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Harry Kane transfer news: Tottenham boss Thomas Frank says Bayern Munich striker is more than welcome to return to Spurs

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Harry Kane transfer news: Tottenham boss Thomas Frank says Bayern Munich striker is more than welcome to return to Spurs - Sky Sports
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Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has opened the door for a potential Harry Kane return to north London from Bayern Munich.

Sky Sports News reported earlier this year that Kane has a release clause in his Bayern contract, which would have allowed him to leave for £67m in January 2025 and drops to £54m in January 2026.

Having already scored 13 goals in seven games this season, including a brace against Chelsea in the Champions League, Frank says he would like to see Kane back at Tottenham.

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"There are a lot of Tottenham fans, including myself who would like to see Kane back," Frank said.

"Personally, I don't think he will do it right now, if I'm honest. He'll probably stay in Bayern [Munich] and continue performing well. He was the top scorer last year. He won the title and he's doing fantastic now.

"I don't know what he's thinking. Myself, I'm a traveller, I like to explore things as well, so he's been here for many years, so why not enjoy the time in Bayern a little bit more.

"But he's welcome. If he wants to join us, he's more than welcome."

The 32-year-old signed for Bayern in 2023 from Spurs for £100m after graduating from the club's academy, where he started as an 11-year-old.

Having spent his professional career trophyless while at Tottenham, Kane joined the European giants in search of silverware, where the England captain has since managed to win the Bundesliga and the German Super Cup last season.

The striker left Spurs as the club's all-time top goalscorer with 280 goals in 435 appearances. It is form he has managed to maintain since moving to Germany, having scored 98 goals in 103 matches.

Kane also won the European Golden Boot in his first season at the club, with no one across the continent bettering his 36 goals during that campaign.

However, Sky Sports News understands Kane is happy at Bayern and has no thoughts of activating the clause anytime soon.

Sky Sports News also understands Spurs have a 'first option', so if Bayern accept a bid or a release clause is met, then the club have the option to match it.

It is then up to Kane to decide. The first option does not guarantee a Spurs return but it does give them a chance to put an offer in front of him. Before his departure earlier this month, former chairman Daniel Levy confirmed the first option arrangement.

Would Kane welcome chance to break PL record?

Analysis by Sky Sports' William Bitibiri:

"If anyone thought Harry Kane leaving Tottenham would become some kind of farewell tour for one of the greatest strikers of this generation, they were sorely mistaken. Kane has still got it.

"This season alone, he has 16 goal involvements - and we're only in September. A return to the Premier League feels natural for the striker, who everyone has felt is destined to take Alan Shearer's crown as the competition's outright scorer.

"He is only 47 Premier League goals behind Shearer and, at 32, he is showing no sign of slowing down - the striker who lives to find the back of the net may just relish the opportunity to take the record as his own.

"Jamie Carragher called him England's greatest goalscorer and it's hard to disagree with that sentiment, given his form for both club and country.

"Spurs may be the perfect club to do that. They're still yet to find a worthy replacement since Kane left in 2023. And of course 'Harry Kane: The Last Dance' does have a certain ring to it."

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Brighton 2-2 Tottenham: Jan Paul van Hecke’s own goal rescues point for Spurs in comeback draw

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Jan Paul van Hecke’s late own goal rescued a point for Tottenham as they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Brighton.

Tottenham had it all to do when they conceded twice after 31 minutes. Yankuba Minteh scored with Brighton's first attack in the eighth minute as he coolly rounded Guglielmo Vicario to roll home.

Vicario, though, would have been disappointed with his part in Brighton's second as Yasin Ayari's shot beat him from distance.

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But Richarlison pulled one back from close range just before half-time to give Spurs hope of doing what Brighton did to them last season, as they came back from 2-0 down to beat them 3-2 at the Amex in October 2024.

Spurs pushed for a second-half equaliser as substitute Xavi Simons twice went close, with Bart Verbruggen making a good save in the 64th minute before he dragged wide just four minutes later.

