Premier League

Joao Palhinha scored a wonderful equaliser in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to spare Tottenham Hotspur's blushes as they battled back to draw 1-1 with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Wolves looked set to finally get their Premier League campaign up and running after five straight defeats, as Santiago Bueno stabbed home following a goalmouth scramble in the 54th minute.

Spurs had hit the crossbar through Mohammed Kudus in the first half, but they were far from free-flowing and also saw their goal frame struck by Matt Doherty.

Thomas Frank's men barely created a single chance after falling behind, but deep into stoppage time, Palhinha bent a fine finish into the bottom-right corner to break the visitors' hearts.

Wolves remain bottom of the table with a single point, three adrift of 17th-placed Burnley, while Spurs are third with 11 points from six games.

How the match unfolded

Spurs started slowly, but they went agonisingly close to scoring from their first real attack in the 15th minute, with Kudus' header being pushed against the crossbar by Sam Johnstone.

Kudus did have the ball in the net 12 minutes later, but he was offside when latching onto Lucas Bergvall's flick to curl into the far corner.

Spurs kept up the pressure as Bergvall fired an acrobatic effort over the bar and Kudus tested Johnstone from the edge of the box. However, it was Wolves who nearly snatched the lead just before half-time, with Doherty's half-volley glancing off the woodwork.

But the visitors did strike from another corner early in the second half. Ladislav Krejci's downward header was parried by Guglielmo Vicario, and Bueno was on hand to prod home in the ensuing melee.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde drilled wide at the end of a determined run as the home fans grew restless, while only the right boot of Vicario denied Hugo Bueno.

Wolves looked set to see out a shock result in relative comfort, but Palhinha came to the hosts' rescue, salvaging a point by curling home after good hold-up play from Pape Matar Sarr.

Few home comforts for Spurs despite leveller

But Saturday's match was largely a tale of frustration for Spurs. They struggled to make the most of some promising first-half situations, while Wolves threatened when they forced set-piece opportunities.

Some static defending from a Jhon Arias corner was punished by Bueno, and if anything, Spurs regressed further from that moment on. The hosts were bullied in midfield, with Andre particularly impressive for Wolves, while wild pot-shots from Cristian Romero and Palhinha were sent flying over Johnstone’s goal.

But just as they appeared out of ideas, Palhinha shaped a lovely effort inside the bottom-right corner, earning a point that Spurs could scarcely say they deserved.

Frank will be frustrated by his team's home form, after they were comprehensively outplayed in a 1-0 loss to AFC Bournemouth last time out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, though the former Brentford boss will be mightily relieved to avoid defeat here.

Spurs will need to show more in a busy week ahead, as they visit Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League, then travel to Elland Road to face Leeds United in the Premier League.

Wolves on the board but heartbroken

Wolves endured a defensive horror show in last week's 3-1 defeat to Leeds United, which prompted Vitor Pereira to make sweeping changes for Tuesday's EFL Cup tie at home to Everton.

And following a morale-boosting 2-0 win over the Toffees, Pereira stuck with nine of his midweek starting XI, playing a back four in a Premier League game for the very first time.

Wolves started calmly, with the introduction of Andre giving them a foothold in midfield, but they initially struggled for creativity. Before Doherty side-footed against the outside of the post, speculative shots from Arias and Hwang Hee-chan were the sum of their efforts.

At half-time, Pereira introduced Jackson Tchatchoua and Emmanuel Agbadou and reverted to a three-man defence, and it was Bueno – shifted out to the right of that trio – that came up with the opener.

Bueno was in the right place at the right time to score his first goal for Wolves, on his 56th appearance for the club, while he was also rock-solid defensively, making one heroic challenge to halt a marauding run from Xavi Simons.

Physicality was the name of the game for Wolves in the second half, and it served them well, but one moment of quality was all it took for two points to be snatched away from them.

Pereira now faces the difficult task of re-energising his players ahead of a home clash with Brighton & Hove Albion in eight days' time.

