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Thomas Frank shared his opinion on a 2-1 defeat for Tottenham against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Spurs have struggled for home form in the Premier League under their new head coach, and trend seemed set to continue after goals for Emiliano Buendiaand Morgan Rogers in the first half. The third best team in the division went through the gears after the Argentine’s strike, and it looked like the hosts would have a long afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium if things did not change.

There was a response, helped through a goal from Wilson Odobert, but the pressure continues to pile on the Dane, who was determined to take positives from the performance after the boos of full time.

“I think the first 20 was probably relatively even. After that (first) goal, we couldn't really get near them. We needed to react quicker to that. The four, five, six times we went high pressure, we actually won it, but we didn't get that enough. That changed in the second half.

“The second half was excellent. That's the game we want to play, with intensity, passion, aggression, good high pressure, playing forward, penetration with runs and passes, good goals.

“The first half was not as good. The second goal is what kills us. We're facing a good team, they scored a quality goal, the first one. The second half, when we’re all together, the fans, the energy, how they feed off each other, that's brilliant.

“There were a lot of good things in the second half, no doubt about that. I agree, Xavi Simons was excellent, especially in the second half. He wanted to get on the ball, he wanted to be decisive, he wanted to make the final action, either with a pass or a goal or an assist or a second assist.

“The intensity from the whole team driving forward, I loved that. We need to put that together over two halves and cut out the mistakes, particularly the second goal.”

Unai Emery expressed his thoughts on a 2-1 victory for Aston Villa against Tottenham.

The Villans have moved into the fourth round of the FA Cup thanks to a triumph over Spurs for the second time in three months by this score. Once Emiliano Buendia broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute, the guests showed class, doubling the lead with a close-range finish from Morgan Rogers.

The men of Thomas Frank were under extreme pressure, and they attempted to forge a fightback for their fans as Wilson Odobert drilled home a goal for the hosts. However, Emery’s men held off their opposition, and the Basque boss believes his players managed the contest well enough to earn this result, progressing in the tournament.

“90 minutes against one team like Tottenham, you must try to dominate, to get your momentum, getting some advantage like we did. And then the momentum, be resilient and defend like we did, and set-pieces as well, be strong.

“In 90 minutes, the first half, we dominated more. They had their momentum, but we were more or less defending well, and we were getting in their box, and we were dominating with the ball, keeping ball possession, and creating chances, and we scored two goals.

“After the second half, we started worse than the first half because they pushed, because they tried as well to get more opportunities or more chances to score, and they did one. They scored one goal.

“But then, progressively again, we were recovering our good position, recovering our personality with the ball to stop them and control and dominate the match through keeping ball possession.

“We didn’t score one goal, but we were controlling the match like we did the first half more, the second part of the second half: we even finished the match, pushing them and stopping them more.”

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Both Bournemouth and Tottenham have been on a torrid run of form, having both endured positive starts.

The Cherries inflicted Thomas Frank's first league defeat as Spurs manager, coming out 1-0 victors in North London in September.​

Andoni Iraola’s side will be looking to create history in completing the double over Tottenham for the first time on Wednesday evening.

Improving Cherries

Despite not winning since the end of October, optimism is rising on the South coast after spirited performances against Chelsea and Arsenal.

Bournemouth pushed runaway leaders Arsenal all the way at the Vitality, falling to a narrow 3-2 defeat, becoming just the third team to score more than once against the Gunners this season.

The encouraging outings underline that the Cherries tend to perform better against teams that dominate possession.

With their high press suffocating the opposition and their pace and power punishing sides on transitions.

Struggling Spurs

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Since their impressive win at Everton in October, Tottenham have floundered, winning just twice in the league.

​They were held to a lacklustre 1-1 draw with Sunderland on Sunday, with a late Brian Brobbey goal denying a rare win.​

With pressure mounting on boss Frank, the next three in the league are vital, playing three of the bottom six.

Team News

Bournemouth

The Cherries will be without midfield stalwarts Ryan Christie (Knee) and Tyler Adams (MCL) for the visit of Tottenham

Scotland international Christie, who only returned from injury in December, is currently dealing with an ongoing knee problem.

While long-term absentees Ben Gannon Doak (Hamstring) and Veljko Milosavljević (Knee) remain out.

Back-up goalkeeper Will Dennis suffered an ankle injury in training last week, with the club awaiting results from an MRI scan.

Justin Kluivert will miss the game due to an injury to his left knee, with the Dutchman set to undergo surgery on Thursday

Tottenham

Striker Dominic Solanke will miss the trip back to Dorset with an ankle injury.

While Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma both progressed with their respective countries at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Destiny Udogie is progressing well; however, this game will likely come too soon following a thigh injury.

There is also a concern surrounding summer signing Mohammed Kudus, who was forced off on Sunday with an abductor injury.

Long-term absentees James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski remain out with knee injuries.

Potential Lineups

Bournemouth (4-2-3-1) : Petrovic, Truffert, Senesi, Hill, Jimenez, Scott, Tavernier, Semenyo, Kroupi, Brooks, Evanilson

Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Davies, Gray, Palhinha, Kolo Muani, Bergvall, Tel, Richarlison

Players to Watch

Bournemouth - Evanilson

The Brazilian netted his third of the season against Arsenal on Saturday capitalising on an error from Gabriel.

Despite struggling to rediscover last season goalscoring form Evanilson continues to bring far more than goals for The Cherries.

His hold up play and relentless pressing from the front has been the catalyst to their strong recent performances. .

The striker also has an impressive record against Wednesday opponents scoring twice in just three appearances.

Tottenham - Richarlison

Fellow countryman Richarlison is having an excellent season, netting seven times in the league this term.

​The Brazilian international has been handed an opportunity following an injury to Solanke and has deputised well.

​Richarlison has been unfortunate not to have netted more, consistently finding himself in right positions proving a nightmare for defenses.

Match Details

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Where will the match be played?

The Match will be played at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth.

What time is Kick-off?

Kick-off is scheduled for 19:30 GMT.

Will the game be broadcast in the UK

The game will be shown on Sky Sports Golf.

Thomas Frank reflected on the management of the Tottenham squad as attacking options decrease.

Mohammed Kudus pulled up with an injury in the 1-1 draw against Sunderland only hours after Brennan Johnson became the record signing for Crystal Palace. With Dominic Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski, and James Maddison already missing, Spurs are looking short of offensive numbers.

“It was not a game where we were just, boom, on top of it, and we just need that goal, and we were just controlling the game. So if that was the case, then it could have been a different decision. I think when we put Joao Palhinha and Lucas Bergvall on, there's been a lot of running, and it was a little bit back and forth.

“So Lucas played 10 many times, and been a very good creative player for us, so that was more or less like-for-like [positionally in this game] for Wilson Odobert, and then with Joao for Archie Gray, it was a game where we, I think it's fair to say, maybe lacked the exact cutting edge.

“Maybe it would be good just to make sure we could win 1-0, which we unfortunately couldn't.

“I'm very happy with Mathys Tel stepping in and looking very positive. That was a big positive, I would say.

“You can say that if we had Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus for today, then I think we have enough. But now we, for this game, didn't have them. Mo only for, what, 10 minutes? So there's just some games where you're very light, and that happens for teams.

“I think the depth is one thing. Sometimes, you know, the decisions make more sense further down the line. And now there was an opportunity to sell a player, which the club hasn't been that good at in the past and sometimes that window can be small, if you want to do that, for example.

“We are out there. We are really, how can you say, alert. The club really wants to see what we can do to strengthen the squad and the team. I say many times it's a difficult window and we still need to have the short-term solution to be the long-term solution as well.”

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has spoken to the media ahead of his side’s visit to the Vitality Stadium to take on AFC Bournemouth.

Spurs, who sit 13th with one win and two draws in their last five games, will be on the hunt for redemption after narrowly missing out on a win over the weekend at Sunderland.

Their opponents place just below the north London side in 15th, with no wins and three draws in their last five – so will be in desperate need of a victory at home.

Who could play?

Frank has confirmed the likely absence of Mohammed Kudus, after the midfielder picked up an injury during Sunday’s match versus Sunderland, going down in the 19th minute clutching his left leg.

Frank said: “He's going for a scan here at one o'clock to clarify the issue. So, unfortunately, I don't have a big update on it.

“He’s most likely ruled out for Bournemouth.”

Also out of action for tonight’s visit to Bournemouth is former Cherries player Dominic Solanke, who has not played since August since suffering a recurring issue with his ankle.

Some solace was provided for Spurs fans, with Frank explaining:

“Today you could see in training that he's nice and composed on the ball, good decisions, good touches.”

However, it could take a while longer for a full return to normality to be made for the forward, with Frank adding:

“When we’re a little bit more competitive in the small-sided games, he is of course lacking and he looked a little rusty, which is completely normal.

“Even if he's ready for whatever time in the near future, hopefully, then I think you will be surprised to just see him hit the ground running – very few players do that.”

