that I didn’t care about set pieces and we didn’t have a set-pieces coach so we didn’t work on them. We haven’t put more emphasis on it. We’ve changed a few things around with the way we’re defending and it’s working really well for us this season.

“When we played Arsenal at our place, they scored a good goal and that was the difference. They’ve done that to a lot of teams but for the most part we handled the set pieces well and we will have to again. Declan Rice delivers a great corner and they’ve got some big guys.”

Postecoglou spoke about how the in-form striker Dominic Solanke, who joined last summer, had “exceeded” what he was hoping for. But the manager is happy that Richarlison is poised to return after two and a half months out to reduce the load on Solanke. Spurs are desperate for a positive result after winning once in eight league matches and losing five, slipping to 13th place.

Ange Postecoglou defended the abolition of FA Cup replays after his Tottenham side defied non-league Tamworth 3-0 in extra time of their third-round tie. Under the previous regulations, Tamworth would have earned a lucrative replay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when the whistle blew at 90 minutes with the game still goalless.

But from this season, matches are being played to a finish on the day, and a tiring Tamworth were swept aside in the extra period to earn Tottenham a fourth-round tie at Aston Villa. Postecoglou said that scheduling concerns for top clubs justified the change. As well as league and European commitments, Tottenham are currently engaged in a two-legged League Cup semi-final against Liverpool this month.

“I get the sentiment, but at the same time I’ve been banging on about less [fewer] games so it is a balancing act,” he said. “The way the calendar is at the moment, it would be almost impossible for us to fit another game in. We are already struggling to fit it all in. I certainly believe in the competition and what it does offer every part of the football pyramid, and I think it should be protected.”

The Tamworth coach, Andy Peaks, paid tribute to his semi-professional players for their performance against a team ranked 96 places above them in the league pyramid. “To take a team to extra time, it is unbelievable,” he said. “I am immensely proud. I just said: ‘Don’t be disappointed, because we almost created history there.’

“Even this week it didn’t really sink in what we were actually going to do. It will probably take a few days. I’m getting Archie Gray’s top. He has promised me one. He won’t let me down. He knows I’m a Leeds fan.”

Fourth-round draw roundup: Manchester United face Foxes

The FA Cup holders Manchester United have been drawn to play Leicester at Old Trafford in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

United, who defeated Manchester City in last season’s final, have been rewarded with a home tie after their 10 men won at Arsenal on penalties in the third round earlier on Sunday evening.

The Premier League leaders Liverpool will travel to the Championship’s bottom club Plymouth, who upset Brentford on Saturday, and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City face an away trip to either Leyton Orient or Derby.

Three all-Premier League ties will see the eight-time winners Chelsea take on Brighton at the Amex Stadium, while Aston Villa host Tottenham and Everton face Bournemouth at Goodison Park.

Exeter, in the fourth round for the first time since 1981, face a tough home tie against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle will play at League One leaders Birmingham.

Ties will be played between 7-10 February.

The fourth-round draw in full:

Manchester United v Leicester City

Leeds United v Millwall/Dagenham & Redbridge

Brighton v Chelsea

Preston/Charlton v Wycombe

Exeter v Nottingham Forest

Coventry City v Ipswich Town

Blackburn Rovers v Wolves

Mansfield Town/Wigan v Fulham

Birmingham v Newcastle

Plymouth Argyle v Liverpool

Everton v Bournemouth

Aston Villa vs Tottenham

Southampton v Burnley

Leyton Orient/Derby County v Manchester City

Doncaster Rovers v Crystal Palace

Stoke v Cardiff

Non-league Tamworth produced a heroic display to take Tottenham to extra time before the Premier League club limped into the FA Cup fourth round with a 3-0 win. Andy Peaks’ National League outfit pushed Spurs all the way at a buoyant Lambs Ground, before Nathan Tshikuna’s own goal finally put the visitors ahead after 101 minutes.

Tamworth had threatened to win the tie in second-half stoppage time before Ange Postecoglou watched two of his substitutes help them progress. Dominic Solanke’s effort – via Tshikuna’s final touch – broke the deadlock, before Dejan Kulusevski clinched the hard-fought victory with a second, six minutes later. Brennan Johnson added unjust gloss to the score with a third late on, but it failed to sour a memorable occasion for the hosts, who received a standing ovation after extra time.

