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Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank has rung the changes for his team's Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday following Spurs' north London derby defeat at the weekend.

Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr, Archie Gray, Pedro Porro and Randal Kolo Muani were all named in the starting XI as Kevin Danso, Destiny Udogie, João Palhinha, Mohammed Kudus and Wilson Odobert dropped out.

It remains to be seen whether Spurs will line up in an experimental 4-2-2-2 formation with Gray in midfield or in Frank's controversial 3-5-2 which came under heavy criticism following the team's meek defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates.

Wednesday's game will mark Gray's fourth start of the season and first appearance since Spurs' 0-0 draw with Monaco on Oct. 22. While not a regular under Frank, Gray has also been recovering from an injury in recent weeks.

Unlike in English competitions, UEFA rules mean Kolo Muani is able to face his parent club. He joined Spurs on loan in the summer.

Meanwhile, PSG boss Luis Enrique was able to name Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé on the bench after his recovery from a calf problem.

Wednesday's game is technically the second meeting between the teams this season -- PSG triumphed over Spurs on penalties in a dramatic UEFA Super Cup clash in Udine in August.

Frank's side host Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday in what is seen as a pivotal game for the Danish manager.

PSG team:

Starting XI: Lucas Chevalier, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Marquinhos, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, João Neves, Fabián Ruiz, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola, Quentin Ndjantou

Tottenham team:

Starting XI: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Djed Spence, Archie Gray, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr, Richarlison, Randal Kolo Muani

Thomas Frank is "1,000% sure" he can build a team at Tottenham and promised to learn from this bad spell as he prepares for an ominous meeting with Paris Saint-Germain.

Spurs are in the French capital to face the Champions League holders days after a 4-1 thrashing at rivals Arsenal.

That meek display at Emirates Stadium came three weeks after a tepid performance in defeat at home to Chelsea and has increased the external noise around Frank's position despite Wednesday's Champions League fixture being his 20th game in charge of Tottenham.

Asked if it was important Spurs stick with a plan after six managers in six seasons, Frank smiled: "Very important.

"Part of taking this job was to sit here and have the challenges. Of course I would love to sit here and we've beaten Arsenal and then faced Paris, but we lost and lost badly. Part of that is managing those setbacks, learn from it and move on from it.

"One thing I am 1,000% sure of is I know how to build a team and how to build a club. And we will do that.

"Along the way we will learn and the big thing is how we learn from the bad spells because that is where we can see where we go one down, how do we react? The best teams just continue to move on. They still run hard, they still do the same thing and no doubts.

"The first four months I learn a lot about the team, I learn a lot about the individual players and all that learning needs to materialise to how we find the right formula with the right players on the pitch.

"And also with some players coming back and then we play every third day. That is the big challenge, but that is what I embrace."

During almost 20 minutes with the media inside Parc des Princes, Frank acknowledged it had been "a hard watch" when they analysed Sunday's north London derby loss and revealed there had been two meetings with the players about a reaction.

Frank detailed how during 53 situations where Arsenal and Spurs were involved in a "duel or second ball," Tottenham lost 36.

"If you don't do that, that is the basic, then it's very difficult to win a football match," Frank said.

"Tomorrow we are facing another of the best teams in Europe away from home, so it's a nice challenge that we are 100 per cent up for and I'm convinced we'll bounce back with a good performance."

Frank used opposite number Luis Enrique as a reference point after he responded to the 2024 departure of Kylian Mbappé by leading the Parisians to European glory 12 months later.

"First season, [Luis Enrique] also had to take a lot of battles," Frank said.

"And [he] turned everything around from playing with the biggest players in Europe to less stars, very determined players that play for the team and he created one of the best teams in the world by making those changes."

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Tottenham's Brennan Johnson is suspended for Wednesday's match after his red card in the win over Copenhagen.

Thr fixture also sees Spurs forward Wilson Odobert return to the Parc des Princes, where he spent five years at their academy. He left in 2022 to sign for Troyes and subsequently joined Tottenham two years later via one season at Burnley.

