The Mirror

Topsy-turvy Tottenham Hotspur host mid-table Fulham this afternoon (Sunday) as the north London outfit aim for back-to-back Premier League wins.

Ange Postecoglou’s men are riding high on the wake of their 4-0 demolition of Manchester City and sit in sixth position, just three points off a top-four place.

Fulham, on the other hand, sit ninth but could leapfrog Spurs with a win as they look to redeem a 4-1 home loss to Wolves last weekend.

With Tottenham difficult to predict, and the Cottagers keen to bounce back, the clash promises to be an entertaining one. However, fans in the UK hoping to watch on TV are unable to do so.

Why isn't Tottenham vs Fulham on TV?

Prior to Marco Silva’s men visiting the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the north London side welcomed Roma on Thursday evening. Therefore, this fixture has been moved to a 1.30pm slot on Sunday. Both sides are then back in Premier League action as soon as Thursday.

For this same reason, Manchester United, who played Bodo/Glimt at home on Thursday, and Chelsea, who faced a trip to Heidenheim on Thursday, also play today at the same time against Everton and Aston Villa respectively.

However, British broadcaster Sky Sports has earmarked the Blues’ clash with Villa for TV coverage, with a momentous clash between Manchester City and league-leaders Liverpool taking up the 4pm slot – half an hour earlier than usual due to police intervention in the scheduling times.

Therefore, fans wishing to tune into Spurs’ clash, or even Ruben Amorim’s second league game in charge of the Red Devils, are unable to do so, as they were not picked for coverage. Yet, this will change from next season, when all games that aren't scheduled for 3pm on Saturday will be broadcast live in the UK as part of the Premier League's new TV deal.

How to watch Tottenham vs Fulham

For those wishing to watch outside the UK, the match will be shown via local Premier League TV rights holders. Sky Sports Italy will air the match, for example.

In the United States, NBCUniversal have the rights to all 380 games in the Premier League this season, so fans across the pond can tune in.

However, fans in the UK will have to wait until highlights are made available by Sky Sports shortly after the full-time whistle. Match of the Day 2, which airs at 10:30pm, will also have extended highlights on BBC One.

Ange Postecoglou believes Dejan Kulusevski is just getting started. The Swede has been Tottenham ’s star of the season so far having been moved into a central midfield role.

No player across the league has created more opportunities in open play than his 48 and on a per 90 minute scale he has covered more ground than anyone.

But Postecoglou believes Kulusevski’s laser focus, which he considers comparable to that of Harry Kane or Cristiano Ronaldo, will ensure the 24-year-old continues to improve.

“He's very ambitious about how good he can be and that's a great thing,” the Spurs boss said ahead of tomorrow’s meeting with Fulham. “He's still relatively young and there's a lot of improvement in him.

“I've just got a feeling with Deki that he's not going to settle for any level apart from being the absolute best and it's great for us.”

Kulusevski said last week that he is so determined to become one of the top players in the world that he no longer uses his phone. He has even taken to measuring the pH level of his drinking water to optimise his condition.

And while he does not possess the league’s most devastating burst of acceleration, Postecoglou reckons few can match his endurance.

“It’s not a fluke, it’s a lot of hard work,” he added. “There’s some science there, some genetics or DNA. He just has a real capacity to be able to run at a certain level consistently.

“His recovery rates are really elite in that he can go and rest quickly and go again. But there’s also that mental strength to do it. A lot of players have the capacity but maybe reach the limit where they naturally get tired and don’t go again until they need to.

“But Deki will keep going and going. It’s a big part of his football, it’s a big strength of his. I’m not a biomechanist but his running efficiency is really good. He doesn’t seem to use too much energy. Or that’s how it looks to me. That could be a load of crap, I don’t know. But he does.”

Equally, Postecoglou is wary of squeezing him dry. Apart from the opening weekend draw at Leicester, he has started every league game and racked up 1,278 minutes across three competitions.

“We have to be mindful of not overburdening him because he’s played a lot,” the Australian added. “And with the squad we’ve got he’s played in the middle and on the wing. We don’t want to diminish that [influence] but at the moment he still feels really good.”

Kulusevski’s shift in from the wing, where he spent most of last season, has also had an impact on James Maddison. The England international’s importance appears to have waned slightly but he has bounced back well from being dropped for two games earlier this month.

Postecoglou said he has no problem if a player is upset when left out of the team, adding: “I’m not in the happiness business.”