Tamworth had asked for volunteers to help clear the ground on Saturday morning to ensure the biggest match in the club’s history could go ahead 24 hours later and Postecoglou showed plenty of respect with his starting lineup.

James Maddison captained a Spurs side which contained five players from the midweek victory over Liverpool, but kick-off was delayed due to an issue with the net in one of the goals.

Play eventually got under way five minutes later after Tamworth’s Beck-Ray Enoru got on the shoulders of the goalkeeper Jas Singh to help fix the net – and he almost stunned the visitors inside 25 seconds. Enoru raced past Pedro Porro on the left but his rasping cross-shot was tipped over by Tottenham’s January recruit Antonin Kinsky.

Tamworth’s long-throw specialist Tom Tonks was required after four minutes and yet Spurs dealt with it comfortably to briefly quieten a partisan home crowd. It was not the case with the next one as Tonks’ arrowed long throw beat Kinsky and hit a post, although the referee, Peter Bankes, had already awarded a foul.

Tottenham had struggled to get to grips with the artificial surface at the Lamb Ground until Maddison started to dictate play midway through the first half. He had tried his luck twice early on to no avail but went close in the 31st minute with a superb curled effort, which Singh parried wide.

Pape Sarr had a shot blocked moments later and Maddison should have scored after 38 minutes. Timo Werner found Maddison inside the area, but the Spurs playmaker could only fire straight at Singh in the Tamworth goal, which ensured it was goalless at the break.

A raucous cheer greeted the return of the Tamworth players for the second half as the sun started to break out in a frosty Staffordshire. The breakthrough almost arrived in the 55th minute when Mikey Moore picked out Werner, but his header was cleared off the line by Haydn Hollis.

Three minutes later and Tamworth went agonisingly close as Enoru had a shot blocked before Callum Cockerill-Mollett’s follow-up was deflected wide. Chances were being created more frequently now and Johnson played in Werner, but Singh got out quickly to deny the Germany forward and Jordan Cullinane-Liburd produced an equally fine block to thwart Werner again.

It was almost followed by a sensational breakthrough for the non-league side when Ben Milnes’ corner was headed off target by Cullinane-Liburd with 22 minutes of normal time left.

Postecoglou had seen enough and introduced Solanke and Lucas Bergvall, which failed to spark a dramatic swing in momentum. As the seconds ticked away, the frustration of the Premier League side started to grow with Porro booked before six minutes were added on at the end of normal time.

Tamworth dug into their energy reserves to keep going and were almost rewarded with a dramatic stoppage-time winner. A slip by Solanke presented a chance for Tom McGlinchey but Yves Bissouma got across to block and Kinsky gratefully gathered the loose ball after Cullinane-Linurd threatened again.

It was a scoreline to be proud of for Tamworth, yet they unfortunately saw Son Heung-min and Kulusevski ready to go for extra time. As the part-time outfit started to fatigue, quick-thinking helped create the opener as Son found Johnson from a free-kick and his cross found Solanke, before the unfortunate Tshikuna turned the ball in.

Kulusevski made it 2-0 in the 107th minute with a fine finish after Son’s pass and Johnson wrapped up the scoring with two minutes left as Tottenham reached round four after an almighty scare.

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It’s cramped in the tunnel, and Ange Postecoglou looks determined. The 3g pitch beckons.

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Bob Andrews, the Tamworth chairman, has spoken to the BBC: “It is the biggest day in the club’s history. We thought Wembley was good in the FA Vase but this tops it. To have a Premier League club of this stature at Tamworth is fantastic. It is just nice to get all the crowd here. I wish we could get more in but we are full to capacity.

“The money from this game is going to help us develop the ground itself. We need better dressing rooms, we need a stand down the bottom end - we need various things. It’s tidy but it needs upgrading.”

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So, how were the changing rooms? Timo Werner seems chipper enough as he states that in Germany, the smaller team always hosts the cup tie.

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Tamworth team is here

Tamworth: Singh, Crompton, Cullinane-Liburd, Hollis, Cockerill-Mollett, Tonks, Milnes, McLinchey, Morrison, Enoru, Creaney. Subs: Phillips, Curley, Digie, Fletcher, Finn, Wreh, Williams, Tshikuna, Sundire.