But the visitors' pressure eventually told in the 82nd minute as Mohammed Kudus' cross was turned into his own net by Van Hecke.

Kudus went close to a winner in stoppage time, but Spurs secured the point that takes them above their north London rivals Arsenal into second place. The Gunners, though, have the chance to go back above Tottenham on Sunday when they host Manchester City, live on Sky Sports.

Brighton, meanwhile, are now unbeaten in their last seven at home and remain 13th in the table.

Frank: Mentality and physicality key in fightback

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank speaking at his post-match press conference:

"[I] spoke about mentality before the game to the players, that to go down here against a good Brighton side, away from home, on the back end of our first Champions League game, it's all about mentality.

"Of course, we need structure, tactics and a game plan, but at the end of the day, it's mentality to stay in there when it's tough.

"And I love the way we started the game. Away from home, we were just boom, on top of it. I don't think Brighton were over the halfway line in the first before they scored.

"But we keep going, we stayed in the game, stick to the game plan, and I thought we looked physically strong. I thought the players looked strong and we were intense throughout the game, even though we had a midweek game.

"So the mentality, the physical aspect, I thought was key. And coming here, where last year, we were 2-0 up and lost 3-2, now we're 2-0 down and come back to 2-2, I think it's good.

"And if there should have been a winner in my eyes, and maybe slightly biased, I think it should have been us.

"I think the amount of crosses, the amount of touches in the opponent's box, the amount of nearby chances was more than enough to win the game."

Palhinha: Spurs upset despite comeback

Tottenham midfielder Joao Palhinha speaking to Sky Sports:

"I think we leave this stadium really sad, because in my opinion, we completely deserved to win the game.

"I think we started really well and created a lot of chances. Arriving to the last third in good shape. We suffered two goals against the run of play.

"It is not easy losing 2-0 away, in a tough stadium like this, against a good team. We leave a bit with a feeling that we could've done more."

Hurzeler: Brighton unlucky to only draw

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler speaking to Sky Sports:

“Overall I think it was an unlucky draw for us.

"We started strongly in the first phase of the game, we created chances, we scored two goals and then we got a little bit passive. We conceded the first goal in an unlucky moment, out of an unlucky situation.

“Then in the second half we defended a lot, we had to defend but we were still very dangerous after the transition moments. I think we could finish the game with one transition action we had but we weren't able to do this.

“In some moments we had to suffer after we conceded the second goal. I think we showed a great reaction, we had a lot of energy on the pitch, we were trying to go for the win, we created chances.

“So overall of course it doesn't feel great but I saw a lot of positives, good small steps in the right direction and then we have to keep on pushing.”

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Brighton 2-2 Tottenham: Jan Paul van Hecke’s own goal rescues point for Spurs in comeback draw

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Brighton 2-2 Tottenham: Jan Paul van Hecke’s own goal rescues point for Spurs in comeback draw - Sky Sports
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Jan Paul van Hecke’s late own goal rescued a point for Tottenham as they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Brighton.

Tottenham had it all to do when they conceded twice after 31 minutes. Yankuba Minteh scored with Brighton's first attack in the eighth minute as he coolly rounded Guglielmo Vicario to roll home.

Vicario would have been disappointed with his part in Brighton's second as Yasin Ayari's shot beat him from distance.

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But Richarlison pulled one back from close range just before half-time to give Spurs hope of doing what Brighton did to them last season, as they came back from 2-0 down to beat them 3-2 at the Amex in October 2024.

Spurs pushed for a second-half equaliser as substitute Xavi Simons twice went close, with Bart Verbruggen making a good save in the 64th minute before he dragged wide just four minutes later.

But the visitors' pressure eventually told in the 82nd minute as Mohammed Kudus' cross was turned into his own net by Van Hecke.

Kudus went close to a winner in stoppage time, but Spurs secured the point that takes them above their north London rivals Arsenal into second place. The Gunners, though, have the chance to go back above Tottenham on Sunday when they host Manchester City, live on Sky Sports.