But the sight of Maddison using that sense of grievance to respond with a rip-roaring performance in last weekend’s big win at Manchester City has quickly looked like rather effective man management. “If he misses a couple of games, he’s disappointed, that’s fine,” Postecoglou added. “What I am looking at is when you do play, make your biggest possible impact and that’s what he did.”

Tottenham are ready to trigger an option to extend Ben Davies' contract by 12 months to keep the defender at the club for a 12th year.

Davies' current deal expires at the end of this season but the north Londoners have the option to tie him down for a further year, which they intend to take up, meaning the Welshman will continue playing at the club he signed for back in 2014.

The 31-year-old is Tottenham's longest-serving player and was the first signing of the Mauricio Pochettino tenure more than a decade ago. During that time he's played more than 330 times for the London outfit and has been part of some of their most successful periods of the modern era.

Davies is the only remaining Tottenham player who was part of the team who made the Champions League final in 2019 and the 31-year-old made his first Premier League start of the season in Saturday's 4-0 win at Manchester City.

He underlined his quality with a stellar performance and Ange Postecoglou described him as "outstanding". His other five starts this term have come in Europa League and domestic cups.

The Australian manager underlined Davies' quality recently with the defender poised for more involvement this week. He said: "I doubt anyone who has any sort of real passion for this football club or real passion for football wouldn't say that he'd be very highly respected within or outside of this football club.

"He's captain of his country. Testament to his ability is the fact that a number of coaches at this football club have all trusted him at different times. Whether that's my opinion or Jose [Mourinho], Antonio [Conte] or Mauricio or anyone else he's been managed by."

Spurs are also poised trigger a 12-month extension to keep Heung-min Son at the club, unless the South Korean signs a longer-term contract extension in the meantime with the striker still vital to their ambitions.

Tottenham, despite suffering injuries to some of their key players, remain firmly in the top four picture at this early stage of the season. Their win at the Etihad means they are just three points off Arsenal in fourth ahead of their next league outing against Fulham.

Tottenham Dejan Kulusevski has dug the knife into Manchester City with a bold claim about Pep Guardiola 's side.

The Swedish forward shone once more at the Etihad Stadium as the North London side racked up a comprehensive win. A brace from James Maddison put Spurs in control, with Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson both scoring to round off a stunning 4-0 win.

It also saw Kulusevski extend his brilliant record against the reigning champions. He now has eight goal contributions in as many games against City - who are now in the midst of a five-match losing run.

And the ex- Juventus winger has now rubbed salt into their wounds by claiming he relishes his showdowns with City every season. Speaking after the game, he said: “I believed [we could get a result like this] because in the past years, we’ve come here and played really well. So this is the game I look forward to most in the year and once again it happens, so glory to God.

“Because City have a lot of the ball so sometimes we can rest when we defend. There’s also so much space up there, we play one against one and then it’s always dangerous because we have a lot of quality.”

“It’s always great to play great teams because they always want to play football. When you play lower teams, sometimes it’s not. There’s not much football played because they are a lot of fouls a lot of injuries and it’s slow going.”

Spurs’ win at the Etihad leaves them sitting sixth in the table and three points off of the top four. And while Kulusevski was left delighted with the win, he has demanded more consistency from his teammates.

Will Spurs beat Roma? Share your predictions in the comments below

He added: “We have to be much more consistent. It’s not a turning point. We have to be better in other games. This game suits us perfectly, but we have a lot of improvement to make in the other games.

“We have to climb the ladder. We have to improve a lot, especially in the games where we play the lower-ranked teams, but it’s up to us all to take responsibility because we’re very good players, and now we just have to do it every day.”

Ange Postecoglou ’s side will be aiming to add to their memorable win against Man City over this coming week. Spurs host Roma in the Europa League on Thursday before a home game with Fulham on Sunday.

Tottenham have confirmed that goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario faces a spell on the sidelines after breaking his ankle in the 4-0 victory over Manchester City.

Italy international Vicario sustained the injury in a collision during the first half of the resounding victory at the Etihad Stadium, although he went on to complete the full 90 minutes.

Spurs confirmed that the 28-year-old had been sent for an operation on Monday, and said in a statement: "We can confirm that Guglielmo Vicario has today undergone surgery for a fracture of his right ankle. Guglielmo will be assessed by our medical staff to determine when he can return to training. We're all behind you, Vic."