Club reports

Spurs report | Wolves report

What the managers said

Thomas Frank: "We played a good first half in many ways. There were times we could have done more.

"After their goal we lost a bit of control. We didn't keep the structure and were rushing too much. The effort and mentality from the players was fantastic.

"We got a well-deserved equaliser in the end. Probably a fair reflection."

Vitor Pereira: "We deserved the three points and almost in the end it's difficult to accept.

"I'm trying to come back but it's difficult. We controlled the game in the second half. The spirit was there. Everything was there but the last minute, it's football."

Next PL fixtures

Key facts

Spurs have won just three of their last 17 Premier League home games (four draws, 10 losses). Indeed, since the first game of this spell (November 10th 2024 v Ipswich Town), no ever-present side has earned fewer home points in the competition than Spurs (13, level with West Ham).

At 93:27, Palhinha scored Spurs' latest equalising goal in a Premier League game since September 2023 against Sheffield United (Richarlison, 97:33).

Wolves remain winless in their last 10 Premier League games (two draws, eight losses), this after winning six in a row in the league beforehand.

Since the start of last season, only Leicester (15) and West Ham (14) have fallen 1-0 behind in more different Premier League home games than Spurs (13).

The Scout triples up on Manchester City in the best team for Gameweek 6 of Fantasy Premier League.

A home encounter with Burnley earns centre-back Josko Gvardiol (£5.8m) a place alongside the resurgent Phil Foden (£8.0m) and the prolific Erling Haaland (£14.3m).

Norwegian Haaland is handed the armband on the back of his six goals across the first five Gameweeks, while Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) is named as vice-captain.

Guglielmo Vicario (Spurs) £5.1m

The goalkeeper is Tottenham Hotspur's top-scoring player in Fantasy this season, combining three clean sheets with four save points and five bonus points to claim 30 points. Spurs and Vicario entertain a Wolverhampton Wanderers side who have failed to score in both their away matches.

Josko Gvardiol (Man City) £5.8m

Man City’s centre-back has a clean sheet and two defensive contribution points to his name over the last two Gameweeks since recovering from injury. Five goals in the previous campaign underlines Gvardiol’s major attacking threat against Burnley.

James Tarkowski (Everton) £5.5m

Everton’s centre-back is one of only two players to collect defensive contribution points in all five of the opening Gameweeks. Tarkowski’s threat at set-pieces will also pose major problems for his visitors West Ham United.

Marcos Senesi (AFC Bournemouth) £4.8m

Similarly to Tarkowski, the AFC Bournemouth star has collected 10 points through his defensive contributions. Senesi has also delivered three clean sheets and an assist in his last four outings ahead of a visit to Leeds United.

Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd) £9.0m

Manchester United’s playmaker visits a Brentford side who have conceded 10 goals over the first five Gameweeks, the third-most in the league. Fernandes has scored twice and created a league-high 15 chances, highlighting his major all-round attacking potential.

Phil Foden (Man City) £8.0m

The England star looks back to his best after a recent return to the Man City starting XI. Foden has two goals and two assists across his side’s last four matches in all competitions.

Antoine Semenyo (AFC Bournemouth) £7.7m

Bournemouth’s winger is the top-scoring midfielder in Fantasy, earning 41 points thanks to three goals and two assists. Semenyo’s 12 shots in the box and six big chances – or situations where the player is expected top score – are also both top among midfielders this season.

Jack Grealish (Everton) £6.8m

Everton’s winger has four assists and 24 points in his four starts since arriving on loan from Man City. Grealish has created 13 chances from Gameweek 2 onwards, more than any other player in Fantasy.

Erling Haaland (Man City) £14.3m

A massive 798,000+ managers have already transferred in Haaland ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 BST deadline. If, as expected, he recovers from a slight back complaint, the Norwegian is expected to be the No 1 captain pick for Gameweek 6 – his 20 shots in the box and 10 big chances are both league-leading totals this season.