Brighton, meanwhile, are now unbeaten in their last seven at home and remain 13th in the table.

Palhinha: Spurs upset despite comeback

Tottenham midfielder Joao Palhinha speaking to Sky Sports:

"I think we leave this stadium really sad, because in my opinion, we completely deserved to win the game.

"I think we started really well and created a lot of chances. Arriving to the last third in good shape. We suffered two goals against the run of play.

"It is not easy losing 2-0 away, in a tough stadium like this, against a good team. We leave a bit with a feeling that we could've done more."

Story of the match in stats...

What's coming up in the Premier League?

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Brighton vs Tottenham LIVE! Premier League match updates, news, score, stream and highlights

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Brighton vs Spurs - Live match updates

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Brighton 0-0 Tottenham

Brighton 0-0 Tottenham

Here come the teams!

Lewis Dunk and Cristian Romero lead their respective teams out. The home fans are in full voice. Kick-off is just minutes away.

FREE MATCH HIGHLIGHTS!

Don't worry about the 3pm blackout, once the final whistle goes at the Amex Stadium, you can watch full match highlights right here on skysports.com shortly after full-time.

They'll be available here in the match blog as well as in our match reports, so don't move a muscle.

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Brighton vs Tottenham: Match officials

Today's match officials at the Amex Stadium...

Referee: Chris Kavanagh.

Assistants: Dan Cook, Ian Hussin.

Fourth official: Tom Nield.

VAR: Neil Davies.

Assistant VAR: Rob Jones.

Brighton vs Tottenham: Pre-match stats

Tottenham have lost away to Brighton in both of the last two league seasons, but have never before lost three successive visits.

Brighton have lost just one of their last 10 home Premier League matches (W6 D3), and are unbeaten in six at the Amex (W3 D3).

Tottenham have won both their away league games so far this season by an aggregate score of 5-0; not since November 2020 under José Mourinho have they won three consecutive Premier League matches on the road (run of four).

Spurs boss Thomas Frank lost his first two Premier League meetings with Brighton in the 2021-22 season, but he’s only lost one of his last six against the Seagulls (W2 D3), all while manager of Brentford.

Spurs aiming to avoid another Amex nightmare

Tottenham had a nightmare at the Amex Stadium last season as they suffered a dramatic second-half collapse.

Spurs were 2-0 up at half-time but conceded three quickfire goals in the second half to lose 3-2 to Brighton.

They also lost here the season before, meaning Spurs are aiming to win at the Amex for the first time in three years.

Brighton aiming to move into top half

Brighton have made a mixed start to the Premier League season with a win, a draw and two defeats.

It means Fabian Hurzeler's side start the day 13th, just a point above the relegation zone.

A win for the Seagulls today, however, could see them move into the top half.

Spurs can move above Arsenal into second

Following leaders Liverpool's win over Everton in the lunchtime Merseyside derby, Tottenham know they cannot go top today.

Spurs will now aim to leapfrog their north London rivals Arsenal, with a draw enough to go second.

Thomas Frank's side, though, will be targeting a win that would move them three points above the Gunners, who play tomorrow against Manchester City at home, live on Sky Sports.

Minteh to cause Spurs problems?

One of Brighton's biggest threats this afternoon will be Yankuba Minteh.

The winger has the highest take-on success rate among players with 10+ attempted in the Premier League this season (65 per cent - 13/20).

Meanwhile, only Manchester City attacker Oscar Bobb (10) has recorded more take-ons in the opposition’s box than Minteh’s six this season.

Last time out in PL: Brighton lose as Spurs win

Brighton are looking to bounce back from last weekend's defeat at Bournemouth, while Tottenham are aiming for a third straight win in all competitions after wins over West Ham and Villarreal.