Vicario is set to be replaced in the side by veteran Fraser Forster, who has kept goal for Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and Europa League this season, making three appearances in total.

Former Newcastle, Celtic and Southampton stopper Forster, 36, hasn't made a Premier League appearance since Tottenham's 4-1 win at Leeds on the final day of the 2022-23 season and won the last of his six England caps in 2016.

Vicario, who has been Spurs' No.1 since signing from Empoli in the summer of 2023, was making his 50th appearance for the club in the win at City having replaced long-time No.1 Hugo Lloris in north London.

The Italian had appeared in a bullish mood following the win at the Etihad Stadium, which came off the back of a shock home defeat to Ipswich.

After celebrating in front of the away fans at full-time, Vicario posted a message to Instagram which read: "A lot of noise recently.. but this is why we do it. Great win away from home."

Tottenham fans goaded Pep Guardiola with chants of "you're getting sack in the morning" as the Manchester City boss watched his side slump to a fifth successive defeat.

The Premier League champions started the weekend five points behind league leaders Liverpool - who play on Sunday - after losing four games on the bounce prior to the international break.

But their hopes of responding in style were dashed by an early double from James Maddison. Pedro Porro added a third after the break before Brennan Johnson struck late in the day to seal a famous 4-0 win for the visitors, who move into the top six.

Guardiola cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as he watched his team fall further behind in the title race - and the travelling Spurs fans took the opportunity to rub salt into his wounds with their mischievous chant.

Saturday evening's result marred a positive week for Guardiola and City, who had earlier announced the Catalan would extend his stay at the club for a further two years, which will take him beyond a decade of service.

Guardiola and his team are also chasing a record-extending fifth straight Premier League title. But history looks set to evade them as they struggle to get to grips without the influential Rodri, who paraded his Ballon d'Or trophy on the pitch before kick-off.

Arsenal's convincing 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest earlier in the day has also piled the pressure on Guardiola and co, who were unbeaten in 52 home matches prior to this.

Join the debate! What did you make of Man City's performance against Spurs? Let us know here

Former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson expressed his concerns after the match on BBC Sport, saying: "So many headlines today for both sides. That's the best and most mature performance I have seen under Ange Postecoglou.

"They went in with a lead and second half they were very mature and defended like a unit. That was an excellent textbook away performance. We know Man City are not themselves at the moment, but it's an incredible performance.

"Man City didn't have the answers today, they were knocking at the door, but they couldn't find the answers. They are off-colour, Man City."

Manchester City's losing run continued as they suffered a 4-0 defeat to Tottenham at the Etihad.

James Maddison scored a first-half brace for Ange Postecoglou's side, who were incredibly clinical against the hosts. City looked very comfortable in the first ten minutes as they created several chances which they failed to take.

However, Spurs then scored with their first touch in City's box as Dejan Kulusevski skinned Josko Gvardiol and found Maddison with a brilliant cross that he guided into the back of the net. Maddison then doubled Tottenham's lead just seven minutes later, dinking the ball over Ederson after being played through on goal by Son Heung-min.

Pedro Porro then made it 3-0 against his former club after some more excellent play from Kulusevski, before Brennan Johnson wrapped up an outstanding victory for Spurs and piled more misery on City. Mirror Football takes a look at the talking points to emerge from the match.

City's losing run continues

Manchester City headed into the game in the unusual position of being on a four-game losing streak across all competitions.

The poor run of form started when they were knocked out of the League Cup by Tottenham and has seen them also suffer losses against Bournemouth, Sporting and Brighton. And that run continued as they were once again beaten by Tottenham thanks to goals from Maddison, Porro and Johnson.

City remain five points behind league leaders Liverpool, but Arne Slot's side now have a golden opportunity to go eight points clear when they face Southampton on Sunday and such a lead could prove insurmountable in the title race.

Rodri watches on

Ahead of the game, City honoured Rodri after he beat Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr to win the Ballon d'Or.

Rodri has been instrumental to City's success since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019, but he is currently sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and his absence has been keenly felt by the champions.

Mateo Kovacic has typically been used as his replacement, but he is also out injured now and Ilkay Gundogan was given the role against Tottenham. However, he was at fault for Spurs' opener as he lost Maddison in the build-up, further highlighting how much of a miss Rodri is for City.

Maddison's birthday to remember

James Maddison celebrated his 28th birthday in style as he starred in a brilliant win for Spurs, netting a brace.