Joao Pedro (Chelsea) £7.8m

Chelsea’s Brazilian faces his former club Brighton & Hove Albion on the back of two goals and three assists over the last four Gameweeks. Joao Pedro’s hefty 67 per cent ownership will be optimistic he can add to that tally at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon – the Seagulls have lost both their away matches, conceding twice on each occasion.

Richarlison (Spurs) £6.7m

The Spurs forward took his tally to three goals and an assist for the season last weekend with a strike in their 2-2 draw at Brighton. Richarlison’s 13 shots in the box rank second only to Haaland this season, while his opponents Wolves have conceded 12 goals and are without a clean sheet over their five matches.

Tottenham Hotspur came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Brighton & Hove Albion at the American Express Stadium.

Thomas Frank seemed to be staring down the barrel of a second Premier League defeat as Spurs boss, when Brighton took an early lead through Yankuba Minteh, before Yasin Ayari created some breathing room with a stunning strike in the 31st minute.

Richarlison, though, halved the deficit in the 43rd minute and Spurs took that momentum into the second half. After substitute Xavi Simons had twice gone close to scoring, the visitors' pressure paid off when Jan Paul van Hecke turned the ball into his own net in the 82nd minute.

The draw moved Spurs, at least temporarily, up to second place, while Brighton are 13th with five points from as many matches.

How the match unfolded

Against the run of play, Minteh put Brighton ahead in the eighth minute, beating Spurs’ offside trap before rounding Guglielmo Vicario and finishing into an empty net.

The Seagulls doubled their advantage as Ayari caught Vicario off-guard with a fierce effort from an unlikely angle, some 32 yards out.

Yet Spurs pulled one back just before half-time. Mohammed Kudus’s shot fell straight to Richarlison, who managed to take a touch before slotting home.

It looked like it would not be Spurs’ day when substitute Simons was denied by Bart Verbruggen and scuffed another shot wide.

However, they finally found an equaliser as Kudus’s cross went through to Van Hecke, who was only able to deflect it in off his thigh.

Kudus almost capped a fine individual performance with a winner in stoppage time, but his deflected strike looped just over Verbruggen’s goal.

Gruda’s time to shine?

Ayari’s strike may have been the highlight for Brighton, but Brajan Gruda impressed on what was his first league start of the season.

With Georginio Rutter moving into the striker role, Gruda slotted into the attacking midfield position, and Fabian Hurzeler will have liked what he saw.

The German youth international played a crucial role in Brighton’s opening goal, holding the ball up before finding Rutter, who then played Minteh through on goal.

Gruda was also involved with two chances just before the half-hour mark, teeing up a long shot for Ayari before missing the target with an effort of his own from distance.

The 21-year-old offered some security to Hurzeler’s midfield, too, with Gruda often dropping back to the edge of his own box in order to help out defensively.

Although this meant the front three of Minteh, Rutter and Kaoru Mitoma were left to do more work on the counter, it is certainly food for thought for Hurzeler, especially with Danny Welbeck struggling to click into top gear, as Brighton aim to propel themselves up the table. It was ultimately a frustrating day for the Seagulls after such a positive start.

Gruda, who was subbed off just after the hour and replaced with veteran James Milner, will hope to start again for Brighton when they face Barnsley in the EFL Cup, with a trip to Chelsea following in their next league match.

Simons makes his mark as Frank mixes things up

This was the first time that Pape Matar Sarr – who had been an unused substitute as Spurs’ squad was rotated following their UEFA Champions League exploits in midweek – did not start a match under Frank’s reign, and his absence was felt in the middle of the pitch for Spurs.

The visitors’ best chances in the first half came from wide areas as Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur opted to attack crosses.

Spurs’ midfield also struggled when defending transitions, with their backline often left in one-on-one situations when facing counter-attacks.

New signing Simons also had to settle for a place among the substitutes, but the Dutch international certainly made a difference when he came on just after the hour.

Deployed in a central role, Simons was swift to get in and around the action, as proved by his two chances, while it was he who played the pass out to Kudus in the build-up to Spurs’ equaliser.