PL Predictions: Spurs to win and keep another clean sheet

Sky Sports' tipster Lewis Jones:

Thomas Frank has worked wonders at Spurs in a remarkably short time, tightening up what was once a leaky defence into a disciplined, well-organised unit. They have transformed from conceding goals regularly to frustrating even the most deadly attackers. Erling Haaland has scored once in eight of his last nine starts - the anomaly was Spurs.

Just one goal conceded from four games with three clean sheets is an impressive return.

Their defensive shape is sharper and the backline communicates with newfound cohesion with a focus on defending central areas of their box so astutely - a similar trait to the defensive unit Frank had at Brentford.

Almost 400,000 Super 6 players have predicted a 2-1 win to Spurs

This improvement in the Spurs process means Brighton, known for attacking flair and chance creation, but a historical underperformance in front of goal, will struggle to break down Frank's resilient Spurs side. Expect a cagey, tactical battle where chances are hard to come by. The under 2.5 goals line at 6/5 with Sky Bet makes plenty of appeal.

SCORE PREDICTION: 0-1 | JONES KNOWS' BEST BET: Back under 2.5 goals (6/5 with Sky Bet)

Premier League predictions and best bets: Crystal Palace to spell end for Graham Potter at West Ham?

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Spurs change three as Udogie and Odobert start with Simons benched

Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert have been handed their first starts of the season as Tottenham make three changes from the midweek Champions League win over Villarreal.

Udogie replaces the benched Djed Spence at left-back, while Wilson Odobert comes in for Xavi Simons, with the £51m signing named as a substitute.

The other change comes in midfield, with Pape Sarr dropping to the bench and replaced by Joao Palhinha.

Another notable line is that Deadline Day signing Randal Kolo Muani is not in the matchday squad.

Brighton make four changes as Baleba starts

Brighton have made four changes from last weekend's defeat at Bournemouth.

Two are enforced with Jack Hinshelwood and Maxin De Cuyper injured, so Carlos Baleba and Ferdi Kadioglu both start.

Yasin Ayari is brought in to partner Baleba in midfield, with James Milner dropping to the bench.

The final change is in attack with the benched Danny Welbeck replaced by Brajan Gruda.

Tottenham team news - Udogie, Palhinha and Odobert start

Starting XI: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udgoie; Bergvall, Bentancur, Palhinha; Kudus, Richarlison, Odobert.

Subs: Kinsky, Danso, Gray, Spence, Sarr, Johnson, Tel, Simons, Scarlett.

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Brighton team news - Baleba and Kadioglu start

Starting XI: Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Gruda.

Subs: Steele, Boscagli, Coppola, Wieffer, Milner, Gomez, Tzimas, Welbeck, Watson.

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Team news in FIVE minutes!

Team news from the Amex Stadium will be dropping in just five minutes!

Will Maxin De Cuyper, Mats Wieffer and Diego Gomez be fit enough to start for Brighton?

Could Tottenham boss Thomas Frank shuffle his pack after the midweek Champions League win over Villarreal?

You'll get the line-ups at 1.45pm on the dot in this blog...

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Good afternoon!

It is back to domestic action for Tottenham as they visit Brighton in the Premier League this afternoon.

Spurs made the perfect start to their Champions League campaign in midweek with a narrow home win over Villarreal and are aiming for a third straight victory in all competitions.

Thomas Frank’s arrival has brought a steeliness to Spurs, who have conceded just one goal in their last five games and have made their joint-best defensive start to a league season.

Spurs will also be looking for revenge against Brighton after last season’s shocking second-half collapse that saw them lose 3-2 after going in at half-time 2-0 up.

Brighton did the double over Tottenham last season and will be aiming to maintain their recent strong home record.

The Seagulls are unbeaten in their last six at the Amex (W3 D3) and have only lost three of their last 21 home league games.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side will be eyeing another scalp on the south coast after beating Manchester City here in their last home outing.

We'll bring you all the build-up from the Amex Stadium, including the all-important team news at 1.45pm, with live updates from kick-off at 3pm.

Stay tuned...