Maddison scored his first after latching onto a brilliant cross from Kulusevski, while his second came after some excellent interplay with Son on the edge of the box. He was excellent throughout the game and his performance provided a timely reminder of his qualities to incoming England boss Thomas Tuchel.

Maddison has not featured for England since he was axed by Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2024. He will be eyeing a way back into the squad once Tuchel officially takes charge next year and more performances like the one he put in today will surely see him return.

Kulusevski stars

As one of few Spurs players who has been consistently impressive this season, Dejan Kulusevski once again starred against City.

The versatile 24-year-old was outstanding against the reigning champions, playing crucial roles in Maddison's opener and Porro's goal. "There in a nutshell is why Dejan Kulusevski cannot be left out of this side," former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Darts down the right hand side, does well to keep the ball in play and he curls the most delicious ball into the box. City can't defend it, the keeper can't come for it, and James Maddison left foot, six yards out and he volleys it into the net."

City's defensive woes

Both Josko Gvardiol and Kyle Walker should have done better for two of Tottenham's goals and Manchester City looked incredibly shaky at the back when stretched by Spurs' attackers.

Part of that may well be down to the absence of Rodri, who usually provides extra security in front of the back four, but City were carved open far too often by Tottenham. "Defensively they have been all over the place," Robinson said of City's performance. "They have looked nervous, edgy and as soon as they conceded the cohesion went. They looked so susceptible.

"For the first 12 or so minutes City were excellent and could have scored two or three, but Tottenham then go and get the first goal against the run of play. There was a shift change and you could see it in the back four. Tottenham just smelt a bit of that weakness and kept going and they have caused City numerous issues."

Vedran Corluka has revealed he had to beg Harry Redknapp to let him leave Tottenham after falling out of favour in north London.

The former Croatia international - who is now assistant manager of the national team - joined Spurs from Manchester City for around £8.5million in the summer of 2008. Corluka, 38, signed a six-year deal at White Hart Lane but only made it halfway through that term before falling down Redknapp's pecking order.

The defender decided to move on in a bid to play regular football and ensure his place in the Croatia squad for Euro 2012. However, Corluka - whose former Premier League employers will collide this evening - revealed how Redknapp was initially dead set against the idea.

"When I told him that I had an option to move to Germany, Harry didn't want to even hear about that," he told Vecernji List in February 2012. "He said to me that he still needs me and that I'm like all the other players - very important to him.

"The day before leaving Spurs I called him, and even begged him to let me go, as that was the only option for me and my chances to be at Euro 2012. And, after that conversation, he softened up and said that I can leave Tottenham."

Corluka made 109 appearances for Spurs in total and was part of the squad that finished as League Cup runners-up in his first season. He made just eight appearances on loan at Bayer Leverkusen but soon joined Lokomotiv Moscow, where he won a Russian Premier League title and four Russian Cups over the course of nine years.

Despite the disappointing nature of his Spurs exit, Corluka enjoyed some very bright spells with the cub. It was only six months or so prior to him leaving for Leverkusen that he insisted Tottenham were a bigger club than City despite the latter's newfound spending in light of their Abu Dhabi takeover.

"I still think that," he told the Daily Mail in 2011. "The fans are a little bit more close to the club here than at City. I have nothing against City and I had a great time there but when I played for City, the stadium wasn’t always full, whereas here, you never see that [here].

"Here, the stadium is full even when we play friendlies, so you can see that there is more passion for the club here than there is there. The most important thing for Spurs now, though, is to keep this team together and to add some players, not to sell two players and then try to rebuild the team because then it’s a hard thing to do."

It's up for debate as to whether the former right-back would hold the same sentiment today given City's upwards trajectory in the Pep Guardiola era. The gap between them and Spurs has only increased since his days in England, though Ange Postecoglou will hope to turn that ship in the right direction this weekend.

With a racial slur, Rodrigo Bentancur insulted a nation of 52 million people, including his team-mate and captain.

But Spurs are upset because the Uruguayan midfielder is going to miss Liverpool at home. That is how it looks. You would have thought Tottenham Hotspur might be more sensitive than most when it comes to casual, but harmful, discrimination, but, instead, they believe Bentancur has been hard done by.

When asked in a TV interview in his homeland to provide a shirt belonging to a Spurs player, Bentancur replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.” It could not have been more offensive. And, in a different way, Spurs’ decision to appeal against the Football Association’s sanction of Bentancur could not be more offensive.