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Reguilon, Sarr, Maddison, Johnson, Werner, Moore in, Djed Spence, Son, Solanke, Kulusevski and Bergval out, with Bentancur on the sidelines, too. Kinsky continues in goal.

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Tottenham team is here - six changes.

Tottenham: Kinsky, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Reguilon, Sarr, Bissouma, Maddison, Johnson, Werner, Moore. Subs: Austin, Spence, Dorrington, Bergvall, Olusesi, Kulusevski, Son, Solanke, Lankshear.

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Here’s Ben Fisher’s excellent story on Tamworth FC.

Nickname: The lambs.

To the slaughter? Let’s see.

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Preamble

Tamworth, a busy, proud market town in the west Midlands, full of history, its best known son the arch-drude Julian Cope, hosts the mighty Tottenham. They’re 16th in the National League so play a decent standard of football, so can Ange’s boys have it all their own way. After that tough night in beating Liverpool in the FA Cup, a thin squad will be rotated. This is the tie of the round for those who like to see the minnows host the elite.

Kick-off is at 12.30pm UK time. Join me.

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Updated at 13.15 CET

Ange Postecoglou had to remove toads from a swampy pitch before one of the most pivotal games of his career, so Sunday’s FA Cup tie on non-league Tamworth’s 3G surface holds no fears for him.

The Tottenham manager has plenty of experience of artificial pitches, including from his time in Scotland with Celtic, and he said his players would train on one at the club’s Enfield HQ on Saturday. But Postecoglou’s mind went back to his first job as a manager at South Melbourne and a make-or-break fixture in unusual conditions. It was an Oceania qualification tie for the inaugural 2000 Club World Cup and Postecoglou has vivid memories not only about what was at stake but also the surface at the stadium in Fiji.

“Warming up, there were toads we had to remove which kept jumping on the pitch,” Postecoglou said. “Toads like grass and they love ponds and there was a bit of water on there, as well, so it was a combination of things that attracted them. It was a tropical sort of environment.

“At the time, you’re kind of going: ‘Really?’ But then you realise what was at stake – a fair bit of money and the opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the world. Our president at the time, George Vasilopoulos, who is still around, had these worry beads – they got a working out that day, let me tell you. He kept thinking about our bank balance and seeing frogs and toads on the field. It’s an experience.”

South Melbourne won and progressed to Brazil, where they played Manchester United, Vasco da Gama and Necaxa; each of the ties was staged at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro – an extraordinary experience for Postecoglou’s semi-professional team. They lost all three games but only by two-goal margins. United had notoriously withdrawn from the FA Cup to compete.

“It was United’s great treble-winning team and we ended up losing 2-0,” Postecoglou said. “But we gave a decent account of ourselves. Some of my players, who were semi-pro but good footballers, probably played the best game of their lives that day. What we’re going to face at Tamworth is players hoping to do the same. That’s why you’ve always got to be respectful.”

Postecoglou said that qualifying for the Club World Cup effectively destroyed South Melbourne’s domestic season because his players became distracted and did not want to risk getting injured. Tamworth, 16th in the National League, have won just two of seven matches in all competitions since the FA Cup draw was made. Postecoglou is ready for them to punch above their weight. He has been the underdog so often during his career and is well acquainted with the script.

“I think people are tired of my stories … I feel like grandpa at the family gathering; ‘here he goes again with the old war stories’,” Postecoglou said. “But you know I have been in that position a lot. Even with the Australia national team, we played at the [2014] World Cup against the Netherlands after they had thumped Spain [5-1] in the first game. Pretty daunting. We ended up losing 3-2. I thought we were unlucky on the day.

“Football, more than any other sport, is a real leveller. And that’s because it’s still a very difficult game to score goals in and really show the difference in levels. That is what I love about the game. It allows people at all levels to dream and it’s why the FA Cup is such a great competition. I’m on the other side of the fence this time. I want to make sure that we show our capabilities.”

Rodrigo Bentancur has been given the all-clear to return to playing after he serves a 12-day concussion protocol. The Tottenham midfielder sparked concern when he collapsed to the turf in his club’s 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg win over Liverpool on Wednesday night.