Frank is likely to mix things up again when Spurs face Doncaster Rovers next week in the EFL Cup, before they host lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Club reports

Brighton report | Spurs report

What the managers said

Fabian Hurzeler: "In the moments that we conceded the goals, the timing was bad. I think how we conceded the goals was quite unlucky. Overall I was pleased with the performance.

"We created chances, had quite a few good transition moments, especially in the second half. In the end there were a lot of unlucky things."

Thomas Frank: "I thought we looked extremely strong. I am very happy with the overall performance. It was potentially our best performance of the season. We dominated more or less throughout the game and created enough chances.

"We maybe lacked enough to create three or four big chances but the amount of crosses we were putting in... For me if there should have been a winner it should have been us."

Next PL fixtures

Key facts

Since the start of their first Premier League season (2017-18), Brighton have conceded more own goals than any other side (20).

Richarlison has scored 14 goals in his last 19 Premier League starts for Tottenham.

Ayari's strike for Brighton (32.2 yards) was the joint-longest range goal Brighton have scored in the Premier League alongside Carlos Baleba's winner against West Ham in April. Meanwhile, it was the longest range goal Spurs have conceded in the competition since August 2016 (Ross Barkley for Everton – 40 yards).

Tottenham have won just one of their last nine Premier League games that have come after playing in Europe in midweek (W3 L5), with that sole victory coming against Burnley on MD1 this season following the UEFA Super Cup.

Brighton and Hove Albion v Tottenham Hotspur | 2025/2026 | Premier League | Overview  Premier League

The Premier League has six clubs in the UEFA Champions League this season, including Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur who began their campaigns on Tuesday evening. Football writer Daniel Edwards reports on how they fared.

Subs seal historic win for Arteta's patient Arsenal

Athletic Club 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal showcased both their strength in depth and their European experience with a patient victory at Estadio de San Mames, with two late goals from substitutes Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard earning the Gunners a sixth-straight victory against LaLiga opposition.

This was Athletic Club’s first match in the Champions League since the 2014/15 campaign and the San Mames faithful were promised a fast start. They got exactly that, with the first three shots of the game all coming from the home side as Arsenal tried to get to grips with an abrasive atmosphere.

Not a single player from Athletic Club's starting XI had previously played in the Champions League, making them the first Spanish team to name a starting line-up made up entirely of competition debutants since Real Madrid in 1995, and Arsenal’s experience came to the fore as the match progressed, slowly wrestling back control while keeping opposition counter-attacks to a minimum.

Noni Madueke has proven himself to be much more than an understudy for Bukayo Saka in recent weeks for club and country. The winger was a constant thorn in the left side for Athletic Club, driving towards the box incessantly throughout, so much so that the hosts elected to switch out their left-backs with a third of the game to go.

Eberechi Eze on the other hand was far quieter, and Arsenal were perhaps remiss not to make more of an attempt to bring him and Riccardo Calafiori into the game in the attacking third, with the pair looking a smooth duo when afforded the chance to combine. Eze was replaced by Martinelli in the 71st minute and Mikel Arteta’s decision changed the outlook of the game.

It took only 36 seconds for Martinelli do to what Eze could not, and the Brazilian opened the scoring for the Gunners after a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it counter-attack that evoked the Martinelli of seasons past. This was the quickest-ever goal by an Arsenal substitute in the Champions League.

A long kick from Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon was won in the air by Cristhian Mosquera, flicked on by Declan Rice and then once again by the newly-introduced Trossard, before being brought under control at pace by an on-running Martinelli. After darting towards goal, the Brazilian sent the ball past Simon.

The whole attack started and finished within a matter of seconds, stunning the home crowd into a rare silence.

It took 15 minutes for Martinelli to return the favour for Trossard as the pair of substitutes linked up once more to give Arsenal a two-goal lead and a certain victory.

After receiving a pass from Rice on the left, Martinelli faced up Athletic right-back Andoni Gorosabel before a burst of pace saw him appear suddenly in the penalty area, where he pulled the ball back for Trossard on the edge of the six-yard box.