Destiny Udogie remains an unknown for tonight, but Frank expressed his positivity with his performance in training. Cristian Romero is confirmed to be playing.

A strong opposition

Frank praised Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth side after their performance against Arsenal over the weekend, stating the importance of his side remaining forward-thinking and being fully focused ahead of tonight’s clash.

“We need to look optimistically and positive on the future, but also understanding where we are and keep working very hard to improve and make sure we are ready against a very good Bournemouth team.

“I know they haven't won as much lately, but they are a team that is very competitive with Iraola.

“They play a very aggressive pressing game, [they are] one of the best pressing teams in the league, if not the best.”

The Spurs boss went on to express where he felt his squad should challenge the Cherries most effectively, saying:

“They have a very lively front four, no matter who plays, so that's where we need to be good and compete, but also be smart.”

On the draw with Sunderland

Tottenham hosted 8th placed Sunderland on Sunday afternoon, keeping a 1-1 draw after allowing in a late Brian Brobbey goal in the 80th minute – leading to vocal expressions of disappointment from the home fans.

Frank provided his own thoughts when asked about his side’s performance:

“Sometimes it's not only about the possession, you like to dominate but they went man-for-man, so there was a lot of open spaces to run into.

“For me, that's the critical areas that we didn't manage to punish from this game.

“Second half, I felt we dropped off in our drop-off runs to open up and keep the ball.

“I think also, it’s not like we won five games in a row and everything is just free and smooth – when you're up 1-0 and you really badly want to win, that can be a little bit nervy.”

He concluded his response to this question by saying:

“One thing is our name and our fantastic history, another reality is where we are right now.”

Praise for key players

Ben Davies, the longest-serving player in this current Lilywhites squad, received his fair share of praise from Frank after scoring the opening goal at home against Sunderland – his first since 2023.

“Ben [Davies] is a fantastic character, a true pro and I would say ambassador for this club.

“The things he experienced in the last 11 years here with all the ups and the downs and the ups and the downs… he's a fantastic guy to have.

“The way he stepped on the pitch with composure and personality just helped us a lot… I think he did very well.”

Also in the eyeline of Frank is Mathys Tel, with the Spurs’ skipper maintaining that the position on the left wing is ‘up for grabs’ in light of there being ‘no one who’s really grabbed that shirt’.

“I would say that he definitely had a positive impact… let's see what will happen against Bournemouth.

“It is also that fine balance of giving some players the trust for a run of games, so they can maybe hopefully find a bit of rhythm and also increase their performance level.”

Frank also suggested there are areas of improvement for the young winger, stating that he "did some positive things and got into good situations."

“I think he was also taking more care of the ball. I think it's a big thing, we spoke about that against Brentford and Crystal Palace, we lost the ball maybe 20 or 25 times – you should never lose the ball.

“That's also part of it – you can't break through, okay, you protect it, one more pass, two more passes, okay, then we go again… but overall, positive."

The Black Cats will be looking to continue their unbeaten run after an impressive goalless draw against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side on New Year's Day.

Regis Le Bris’ team are now four games unbeaten, drawing their last three games, despite losing seven players to the African Cup of Nations.

Spurs themselves have started 2026 unbeaten following a goalless draw at Brentford; this came off the back of a 1-0 away win against Crystal Palace to end 2025.

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur

Lucas Bergvall is a doubt ahead of Sunday’s game, but Thomas Frank confirmed Dominic Solanke is getting closer to full fitness and expects to have the England striker back in contention by the end of January.

James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Destiny Udogie all remain sidelined, and Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr are still on international duty at the African Cup of Nations.

Xavi Simons is serving the final game of his three-match ban following his red card against Liverpool.

Sunderland

Defender Dan Ballard is expected to be back in contention after missing the last two games with an ankle injury.

Habib Diarra, Bertrand Traore, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku and Reinildo Mandava all remain at the African Cup of Nations with their respective countries.

Likely Line-ups

Tottenham Hotspur

Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van De Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Bentancur, Gray; Kudus, Odobert, Richarlison

Sunderland

Roefs; Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Cirkin; Xhaka ©, Geertruida; Mayenda, Le Fee, Mundle; Brobbey

Key Players

Sunderland – Enzo Le Fee

The French attacking midfielder has been flying under the radar for Sunderland this season.

While Granit Xhaka deservedly receives most of the plaudits for the success of Le Bris’ team, Le Fee himself has been instrumental.

The Former Roma midfielder has two goals and three assists to his name so far this season and delivered another impressive performance against Manchester City on Thursday.