Bentancur was taken away on a stretcher after eight minutes of treatment and was assessed in hospital. The neurological tests have revealed nothing more serious than concussion.

The Uruguay international, who sustained a concussion in Spurs’ opening game of the season at Leicester after a clash of heads, did not appear to collide with another Liverpool player as he tried to reach the ball at a seventh- minute corner. The feeling at Spurs is that he got his arm caught in an unusual position, had nothing to cushion his fall and banged his head down hard against the ground, knocking himself out.

Because it is Bentancur’s second concussion of the season, the rules demand that he does not play games for at least 12 days. His projected return date is against Hoffenheim in the Europa League on 23 January, meaning he will miss the next three matches – against Tamworth in the FA Cup and Arsenal and Everton in the Premier League. After the Leicester game at the start of the season, Bentancur sat out the following fixture against Everton.

“It looks like a concussion but nothing more than that,” the Spurs manager, Ange Postecoglou, said. “He was in the hospital, obviously, and they did all of the tests in terms of checking, making sure everything is OK. And all good. He is back home. He is fine. He is feeling good. We’ll obviously follow the protocols now. I think it is a couple of weeks where you have to make sure everything is OK.

“It was distressing and you saw, especially Pedro [Porro] who was the first one there, he kind of knew it was a distressing situation. I thought the lads handled it well and the medical team handled it well. As I said, thankfully it’s all good.”

SPURS GET HOTTER

Tottenham get a lot of stick. Even the most hardened Spurs fan, mate, would agree they deserve a fair bit of it. But if you strip back the jokes, the commemorative DVD and T-shirt to celebrate a 1-0 league win over Chelsea in November 2006 (“If you missed it, here is your chance to see what all the fuss is about!”), the websites dedicated to documenting how long it’s been since they last won a trophy, the concept of a cheese room, Richarlison’s back tattoos and getting mugged off by Dulux, there is a very likable club there. The big issue for Spurs is that they just can’t seem to get over the line when it matters. Of course, it’s a fine margin between victory and defeat, between a rooster and a cockerel; just ask Hugo Lloris, France’s World Cup-winning captain.

Even Spurs’ best moment of recent years, that preposterous away-goals win over Ajax in 2019 – the sort of victory from the jaws of defeat that Tottenham themselves are used to being on the wrong end of – was followed up by one of the Spursiest starts to a Big Cup final you could dream of, a dubious penalty conceded 23 seconds into the match to set Liverpool on their way to yet another European triumph. Therefore, can Football Daily even dare to call the Carling Cup semi-final first leg 1-0 victory over Liverpool some sort of vengeance for that game? Probably not, especially given their volatility over two legs and the fact they are battling it out for Carabao, not champagne. But there was a quiet satisfaction to Wednesday’s win against the Premier League leaders. So let’s give Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou – a previously gracious and philosophical manager, reduced to speculating in recent days if one of the world’s greatest players would be able to hit a barn door in a Spurs shirt – some flowers.

The Londoners were excellent against Liverpool. Archie Gray, 18 years young and out of position at centre-back, was magnificent in defence. Alongside him, Radu Dragusin temporarily morphed into Gary Mabbutt, complete with all 10 of his toes. Three days after signing, Antonin Kinsky was thrust into the starting XI and looked like he had been between the sticks for a decade, the only thing overshadowing his performance or tearful post-match embrace with his sister the footage of a middle-aged man in the foreground of said embrace, furiously searching through his phone trying to find the camera app. After a midfield performance full of industry and class, Lucas Bergvall scored an incisive winner, even if his goal came approximately a minute after he should have been handed his second yellow of the game for a blatant foul on the visitors’ Kostas Tsimikas.

“There’s a linesman there, a fourth official there, there’s VAR, a referee and he doesn’t get [one],” sobbed Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. “I’m not saying this is the reason why we lost tonight but it was a big moment in the game.” But don’t let that crucial, blatant, game-deciding incident detract from the narrative of this glorious triumph. Sure, Liverpool will probably win the second leg 3-0 at Anfield and go on to prolong Newcastle’s own trophy drought in the final, the Reds’ latest domestic silverware barely a footnote in their own glittering history, but Tottenham will always have this Milk Cup semi-final first leg win. They will always have Wednesday 8 January 2025. And if you missed it, you can always grab the commemorative T-shirt and DVD, presumably out next week, to see what all the fuss is about.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Taha Hashim from 7pm GMT for hot FA Cup third-round clockwatch action on … what’s this … a Thursday night?