The 20-year-old was reminded on Tuesday of an occasion in 2019 when he had been a ballboy at Parc des Princes before a Champions League fixture and smiled, but pointed out he was ready to punish PSG.

"Yeah, I remember holding the big UEFA flag and now it is so great to be able to be back as a player," Odobert reflected.

"It was such a dream and now I have objectives and goals, because I am not a kid any more, I want to perform and give as much as I can back to my team."

Defeats can inspire very different emotions; Thomas Frank's Spurs reign started with a painful but ultimately encouraging one on penalties in the Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain in August, but their most recent was delivered via an insipid display at the Emirates.

Taking heart from the nature of defeat is almost the best Spurs fans have been able to hope for in recent weeks. Three losses and a draw in their last four outings domestically, lowlighted by turgid performances against rivals Chelsea and Arsenal have left the fanbase casting unfavourable glances towards the man in the dugout.

Spurs have been hard to get a handle on during the first months of the season. Heading into the weekend they possessed both the best away record and the worst home record in the Premier League. In the Champions League they have been capable of uninspiring draws and thumping wins.

As they try to claw back some of that early season optimism that brought whispered talk of a Danish revolution in north London, Spurs now travel to face reigning European champions PSG once again -- but which version of Frank's side will we see in the French capital?

Spurs' underrated attack?

Much of the talk after their callow north London derby defeat was centred around Spurs' lack of ambition. And rightly so: an xG of 0.07 came just three weeks after their xG of 0.12 at home against Chelsea.

There is, though, an argument to say that when they can catch a glimpse of the opposition goal, Spurs are one of the most deadly teams in Europe.

They are outperforming their xG by a not-to-be-sniffed-at 9.8, meaning they have scored almost double the number of goals (29) the stats say they should have from the chances available. Frank's side have underperformed their xG just four times in 18 games in all competitions.

Take, for example, Richarlison's audacious strike from range at the weekend that saved them from drawing a blank or Lucas Bergvall's looping header that flummoxed West Ham's Mads Hermansen.

It begs the question: just where would they be without this sharp edge? Or to look at it another way, if they can create more chances, they will likely stack a heap of points.

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Opportunity to make up for Super Cup collapse?

In a similar vein to the accepted wisdom heading into Wednesday night's matchup, Spurs were not given a hope of getting the better of Luis Enrique's spellbinding PSG side back in August.

But for 85 minutes, Frank's side were set to lift their second trophy in as many games before a last-minute fightback gave the Parisians a chance from the penalty spot, which they duly took.

Intriguingly, the matches against PSG and Arsenal are the only two in which Frank has opted to start with a back five this season. Against PSG they were patient, controlled and, importantly, committed when going forward. But on Sunday they were at a loss for how to combat Mikel Arteta's seemingly title-bound side.

The system is one that Frank has often used against so-called 'bigger' teams during his career, but after the heavy criticism of his tactics last weekend, will Frank stick to selecting five at the back?

Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons return to Paris

Wednesday marks a return to the Parc des Princes for two of PSG's once-heralded talents.

Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani arrived in north London just three days apart at the end of the summer transfer window as Spurs scrambled to add some much-needed depth to their attack.

Simons joined in a move that was curiously sealed only seven months after he had joined RB Leipzig in a deal worth up to €80 million with add-ons. But then, Simons' career invites a fair bit of head-scratching.

A heralded product of Barcelona's famed La Masia academy, he moved to PSG as a 16-year-old in 2019 before spending two years making his name at PSV Eindhoven. His performances caused PSG to exercise the buy back option in his contract, but only enough to send him straight out on a two-year loan to Leipzig which was ultimately made permanent in January, shortly before signing for Spurs -- told you it was a head-scratcher.