Le Fee completed 80% of his 41 passes, created two chances, made four tackles, five interceptions, three recoveries, and won eight of his 10 duels.

Sunderland’s counter attacks seemed to flow through Le Fee against City, and the same will be required again from the Frenchman on Sunday if the Black Cats are to come away from Spurs with a result.

Tottenham Hotspur – Mohammed Kudus

Kudus has been an important part of Frank’s team since joining from West Ham in the summer.

His two goals and five assists makes him second among all Spurs players this season behind Richarlison.

However, Kudus hasn’t registered a goal or assist in his last four games and only has one goal and one assist in his last 10 Premier League games.

If Spurs are to unlock Sunderland’s stingy defence, then Kudus could be the key.

Spurs will need a big game from their Ghanaian winger against a side that has only conceded once in their last four games and ranks third for goals conceded behind Arsenal and Manchester City.

Kudus ranks seventh in the Premier League for successful dribbles per 90 and could prove to be a tough task for former Spurs player Dennis Cirkin, who has only played two times this season.

Match Details

Where is the match being played?

The match will take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

What time is the match?

Kick-off is scheduled for 15:00 GMT on Sunday 4th January 2026.

How can I watch?

It was an iconic moment in modern Tottenham history. Brennan Johnson gets on the end of a Pape Matar Sarr cross and scrambles the ball over the line at San Mames.

It put Spurs 1-0 ahead of Manchester United in the Europa League final and, after a less than iconic next forty-five minutes, it proved to be the winner.

Johnson’s 18th goal of the season claimed Tottenham’s first piece of silverware in 17 years. Additionally, and arguably more importantly, he was named VAVEL’s Tottenham Player of the Season.

Strangely enough, given the calibre of such an individual campaign, it is not a surprise to see that only eight months later he is leaving North London for pastures new, with Crystal Palace paying a club record £35 million for his services.

Johnson has been out of favour under new head coach Thomas Frank and combining that with the desperately required squad depth south of the Thames, such a move looks cut and dry for all parties.

An instinctual winger

Johnson is not a creative forward. His best times at Spurs came during Ange Postecoglou’s tenure, where he fashioned himself out as a clinical wide player, often darting in the box to finish off moves.

Every one of his 18 efforts last season came inside the box and it owed a tremendous amount to his excellent movement and knack for snapshot finishes.

As Frank favoured Mohammed Kudus’ ball carrying abilities on the right-hand side, Johnson has found it difficult to find his way into the eleven.

He has popped up on the left on occasion, though, being right-footed, it is harder work as it forces him to create. Although he has flashes of quality when on the ball, it is not his forte.

Johnson has routinely been made a scapegoat for poor Spurs performances, which is doubly unfortunate when taking his recent comments into account.

"I think I always feel like I have a point to prove. I'm someone who can be quite tough on himself. I just always want to go out and perform my best."

His lack of involvement in build-up play was frustrating at times to Spurs fans. However, this problem was mainly exacerbated by Tottenham failing to be as much of a possession-dominant side as they would like to be.

The recent fuss over Mohamed Salah’s role at Liverpool has called into question players that do not keep themselves busy with touches in midfield or press intensely, but the upside of the potential goal involvements should not be sniffed at.

With Wales, Johnson has been in and out of Craig Bellamy’s side as he struggled to offer the creativity on the wings as well as not making enough of a case to be deployed as a striker when given the chance.

However, his most recent display in a 7-1 win over North Macedonia showcased the very best of Johnson.

He was hungry, performing valiantly without the ball and constantly bright with it as his feet. This was a match the Dragons needed to win to keep any chance of reaching the 2026 World Cup and Johnson met the occasion with flying colours.

During his recent dip in on-pitch activity, it showed that he was still capable of delivering energetic performances out of possession in particular. He will have to up his diligence in delivering consistency in that regard, but playing in a team that regularly asks him to do so will aid that.

Oftentimes with Wales, however, he is tasked with playing far out wide, since Bellamy prefers patient build-up and have his wingers stretch play. As stated, this is not Johnson’s ideal role and so the proposition of being a more narrow lite number 10 under Oliver Glasner is intriguing.

Because while the 24-year-old is not necessarily accomplished at close control dribbling, his positioning enables him to find and exploit space even in cramped quarters.

Glasner could get the best out of him

Maintaining possession is not something he will have to worry about at his new club.

Instead, enjoying the pockets, or half spaces, on the break and near the box is something Glasner will likely treat him to, especially with marauding full-backs taking up the widest spaces.