Trossard’s first touch with his right instep was one of perfection, instantly killing the speed of the pass, and the Belgian showed great composure by seemingly picking his spot in slow motion with his right leg still hanging in the air, striking the ball into the roof of the net a half-second later.

This was the first time that a pair of substitutes had set each other up in a Champions League game for Arsenal, only serving to highlight the strength in depth that Arteta has at his disposal this year.

Arsenal’s Champions League campaign was never going to be won or lost in this contest, but this was a fantastic first step towards qualification for the knockout rounds.

"I’m very happy. It’s an incredible place to come and play football, and the atmosphere is one of the best I've seen," said Arteta, quoted on Arsenal's official website.

"We knew it was going to be very difficult, so we had to earn the right to win the game. Something that we always discuss is that the finishers have to impact the game, and Gabi and Leo came on to make the difference for the team. They were outstanding and the rest of the team [were] as well."

Arteta was born just an hour up the road from Bilbao in San Sebastian and he will be proud to have inflicted a sixth straight defeat to Spanish opposition in the Champions League, with Arsenal becoming the first side to achieve such a feat in the competition. They're also only the third English club to win away to Athletic Club, after Liverpool (European Cup 1983/84) and Manchester United (UEFA Europa League 2024/25).

Arsenal's six consecutive wins v Spanish teams

Season Result Seville (A) 2023/24 W 2-1 Sevilla (H) 2023/24 W 2-0 Girona (A) 2024/25 W 2-1 Real Madrid (H) 2024/25 W 3-0 Real Madrid (A) 2024/25 W 2-1 Athletic Club (A) 2025/26 W 2-0

Own goal gives Frank a winning Champions League debut

Spurs 1-0 Villarreal

A gift-wrapped clanger from opposition goalkeeper Luiz Junior proved the only difference as Spurs overcame a bothersome Villarreal side in a stop-start affair at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

This season has the feel of a new era for Spurs, with the departures of manager Ange Postecoglou and executive chairman Daniel Levy, and a return to the Champions League spotlight.

All of this contributed to an anxious but hopeful energy emanating from the home crowd before kick-off.

But despite being gifted the start of dreams thanks to Luiz Junior's goalkeeping error, Thomas Frank's side never truly got a firm grip of the game, and a poor second-half performance led to a feeling of palpable relief from the Spurs faithful at full-time.

At only three minutes and eight seconds, the opening goal was the earliest that Spurs have scored in the Champions League, and offered a perfect start for Frank in his first match as a manager in the competition.

In what was clearly an orchestrated avenue of attack, Pedro Porro played in Lucas Bergvall down the right-hand side for Spurs, and the midfielder carried the ball 10 metres into the box before looking up to try and find the run of Richarlison.

Bergvall overplayed the cross just a touch and the ball was met by Luiz Junior, only rather than simply bringing the ball into his grasp, the Brazilian managed to swipe it backwards into his own net, and was left only with his head in his hands instead.

The game became a little untidy from here and referee Rade Obrenovic arguably lost control of the affair at the half-hour mark, with a flurry of fouls resulting in two yellow cards apiece in the space of six minutes.

Much to the chagrin of the home crowd, one of the few times that Obrenovic elected not to blow his whistle was when Richarlison claimed for a penalty not long before half-time.

The start of the second half was a different story for Villarreal, the away side seemingly wanting to amend for a calamitous opening to the first 45 minutes, with former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe a source of danger on the right.

And Villarreal were the instigators throughout the second half, with Spurs failing to regain control of the game despite Frank introducing Joao Palhinha in attempt to shore up the centre of the pitch and put an end to the visitors’ counter-attacking threat.

Spurs were ultimately forced to rely on the quality of their defence, which Frank no doubt deserves great credit for, given the calamitous showings of these same defenders last season under Postecoglou.

In the end, Villarreal failed to force Guglielmo Vicario into making a single save, the Italian adequately shielded by his backline.