Kolo Muani, meanwhile, has also experienced his fair share of upheaval. His goalscoring exploits at Eintracht Frankfurt prompted the then-big-spending Parisians to fork out around €90 million for his signature in 2023, but he has managed just 51 appearances for the club to date. A middling loan at Juventus last season has been followed by what has so far been an underwhelming one at Spurs for a man who came within the width of Emi Martínez's shin of winning the 2022 World Cup final for France.

Both Simons and Kolo Muani have shown flashes of ability during their time in north London, but, in truth, it's rare to see players thrive after taking a step down from one of Europe's elite.

Tottenham Hotspur's season crated on the weekend after a humiliating 4-1 loss to arch-rivals Arsenal. The result left them ninth in the table, with just one win in their last five matches.

The Champions League won't offer any repreive, as they now face a visit to holders Paris Saint-Germain.

Luis Enrique's side beat Le Havre at the weekend to return to the summit in Ligue 1 after an inconsistent start to the season. They'll be looking to return to winning ways in Europe, after being beaten by Bayern Munich last time round in the Champions League.

This will be Spurs and PSG's second meeting of the season. The two sides clashed in the UEFA Super Cup in August that the north London side looked destined to win after going into the final five minutes of the game with a 2-0 lead. But late goals from Lee Kang-in and Gonçalo Ramos forced the game into penalties, where PSG eventually prevailed.

Here's everything you need to know ahead of Wednesday's clash.

How to watch:

The match will be shown on TNT Sports in the U.K., Paramount+ in the U.S., Sony in India and Stan Sport in Australia.

Key Details:

Date: Wednesday, Nov. 26, 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET, 1:30 p.m. IST, 7:00 a.m AEDT, Wednesday)

Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris

Referee: Felix Zwayer

VAR: Sören Storks

Team News:

PSG

Désiré Doué, F: hamstring, OUT

Achraf Hakimi, D: ankle, OUT

Ousmane Dembélé, F: calf, DOUBT

Spurs

James Maddison, M: knee, OUT

Dejan Kulusevski, F: knee, OUT

Dominic Solanke, F: ankle, OUT

Radu Dragusin, D: knee, OUT

Yves Bissouma, M: SUSPENDED

Brennan Johnson, F: SUSPENDED

Ben Davies, D: thigh. DOUBT

Stats:

Wilson Odobert played for Paris youth academy between 2017 and 2022.

A 1-2 defeat by Bayern München on Matchday 4 ended Paris' six-match winning streak in the league phase.

That was only a third loss in Paris' last 42 home group stage/league phase matches (W31 D8).

PSG have never lost successive home games at this stage.

Ahead of Matchday 5, Paris are the joint top scorers with Bayern on 14 goals.

The French club have played 104 European games since they were last involved in a goalless draw.

Spurs were 4-0 winners at home to Copenhagen on Matchday 4, making it eight games unbeaten in the Champions League group stage/league phase (W4 D4).

The Lilywhites have lost only one of their last 16 European matches (W9 D6), with the penalty shoot-out defeat by Paris counted as a draw.

Tottenham have kept five clean sheets in their last seven European games.

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Thomas Frank has apologised to Tottenham supporters after their 4-1 thrashing at north London rivals Arsenal on Sunday, but refused to blame his defensive system for the defeat.

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães was forced to miss Sunday's thumping north London derby victory, but that did not stop him from trolling Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison.

Gabriel and Richarlison, teammates with the Brazil national team, were involved in a social media back-and-forth last summer.

The Arsenal defender, out with a thigh injury, missed Sunday's 4-1 derby win -- which saw Richarlison sublimly chip goalkeeper David Raya while Eberechi Eze scored a hat trick.

However, he still managed to poke fun at his Spurs counterpart, tagging him in a post that showed Gabriel in Eze's shirt and with the Player of the Match trophy -- mimicking Richarlison's post when he won man of the match when the two sides faced each other in a preseason friendly.

Arsenal fans, just like Gabriel's post, undoubtedly left the Emirates Stadium with the bragging rights after Eze, who had been on the verge of joining Tottenham in the summer before Arsenal landed his signature, scored the the first hat trick in the derby for 47 years.