As Postecoglou attested last season, these are the kinds of scenarios Johnson flourishes in:

"There have been times this season when his form has suffered because of the team more than anything else … Brennan becomes a really important player for us as we're a constant threat, breaking lines, making half-space runs.”

Palace rank 16th for average possession so far this season (43.4%). Furthermore, only Sunderland, West Ham, Brentford and Burnley have fewer total progressive carries than the Eagles.

Therefore, Johnson will not be asked to do something he is not adept at doing, leaving room for playing into his strengths. This could well give Johnson the platform to be a moments player again.

Glasner’s directness feeds into Johnson’s pace and quick decision-making, with a playmaker like Adam Wharton providing from midfield and Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell can setting up the kind of service from out wide.

Nathaniel Clyne has done admirably so far as the right wing-back in place of Munoz, it does mean Johnson will probably be asked to do more defending than if the Colombian was fully fit.

There may be some teething problems in fulfilling this as he gets up to speed, as there was with Ismaïla Sarr.

The Senegalese's success under Glasner could be a model for what Johnson needs to do in red and blue. One built on dogged work rate and making the most of few yet quality chances.

Glasner's track record of fashioning players into his mould means there is ample opportunity to learn and Johnson certainly has the tools to be able to meet expectations.

Thomas Frank reflected on a 0-0 draw for Tottenham against his former club Brentford.

Spurs have now kept clean sheets in successive Premier League fixtures (and London derbies to boot) with a goalless stalemate at the Gtech Community Stadium. The Bees are an impressive outfit on their turf, but worries about chance creation and offensive intent continue to follow the head coach.

“The positive is that we're going here against a very good home team that you need to respect with the results they've done where they're beating Liverpool, Man United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, drawing with Chelsea and keeping them on a low amount of chances. They had seven shots in total.

“I think that's a very, very strong defensive performance. I think the back four did excellent, the whole team did excellent, especially Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero did very well with Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade up there. So that's a positive.

“I think the amount of unforced errors is the biggest negative. That's the bit where you can make too many mistakes on unforced technical errors that then take out eight, nine good half-transitions where you're not getting into good positions and then when we were up there, lacked the cutting edge.

“I think if you as a team are not strong defensively and that's not the same as you can't play offensive football, it's just impossible to compete over a long season, impossible. If you want to end in the nice, good position you'd like to end in. Then of course the offensive part of it, you need to open up enough and do that. I think we still do that.

“Then there's another element, no matter what shape, offensive or defensive you are, you can't make the amount of unforced errors we do today. For example, or our last game against Crystal Palace, that's the bit we need to definitely see if we can improve. Then the next bit is you need to work on the offensive patterns and the structure and keep working very hard on that.

“Then the final bit is probably a little bit some key offensive players out for a game like this, for example. The ones we talked about a lot and then on top of that Xavi and Lucas. So probably that didn't help as well."

Thomas Frank engaged with the latest criticisms that have come his way after Tottenham drew 0-0 at Brentford, still looking for successive Premier League wins for the first time since August.

The Dane has set out to instil defensive discipline in his side, and he was happy to see Spurs keep successive clean sheets across two London derbies away from home. However, the lifelessness and lack of chance creation from his camp have become an all too regular sight for many supporters.

“It seemed like [the fans] were not too satisfied and it's fair when we don't hit that top performance overall, but it's double-sided because I think what we need to understand is the acknowledgement of the defensive side of the game, which we've done excellent today against a team that just scored three against Liverpool, three against Man United, so on and so on. The offensive part needs to be better.

“We need to play, it's not that we don't want to play offensive or attacking football. I just think when we're not on the top of the game we would like to be, we work very, very hard on that, but while you work hard on that you can't, if you struggle scoring goals, let's say that, or create enough chances, you can't open up too much because then you need to score too many goals. So, it's a fine balance.

“You'd prefer everyone is happy and we're winning 3-0. I think the understanding of where we are right now, as a team, and as a club. That's the transparent view of it. I think we have to play with Archie Gray as a 10 - or I decided to do that - we did a little bit different at the end of the game.

“That's just step by step, we do those things. I'm very confident we will make it fluent and better and scoring enough goals, but with the amount of games and limited training times and the right offensive players available, that's part of it, it's no problem.

“This league is so tight, just look at the results today and two days ago. So tight, so even, small margins that change games. So I think we put a lot of foundation work into those two performances and competitiveness that you need to have in the team. Then we need to add the next layers.

“It's not that we're not working on it. It is what it is. I know we'll get to where we want to go. Maybe not exactly where everyone wanted to be right now, but we'll get there."