Micky van de Ven was the pick of the bunch, with no Spurs player making more recoveries (11), clearances (four) or tackles (three). His extreme pace also helped snuff out multiple counter-attacks, including one late on when he managed to intervene with Georges Mikautadze just before the striker entered the box.

The central defender spoke to broadcaster Amazon Prime after the match, telling reporter Gabriel Clarke: "It was a tough one tonight. We didn't play very well to be honest.

“We had a really good start and of course you want to build on that, but Villarreal are a really difficult team to play against. It is tough, but we got the three points and that is [the] most important [thing]."

While Frank will be pleased to pick up three points in his first outing as a manager in this competition, he made it clear to Amazon Prime after the game that he is aware there is room for improvement.

"I learnt that the team is working very hard and we have very good foundations to stand on in terms of our defensive organisation," said Frank. "I think that is good. We gave very little away.

"I knew it [already] but I think offensively is definitely the area we need to get better. It is also about the relationships. For Djed Spence and Xavi Simons, it was just the second game together. They played too short and into feet too many times."

Spurs, who qualified for the Champions League by winning last season's UEFA Europa League, have now won five consecutive games in major European competition for the first time since a run of six in the 2013/14 Europa League.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lucas Bergvall has been voted Player of the Matchweek for Matchweek 4. He is the third Spurs player to win the award after Richarlison and Joao Palhinha had topped previous polls.

Bergvall scored his first Premier League goal for Spurs against West Ham United on Saturday, with a brilliant header, and then followed up providing an assist for Micky van de Ven to seal a 3-0 victory at the London Stadium.

Watch highlights of Bergvall’s Matchweek 4 performance

Bergvall picked up 27 per cent of the fan vote in Matchweek 4, pipping Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who recorded 25 per cent.

The other six nominees were Erling Haaland (23 per cent), Moises Caicedo (eight per cent), Robin Roefs and Antoine Semenyo (both six per cent), Nick Woltemade (four per cent) and Emiliano Martinez (one per cent).

West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur | 2025/2026 | Premier League | Overview  Premier League

Football writer Alex Keble analyses Postecoglou’s tactical philosophy, his fit with the current squad, the players who could thrive and the opening matches of his tenure.

If nothing else, Postecoglou is box office.

But that isn’t why Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has decided to hire him.

Nuno Espirito Santo leaves Forest in the middle of a transition towards more progressive football and in the middle of a Europa League campaign. We know Postecoglou will favour entertainment – and we know he can go all the way in Europe.

Here’s what Postecoglou brings to the City Ground.

Self-made Ange has taken the long route to the top

That Europa League triumph with Spurs was the culmination of a 30-year climb to the top for Postecoglou.

Beginning his coaching journey at South Melbourne in 1994, where Postecoglou had spent most of his playing career, he worked in Australian football for 17 years, winning league titles with South Melbourne and Brisbane Roar either side of a long stint as head of Australia’s youth teams.

Postecoglou then took Australia to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and qualified for the 2018 edition before leaving to join Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos, where in 2019 he won the club's first J-League title in 15 years.

Celtic came calling, and that’s when Postecoglou’s reputation in Europe started to grow. He won five domestic trophies in two years in Scotland, earning the adoration of the Glasgow club’s fans for his unique brand of wild attacking football.

Spurs took a punt on him in 2023 and, via a long and sometimes painful route, it paid off.

What is his style?

“I'll correct myself: I don't usually win things, I always win things in my second year.”

That was Postecoglou’s much-quoted line as Spurs’ 2024/25 campaign went off the rails, but Postecoglou proved the doubters wrong – and came good on his word.

It sums up his character: entertaining, sometimes abrasive, but, in the end, loveable. It’s a personality befitting of his tactical beliefs.

Postecoglou was adamant he only knew one way of playing and that his team would stick to it, famously doing so to extraordinary effect when nine-man Spurs held their line in a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in November 2023, playing half a game like this.