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“New players have come in from other clubs and they say that the people that have her role don’t do it in the same way. My mum will go out with them and make sure they get the best apartment or show them where the shops are. She will also make sure their partners are looked after. I sometimes even see her walking around babysitting some of the players’ kids if they don’t have anywhere to take them for the day. She goes far beyond her role but she enjoys it too” – Charlton’s Miles Leaburn, son of Addicks legend Carl, pays tribute to mum Tracey, who’s also the head of player care down at The Valley.

With respect to football miracle comparisons (Tuesday’s Football Daily), please forgive my pedantry when I point out that Leicester ‘did a Nottingham Forest’ (remember Brian Clough?). So if Forest ‘do a Leicester’ they will actually be ‘doing a Forest’. And ‘doing a Forest’ is better than ‘doing a Leicester’ because ‘doing a Forest’ involves going on to subsequent back-to-back Big Cup successes, whereas ‘doing a Leicester’ involves subsequent relegation” – Mark Brookes (and others).

If you’d like to hear what ‘a straight-to-ITVX buddy-cop drama (with Eddie Howe as the increasingly exasperated police chief)’ would sound like (yesterday’s Football Daily), I’d direct you to back episodes of Bob Mortimer and Andy Dawson’s excellent Athletico Mince podcast, which features script read-throughs of Geordie Heat, a police procedural with DCI Howe and his crack squad of Tyneside heroes solving the big problems faced by their community (mostly Mr Sting from the massive house with the massive gates). In Eddie’s words, I wish you all the best in your future [effin’] endeavours” – Jon Gerrard.

The mention in yesterday’s Football Daily of picking a forward to convert a chance to save your life reminds me of the great Aussie rules commentator Dennis Cometti. When a co-commentator spoke in exactly those terms about an in-form player, Dennis said, if he had to pick someone to kick a goal to save his life, he’d pick his mum. After a pause he added: ‘She’s not much of a kicker, but at least she’d care’” – Chris Mackenzie Davey.

I see Harry Maguire has discovered an extra yard of speed – even if it’s 85mph in a tunnel beneath Manchester airport. Perhaps he believes United’s season is about to take off” – Mark McFadden.

It’s good to see that in just one day, Tottenham announced Paris Baguette, a South Korean bakery chain, ‘as its new official coffee and bakery partner’, saying they ‘will be integrating its coffee product into our matchday food and beverage menus, and will be working with the club to drive global brand awareness’. And they also announced ‘dog of the match’ at every home game throughout the season. ‘Members of Tottenham Hotspaw’, no less, with a pun so bad that even Football Daily letter writers wouldn’t stoop to it. Apparently, they played a game of football yesterday too, but I couldn’t take too much excitement in one day” – Noble Francis.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Chris Mackenzie Davey. Terms and conditions for our competitions – when we have them – can be viewed here.

Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur has provided a positive update on his health after a worrying collapse against Liverpool led to his removal from the pitch on a stretcher.

Bentancur collapsed under no challenge when hunting the ball at a corner in the first half. After lengthy treatment, he was manoeuvred carefully on to a stretcher and Spurs reported at half-time of the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg that the midfielder was conscious and talking. He was taken to hospital.

“All good, guys! Thank you for the messages,” the Uruguayan wrote on his Instagram story. “Congratulations for the victory boys!!!”

Tottenham secured a 1-0 win thanks to late goal by Lucas Bergvall. Liverpool were furious the Swede had not been sent off shortly before for a tackle on Kostas Tsimikas that might have brought a second yellow card. Tsimikas was still off the pitch when Bergvall scored.

While Liverpool were left to lick their wounds, Postecoglou beamed with pride after Tottenham’s patched-up team kept the Premier League leaders to a rare shut-out.

“Yeah, very proud,” he said. “Again, we had to deal with some adversity tonight. We started the game really well I thought. Then obviously we lose Rodrigo, and in the way it happened, it was quite distressing. Again, we had to compose ourselves and deal with that and re-organise. Super proud of the players. I have been all along.”