Solanke not ready for Brighton

Thomas Frank has confirmed Dominic Solanke is progressing in his return from injury, but that he will not be involved in the clash with Brighton at the weekend.

Solanke has played just over half an hour of Premier League football this season, and was last seen coming off the bench in the 2-0 win over Manchester City in August.

Although the England international is back on the training pitch, he is not yet ready for any game time, according to his head coach.

“The positive thing is he's back on grass and has been that for three to four days and he's progressing forward, slowly, but forward,” the Dane confirmed.

“It's too early obviously for Saturday, also too early for Doncaster. But the positive thing is that he's on the grass and he's progressing forward.”

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Grace Clinton scores on Man City debut in Spurs demolition as London City Lionesses beat Everton for first WSL win

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Grace Clinton scored on her Manchester City debut as Andree Jeglertz's side gave Tottenham a rude awakening with a 5-1 victory in their Women's Super League clash at Brisbane Road.

Clinton made her first appearance in City colours midway through the second half, and took a little over 15 minutes to make her mark as she made a trademark late run into the penalty area before sweeping home against her former club.

Despite keeping two clean sheets in their opening two games of the WSL season, Spurs' defence was all over the place and they were put to the sword by a rampant Manchester City attack.

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Tottenham 'keeper Lize Kop looked shaky throughout and did not cover herself in glory as she failed to keep out a long-range effort from Aoba Fujino before flapping at a near-post corner to allow Vivianne Miedema to double City's tally.

Spurs' defensive frailties were on show again as Kerstin Casparij made it three before the break after some poor marking from Jessica Naz to seemingly put the game to bed.

Clinton would add City’s fourth before the home supporters were given something to shout about as Olivia Holdt scored an incredible consolation goal from range. Those cheers were quickly silenced as Laura Coombs added a fifth for City to round out a dominant display.

Khadija Shaw went into the contest with 12 goals against the opposition before Friday night, but was unable to add to her tally from the penalty spot as Kop turned from zero to hero momentarily.

Lauren Hemp was spotted in a protective boot after coming off early on, though Jeglertz refused to speculate on the severity of the injury, saying post-match: "Let's see how it goes in the coming days."

That acted as the only dampener in a one-sided affair that saw City extend their unbeaten run against Tottenham to 11 games while simultaneously climbing above them in the WSL table.

Jeglertz: We want to be unpredictable

Manchester City manager Andree Jeglertz speaking to Sky Sports:

"I think it shows that we are under control. First half scoring on set-plays in different ways. That is important to us. We showed that we don't have to play with the ball all the time.

"The key thing for us is to be unpredictable. In the last three games we created a lot of chances, and some of that is because of possession and some are for exploiting other teams' structure."

'Not good enough defensively'

Tottenham head coach Martin Ho speaking with Sky Sports:

"The immediate emotion is disappointment. We can't defend that way. It wasn't even the defending around the box, it was more the defending in the middle of the pitch. It's the intent to want to do it and we didn't do it enough.

"Some cracks appear at times. Not as many as last year. I thought the response from the second half was better. Totally different approach."

Christiansen: City's attack has evolved

Izzy Christiansen on Sky Sports:

"We have seen the City attack evolve over the years. Looking at last season coming into this season, you've seen the introduction of Aoba Fujino, Kerolin, Vivianne Miedema, Grace Clinton now in those pocket areas.

"The attacking options at Andree's disposal are massive. Then you add in the likes of Casparij who has added a more offensive role to her game this season. Then Hasegawa playing higher and Blindkilde-Brown holding that pivot position. There are plenty of options.

"Andree Jeglertz eluded to it, these players who have been there a while, they know how to play possession football. If they need to control a game they can. But you're not going to win titles if you don't take risks.

"They're taking more risks. That's on the agenda. Whether they can dethrone Chelsea, we will see about that. But they will do it by scoring more goals."

Goodwin at the double as London City record first WSL win

Izzy Goodwin scored in each half to earn the London City Lionesses a 2-1 win at Everton, the newly-promoted club's first-ever Women's Super League victory.