That was his first defeat in charge, and it followed eight wins and two draws from Postecoglou’s opening 10 Premier League games, when a weird and wonderful all-out attacking system caught the league off-guard.

Spurs’ rivals soon cottoned on. Over the next 66 Premier League games Postecoglou would win just 78 points and for the most part refused to let go of his idealistic tactical philosophy – until the final six months.

Spurs finished 17th in 2024/25 as Postecoglou prioritised the Europa League, a tournament won with conservative and counter-attacking football that was supposedly anathema to Ange.

It was a surprising twist that threw out three decades of work devising an ultra-expansive, ultra-expressive tactical idea renowned for the use of two inverted full-backs and a dangerous high line.

And in the end, Postecoglou, after losing so many, won the fans over again.

A first trophy since 2008 continued a career studded with silverware. But it ended his supposedly unshakeable faith in the ideology.

Will he suit Forest's squad?

Postecoglou’s speciality, then, is ending trophy droughts. Forest haven’t won anything since Brian Clough’s final League Cup triumph in 1990.

Clough, too, was a character; an uncompromising and principled man. Indeed, in terms of personality and aura, there is something in Postecoglou’s wildness that chimes with Forest’s two-time European champion.

Winning in Europe is presumably one of Postecoglou’s missions at Forest. Whether or not that’s possible depends on just how quickly he can rewrite the team’s tactics – or how willing he is to build on the final stretch at Spurs, and adapt.

If he wishes to reassert “Ange-ball”, if he believes that the endgame at Spurs was simply emergency measures, then he has his work cut out.

Forest were one of the most defence-first and reactive teams in the Premier League under Nuno, while Spurs were one of the most attack-first and proactive. Comparing stats from the two years 2023 to 2025 shows the extent of the gap.

Forest v Spurs comparison, last two seasons (PL rank in brackets)

Nott'm Forest Spurs PPDA* 16.4 (19th) 9.1 (1st) Ave. height of defensive line when out of possession 35.4m (18th) 39.4m (4th) Ave. possession 41.9% (19th) 54.7% (5th) No. 10+ open-play passing sequences per game 7.1 (15th) 14.1 (6th)

*PPDA (passes per defensive action) measures pressing intensity, and is calculated by the number of passes completed by the opposition divided by the number of defensive actions by the out-of-possession team (defensive actions are interceptions, successful tackles, attempted tackles and fouls).

Nuno sat deep, Postecoglou pushed high; Nuno backed off, Postecoglou pressed hard; Nuno went direct, Postecoglou tried to play his way out of trouble.

Radically altering Forest’s style will be challenging mid-season (even if Nuno had subtly begun that process), especially with Thursday night football in the Europa League clogging up the calendar.

Forest v Spurs team style comparison, last two seasons

This is by far and away the greatest threat to the Postecoglou revolution.

The second is whether he has the right defenders to deploy a high line or play high-risk possession football.

Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo are powerful central defenders who excel in a deeper defence, but their speed (or lack of) could be exposed by Postecoglou’s adventurous nature.

Of the 128 defenders to play in the Premier League so far this season, Milenkovic ranks 95th for top speed recorded (30.31km/h) and Murillo ranks 69th (31.52km/h).

Tellingly, only seven defenders who have featured in all three Matchweeks have made fewer sprints than the Forest pair (16 each). Nuno knew they aren’t great sprinters and devised a system that meant they rarely had to do it.

Similarly, Milenkovic and Murillo aren’t great passers of the ball, in stark contrast to Spurs’ star defender Micky van de Ven.

It will be interesting to see if the Forest centre-backs can adapt to Ange-ball, or indeed if, leading on from those final six months in north London, Postecoglou adapts to them.

Which Forest players could thrive under him?

Elsewhere, the squad is a good fit.

Ola Aina has the speed, athleticism and intelligence to be an inverting all-action full-back, while the loan signing of left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko from Arsenal provides the second inverter on the other side.