"Things happen for a reason," Arteta said after Eze's hat trick. "After international duty [with England], he had two days off, and after one day he wanted to train, and he wanted to improve, and he wanted to do extra practice and he was asking me questions about this and that.

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"When a player has such a talent, and his desire is at that level, then these things happen. And he fully deserves it. I'm so happy for him, because since the day that he came, he brought something else to the team.

"So it's a joy, it's an aura that this team needed and hopefully it will give him a lot of confidence to him and the team, that at any moment he can win us a game. That's the ability that he has and he certainly needs to fulfil that talent."

Thomas Frank has apologised to Tottenham supporters after their 4-1 thrashing at north London rivals Arsenal on Sunday, but refused to blame his defensive system for the defeat.

After Leandro Trossard opened the scoring on 36 minutes, Eberechi Eze scored the first hat trick in a north London derby for 47 years with Richarlison's sublime long-range strike the only reply Spurs could muster.

Spurs lined up with a five-man defence and had just two shots all match -- ending with an expected goals total of 0.07, the lowest figure of any Premier League team this season.

They have now taken one point from a possible nine against top four rivals Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United and Frank said: "I think it's three different games. I think the United game was a much better performance than today and the Chelsea one. I also think there's a difference in the Chelsea and the Arsenal performances. Even though both of them look bad on paper. I need to watch this back as well.

"I think there's definitely a lot to work on still. I think it's fair to say that we are very disappointed and unhappy with the performance today. I don't want to run away from that.

"I apologise to the fans. I think it's also fair to say where we're coming from. We finished 17th last year. And we've tried to build something, which today didn't look like we tried to build something."

Pushed on whether Frank set the wrong tone with a negative team selection -- fielding Kevin Danso alongside Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero in a back five while keeping Xavi Simons, Mathys Tel, Brennan Johnson Lucas Bergvall and Randal Kolo Muani on the bench -- the Spurs boss replied: "I'm a very big believer that no matter what system you play you can be successful. I completely understand the question and I will always take the full responsibility. The full responsibility will always be on me today when we didn't perform.

"I picked a team that played 5-4-1, changed it at half-time, very clever one minute into it they scored. 3-0. Then the rest is history after that.

"What I would say is that no matter if we played another system, we needed to be more aggressive and better in the duels. That doesn't matter to the system, but I need to take responsibility for everything today.

"I think we were 100 percent too far from them in these duels we wanted to create, or getting pressure, getting close. In those duels, as I talked about before, we didn't win enough of them. If that's a lack of fight, a lack of whatever it is, we just didn't do it well enough."

Follow along for live updates from the first North London Derby of the 2025-26 season as Arsenal host Tottenham Hotspur:

Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur - Preview

Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur. The Gunners vs Spurs. The North London Derby. The battle for bragging rights and supremacy in the nation's capital. Does the Premier League get better than this? The NLD headlines what is a weekend of big derbies across Europe, and Arsenal host Tottenham in their first derby of the season with a lot riding on it.

Coming into the match, Arsenal lead the league by three points (over a fast-rising Chelsea) and have seen Manchester City lose valuable ground after a tough away loss to Newcastle in the late Saturday kickoff. A win today, and the gap to Chelsea and City will be six and seven points respectively, while defending champions Liverpool (currently languishing down the table in 11th) will be a mammoth eleven points behind.

It won't be easy, with inspirational centre-back, and key cog of the set-piece juggernaut, Gabriel Magalhães out injured. We discuss the massive impact Gabriel's absence will make at both ends among other key NLD talking points here (including the Eberechi Eze transfer). Mikel Arteta's men, though, have momentum (unbeaten in their last 14 games across all competitions) and recent head-to-head form (unbeaten in their last seven NLDs) on their side.

Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, have a massive injury crisis on their hands. With as many 12 players unlikely to be able to take part Thomas Frank has plenty of juggling to do with his squad, but Spurs have the motivation of closing the gap to their neighbours to five points. On their side is an away form that's the best in the league, with 13 points in five (4W 1D) and an impressive +9 goal difference. That, though, is offset by the fact that only Manchester City have picked up any points (when they drew 1-1) at the Emirates this season.

Will Arsenal rubber stamp their title challenge with a statement win today? Or will Spurs play spoilsport and show that they too can be in the mix when push comes to shove?

Eberechi Eze hat-trick leads Arsenal past Tottenham in north London derby

Eberechi Eze struck a hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed Tottenham 4-1 on Sunday at the Emirates.

We have more European soccer for you this weekend, and Sunday's matches won't be any different.

In the Premier League, we kick things off early with Leeds United taking on Aston Villa, followed later by the big clash of the day: Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby.

Enjoy all the updates across Europe's best leagues.

A brilliant hat-trick by Eberechi Eze earned Arsenal more bragging rights over Tottenham and sent them six points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-1 victory.

Defeats for title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City on Saturday had opened the door for Mikel Arteta's leaders to increase their advantage at the summit.

And even with numerous key players out injured, Arsenal proved far too strong for Thomas Frank's Spurs and inflicted a painful defeat on their north London rivals in a display inspired by a player that could have turned out for the visitors at Emirates Stadium.

Eze had been all set to sign for Tottenham from Crystal Palace in August until the Gunners hijacked the transfer at the last minute.

After a slow start at his new club, Eze produced a memorable derby-day treble, firing home in the 41st-minute after Leandro Trossard's opener five minutes earlier before two second-half strikes ensured he went home with the match ball on a day to savour for Arsenal.

The injury list of both clubs had dominated the build-up and the Gunners remained without £55million forward Viktor Gyökeres, but Spurs boss Frank still went with a three-at-the-back system.

Eze almost created an early breakthrough but Declan Rice's volley from his scooped pass was blocked by Guglielmo Vicario.

Spurs were happy to concede possession to Arsenal, but clear-cut chances were limited during the opening 30 minutes.

Bukayo Saka sent a free-kick over and went closer with another effort from a similar position in the 33rd minute which Vicario pushed away.

Frank's decision to be pragmatic had worked but was soon about to collapse like a house of cards.

Arsenal's opener arrived after 36 minutes when Mikel Merino dropped deep and spotted the perfectly timed run of Trossard, who fired beyond Vicario after a deflection off Micky van de Ven.

Destiny Udogie had been guilty of a lapse in concentration and played Trossard onside, but things went from bad to worse four minutes before half-time.

Kevin Danso headed clear Jurrien Timber's cross but Rice played a first-time pass into the unmarked Eze, who dribbled between Rodrigo Bentancur and João Palhinha before he rifled into the bottom corner.

The decibel levels inside Emirates Stadium went through the roof and despite a quick VAR check for offside, Trossard was not deemed to be in the eyeline of Vicario.

Spurs avoided further damage before half-time, but the second period was only 35 seconds old when Eze made it 3-0.

Yet again Eze was not picked up and after Timber passed into the England international, he turned and steered into the bottom corner from 16 yards for his second of the game to match his goal tally from his first 17 appearances for Arsenal.

Tottenham were shellshocked but captain Cristian Romero attempted to rally his team with two clearances and a block from Martín Zubimendi in quick succession before the visitors were handed a 55th-minute lifeline.

Palhinha tackled Zubimendi by the halfway line and after Richarlison spotted David Raya off his line, Spurs' number nine executed a wonderful lob from 40 yards to reduce the deficit in stunning fashion.

Frank shuffled his pack with Pape Sarr and Randal Kolo Muani sent on but not long after Vicario pushed out Saka's curler, Arsenal made the points safe.

The excellent Trossard got in behind the Tottenham defence and picked out Eze, who shifted the ball past a sliding Udogie and whipped his 76th-minute effort into the bottom corner to become only the fourth player to score a hat-trick in the north London derby.