The next time Spurs take part in a Premier League campaign against racism and discrimination, just remember the day they objected to one of their players being punished with a seven-match ban for saying that all South Koreans look the same. As always in these types of cases, there will be a lot of whataboutery.

And what the punishment of Bentancur has most certainly done is highlight the absolute disgrace of Enzo Fernandez not yet being held to account for the racist song he and his Argentine team-mates sang about French players. Apparently, it is to do with jurisdiction. Well, whatever the jurisdiction issues, the assorted football authorities - FIFA and CONMEBOL, in particular - should be ashamed.

Just as Chelsea should be ashamed for the way they, effectively, swept the whole issue under the carpet. A month after his chant, they even made Fernandez captain, for goodness sake. A lot of clubs seem to be tough on racism and discrimination - but not when it involves one of their own.

It seems Spurs and the player’s legal representatives believed Bentancur’s contrition and immediate apology to Son Heung-min should have been mitigating factors. But what is less widely known - mainly because few can be bothered reading the independent commission’s written reasons for the punishment - is that Bentancur actually denied the misconduct charge and denied it was an aggravated breach.

He claimed his comment was - after the man interviewing him referred to Son as ‘the Korean’ - a “sarcastic and gentle rebuke … intended to be a light-hearted and jocular manner of chiding the journalist for his use of a generalisation that was wholly inappropriate.”

Rightly, the commission emphatically dismissed that defence. Bentancur might have apologised to Son but he tried to wriggle off the charge. And having been given a seven-game ban, which is only one more than the minimum tariff for such an offence, Spurs are now appealing against the sanction, believing it to be “severe”.

If the minimum he could have got was six, Tottenham are, presumably, just trying to get him available for what will be number seven - that home match against Liverpool on December 22. But what is ‘severe’ here is Tottenham’s lack of judgement, Tottenham’s lack of sensitivity.

One of the club’s players has made a racial slur. Take the punishment, educate him and try to be better. And don’t worry about Liverpool at home.

Ruben Amorim could inadvertently play a role in sending Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid next summer.

The new Manchester United head coach has only been in place for 11 days, but the rumour mill has already kicked into gear. Amorim has been continuously linked with moves for his stand-out players at Sporting Lisbon, with Viktor Gyokeres the chief among the players who could follow him to Old Trafford.

But the 39-year-old coach’s influence extends beyond just Sporting, where he spent four very successful years and won two league titles. He has a big fan in north London, having played a huge role in the development of Tottenham right-back Pedro Porro.

Porro spent two and a half seasons working under Amorim’s management at Sporting, winning one league title and two domestic cups. The 25-year-old moved from Sporting to Tottenham in January 2023, initially on loan, before signing permanently in the summer for around £40million.

However, if Spanish outlet AS are to be believed, people close to Porro are ‘convinced’ that Amorim will try and bring the full-back to United in the near future. Amorim will implement a 3-4-3 formation at Old Trafford which could suit Porro perfectly, but his future could well be entwined with Liverpool star Alexander-Arnold’s due to Real Madrid.

Real want to sign a new right-back to become the long-term successor to the injured Dani Carvajal and are interested in both Porro and Alexander-Arnold. But one looks much more likely than the other, due to their contractual situations.

While Alexander-Arnold is out of contract with Liverpool in June, Porro is under contract with Spurs until June 2028. AS report that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy values him at €70m (£58.3m) and will not budge – a fact Real have become familiar with in the dealings over Luka Modric and Gareth Bale in the past.

Tottenham’s reluctance to do business with Real over Porro could help propel Alexander-Arnold to Madrid. The 26-year-old has been coy over his plans, but the temptation to join close friend Jude Bellingham in the Spanish capital is definitely there, while the situation around his team-mates Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah is another factor to consider.

Like Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk’s deal are set to expire in the summer and they also haven’t agreed new terms yet. But they are at a later stage in their careers and are considered more likely to stay put.

"Look, I have been at the club 20 years now, I have signed four or five contract extensions and none of those have been played out in public,” Alexander-Arnold said in September. “And this one won't be either. I want to be a Liverpool player this season (as a minimum) is what I will say.

"The most important thing is always trophies, if I am honest. I want to win trophies, I am a player who is highly motivated by trophies and winning things and being elite. So that is probably the main factor of anything, if you have a personality that is elite, who wants to win and will do anything to win, then that is what drives me."