Douglas Luiz, Elliot Anderson, James McAtee and Morgan Gibbs-White feel perfect for what Postecoglou needs in midfield, their respective abilities to play under pressure and drive forward suiting Ange-ball.

Chris Wood is just the kind of big No 9 Postecoglou likes and thankfully the system needs pure wingers of the sort Forest tend to buy: Callum Hudson-Odoi and Dan Ndoye will fit right in.

Possible Forest XI under Postecoglou

What are his first matches?

A debut at Arsenal is a very tough start for Postecoglou, so much so that we probably won’t learn much about his long-term ideas. Forest will be forced to play without the ball, continuing, loosely, Nuno’s football for the time being.

After that, Forest visit Burnley before hosting Sunderland in the Premier League, sandwiched between an EFL Cup trip to Championship side Swansea City and a Europa League match in Spain against Real Betis.

It is a fairly tame start that gives Postecoglou the chance to build some momentum with a good first impression. He’s done that before, at Spurs, only for a zig-zag journey to follow.

The big question hanging over these early games is whether Postecoglou’s turn away from Ange-ball signalled a new understanding that he must be flexible – or whether he will double down in new surroundings.

At a time when adaptable managers are in-vogue and ideological ones increasingly passé, it’s a question of profound significance for Nottingham Forest and the Premier League.

Forest fans can expect an entertaining and unpredictable path ahead. If it ends like it did at Spurs, it will have been worth it.

Tottenham Hotspur v Bournemouth | 2025/2026 | Premier League | Overview  Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur's winning start to life under Thomas Frank continued on Saturday, as the north London side triumphed 2-0 at Manchester City.

Although Spurs were also victorious at the Etihad Stadium last season, that previous 4-0 success was against a Man City side suffering their fifth straight loss in all competitions.

This time, the hosts were on a high after opening the new season with a resounding 4-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, so Frank's achievement in overturning Pep Guardiola's side has impressed the pundits - including Alan Shearer, the Premier League's record goalscorer.

In his Team of the Week below, Shearer has selected five Spurs players - and Frank as the manager.

Jordan Pickford (Everton)

"Nothing was going to get past him on such a huge occasion for Everton, in their first match at their new stadium. Not even Danny Welbeck's penalty, which he saved comfortably."

Jurrien Timber (Arsenal)

"Another match, another Arsenal defender on the scoresheet. Went one better than Riccardo Calafiori at Old Trafford by netting two against Leeds United, and he also assisted Bukayo Saka's goal."

Cristian Romero (Spurs)

"The captain gave nothing away at the back as Spurs kept a second consecutive clean sheet this season and deservedly won at Manchester City - again."

Micky van de Ven (Spurs)

"Like his centre-back partner Romero, Van de Ven was also rock solid. Erling Haaland had a frustrating afternoon against them."

Djed Spence (Spurs)

"Nothing went past him on Spurs' left side. I could have picked their full back four - Pedro Porro only misses out because of Timber's goals for Arsenal."

Joao Palhinha (Spurs)

"The midfielder scored the second goal at the Etihad Stadium and also played his part in stifling Man City's attack. He could prove a clever signing for Spurs."

Watch Palhinha's goal v Man City

Pape Matar Sarr (Spurs)

"Never stopped running and it was his pressing in the Man City box that led to Palhinha's goal, as he cut out James Trafford's attempt to play out from the back."

Josh Cullen (Burnley)

"Scored the first goal and assisted the other for Jaidon Anthony to give Burnley their first win of the season. A huge result for them at home to Sunderland."

Jaidon Anthony (Burnley)

"Like his captain Cullen, Anthony also produced a goal and an assist to get Burnley up and running in the new campaign."

Joao Pedro (Chelsea)

"Just too good for West Ham. Scored the equaliser, then set up the second goal for Pedro Neto, and got his second assist of the game when Trevoh Chalobah made it 5-1."

Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal)

"Like his team-mate Timber, Gyokeres has to be in my line-up for scoring two goals. An important day for the forward, getting off the mark in an Arsenal shirt."