The striker opened the scoring after 13 minutes with a thumping finish into the roof of the net after Wassa Sangare's neat near-post lay-off from a corner.

And it was Goodwin who doubled the visitors' lead 13 minutes into the second half at Goodison Park after good approach play from experienced forward Nikita Parris, who broke down the left and centred for the unmarked forward to finish from close range as Everton's defence went to sleep.

However, what had appeared to be a stroll to a first WSL win turned into anything but when London City defender Jana Fernandez clumsily fouled substitute Yuka Momiki in the box, with the Japan international forward stepping up to keep her cool from the penalty spot, despite Elene Lete guessing the right way.

That left a testing final 20 minutes for London City to see out as Everton threw everything at their opponents, but thanks to a combination of good goalkeeping from Lete and poor finishing, they held on for an historic three points.

Sky to show 90 per cent of all WSL games from 2025/26

Sky Sports has begun a new five-year partnership with the WSL, showing 90 per cent of all Women's Super League matches from the 2025/26 season. Sky Sports will show 118 live games, including 78 exclusively

From this season, most Women's Super League matches will kick-off at 12pm on Sundays - subject to stadium availability - giving fans a regular and accessible viewing window.

Sky Sports will broadcast matches concurrently across channels, including Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports+ and the Sky Sports app, offering greater choice and visibility.

The Sky Sports app also makes it easier than ever to follow the action on mobile with vertical video highlights, match centres packed with scores and stats available for FREE to all fans, plus live streams for Sky Sports customers.

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Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Villarreal: Thomas Frank secures narrow win in first Champions League game thanks to Luiz Junior own goal

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Tottenham beat Villarreal 1-0 at home as Thomas Frank's side secured a narrow victory in his first Champions League game as head coach.

A spine-tingling atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before kick-off had barely simmered down before Luiz Junior spilled the ball into his own net from a Lucas Bergvall cross to give the hosts the lead in just the fourth minute.

That goal marked Spurs' fastest in the history of the tournament and while the showing in the first half hinted that they would add to their tally, the performance quickly tapered off following the restart.

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A rejuvenated Villarreal came out after the break, coupled with a degree of sloppiness from Frank's men, leading to a shift in momentum.

Clear-cut chances were few and far between but Micky van de Ven did provide a late scare for his team after finding himself on the wrong side of Georges Mikautadze before bundling the forward to the ground just outside the area.

A swift VAR check confirmed the decision of a free-kick and a yellow card for the defender.

"It didn't look top. I needed a bit of hope," a relieved Frank said after the game. "I've seen it back, he is clearly outside the box and he was a little bit ahead."

Spurs eventually limped to the final whistle to ensure all three points were secured in their first Champions League game since March 2023.

Thomas Partey came on as a late substitute, ahead of a scheduled court appearance in the UK. Partey will appear at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday to face charges of five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, all of which he denies.

Frank: Big win but we struggled going forward

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank:

"I thought it was a big win. Any competition it's good to get three points and get a good start.

"Happy with the clean sheet. Extremely good and limited Villarreal to little.

"Offensively, we struggled to create something against a good team that also defended very well with their 4-4-2 structure.

"It was a very even game that we edged in the end. I like that our foundation is strong. Obviously, we are building the offensive structure more.

"There was a spell in the second half where we had the ball away every time we had it. We will raise that level."

Bergvall: Frank a breath of fresh air

Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall speaking to Amazon Prime:

"New, fresh air. We talked a lot about 'clean sheet mentality' this year because we conceded a lot last year.

"My relationship with him is really good. I just want to get back to the form I had at the end of last year, and I feel like I am. I have help from him and the video analysts to get better every day."

On the game itself, Bergvall added: "It was really tough. Villarreal did a great performance but a 1-0 win at home is amazing.

"We managed to get three points today and they did not have a shot on target, so we did a really good job."

What's coming up next?

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Tottenham vs Villarreal LIVE! Champions League match updates, news and score

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