Daniel Farke believes Leeds United were unlucky to have conceded two deflected goals, but that his side were clumsy in losing possession of the ball in their 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League at Elland Road.
MATCH REPORT: Leeds United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank expresses his delight at seeing Matys Tel score his first goal of the season against Leeds in a 2-1 win, overcoming the disappointment of being left out of Spurs' Champions League squad.
MATCH REPORT: Leeds United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
For Spurs fans, the opening 10 minutes at Elland Road were a tough watch.
Following a difficult trip to the Arctic Circle on Tuesday where Frank's side had to come back to scrape a 2-2 draw against Bodo/Glimt, they struggled to get into the game and were relieved to see Joe Rodon's header hit the post.
Injuries to playmakers James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski have left Spurs lacking creativity but Mohammed Kudus is proving to be a superb addition for manager Thomas Frank.
The midfielder's assist for Mathys Tel took his tally for the season to four, the joint-most in the top flight so far this season, while his maiden goal came after he had blazed over the bar for 2-0 in the first half.
He also contested (19) and won (10) more duels than any other player in the game and completed all six of his dribbles - the best 100% rate by a Tottenham player in a Premier League game since Tanguy Ndombele against Aston Villa in March 2021 (also 6/6).
It was also a positive afternoon for French forward Tel, who has been left out of Tottenham's Champions League squad and therefore must take his chances when they come elsewhere.
He took his goal superbly but perhaps should have done better with his header just before the break, hitting the bar and missing the chance to restore Spurs' lead.
Leeds dug in at the end and it made for a nervy finale but the full-time celebrations told the tale of how important Spurs felt this win was.
Tottenham winger Mohammed Kudus celebrated his winning goal against Leeds on Saturday by sitting on a stool - a nod to his Ghana heritage.
Kudus, 25, has performed the celebration throughout his time in the Premier League, first with West Ham and now with London rivals Spurs.
"It's my roots. Where I come from, the chiefs and the kings, they sit on stools," Kudus said on the subject last season.
"I thought it would be nice to share a little bit of life where I am from.
"I thought, 'Why not do something different?'"
Kudus typically uses the plastic chairs of ball boys and ball girls to celebrate his goals, but while playing for West Ham last season he had his own custom-made wooden stool from Ghana for home matches.
"It's a special stool, a stool from Ghana," Kudus said.
"With my celebration, I thought: 'Why not do something different?'"
During his first season with West Ham, a ball boy at Newcastle refused to leave his stool to let Kudus celebrate on it. Instead, Kudus and his team-mates celebrated by sitting on the advertising hoardings.
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank speaking to BBC Match of the Day after his side's victory over Leeds United: "We needed a win. The last three games we were without [one]. That feeling to get over the line, to get three points, was big.
"But also the respect for Leeds and Eland Road. We knew very well the task ahead of us. We overcame that in a very good way. I thought we played overall a really good game. We should have got more out of the dangerous situations. I know they hit the post and the goal, and right at the end there was carnage, but for the rest of the game I thought we defended superbly.
"I think the character was the foundation, to go here and get through the spells where everything was not perfect and to keep the focus. I felt that was Xavi Simons' best game for us.
"I am so happy for Mo [Mohammed Kudus]. Obviously scoring the goal because he wanted it. Not just a goal but a winner in a tight game. I also must mention Mathys [Tel]. He got his first goal of the season. He has had his set-backs so I am so, so happy for him.
"Elland Road is a very difficult ground to go to, I have experienced that many, many times. Their fans were very good, and so were our away fans."
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Leeds 0-0 Tottenham
Anton Stach does well to lift the ball out wide to Noah Okafor with Spurs players appealing for a handball in the build-up.
Play continues and Okafor drives into the area, forcing the Tottenham defence to hit the ball out for a corner.
Leeds have been a danger from set-pieces this season and from the corner Stach's shot is deflected behind by one of his team-mates.
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Leeds v Tottenham (12:30 BST)
The weather has been foul this morning and I got a proper soaking biking down to BBC Sport HQ in Salford Quays.
However, further along the M62 the weather seems considerably better, so much so that some Leeds fans are having to shield their eyes from the sunshine.
Still windy, however. Let's see how that affects this game.
Why did Leeds not sign Manor Solomon permanently?
Leeds v Tottenham (12:30 BST)
Adam Pope
BBC Radio Leeds commentator
Tottenham's Manor Solomon has been the subject of several questions sent in via our 'Ask about Leeds' form, in particular why he wasn't loaned again or why Leeds haven't signed him permanently.
The situation with Solomon is that I understand Leeds United could have had him back on loan for a second spell from Spurs but decided to buy Noah Okafor from AC Milan instead.
Solomon's injury record in recent seasons I believe was a consideration why United were inclined not to seek a permanent deal for the Israel international.
Radebe on Premier League survival
Leeds v Tottenham (12:30 BST)
Former Leeds United captain Lucas Radebe says the club has "a lot of work to do" in order to secure survival this season.
Radebe has been named as an official ambassador for the club he signed for back in 1994. During his 11-year spell, the South African was instrumental in helping Leeds compete near the top of the Premier League and in reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2001.
He retired in 2005 as an all-time Leeds great.
However, reflecting on the current crop, Radebe acknowledged the Whites face significant challenges if they are survive their first campaign back in the top flight.
"It's started positive, but I think when we played Arsenal we realised we've got a lot of work to do in order to retain our status in the Premier League," he told BBC Radio Leeds.
"We need to invest a lot because Leeds United is a big club and belongs in the Premier League. It's not just that though - we need to also show with the results as well.
"I think we are going the right way. I know Daniel Farke has a hard task with a lot of expectations from last season.
"If we can just survive this season, then hopefully we will get better as the years go by."
Spurs' attacking struggles
Leeds v Tottenham (12:30 BST)
Paul Birch
BBC Sport
After just one defeat in 10 under new boss Thomas Frank, criticism of fifth-placed Tottenham feels somewhat harsh, but grumblings at their lack of attacking cohesion are growing.
Spurs' top scorer so far this season is own goals with four, which tells its own story about what work Frank still has to do in the final third of the pitch.
Mitigation for their lack of creativity from midfield comes in the form of missing injured playmakers James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski. However, there remains plenty of attacking options, but making them gel is taking longer than anticipated.
No side in the Premier League has outperformed their expected goals as much as Frank's side, having scored four more goals than their xG of seven, a figure that a club is unlikely to sustain over the course of a season.
'Good start but it is a long road'
Leeds v Tottenham (12:30 BST)
Leeds have made a decent start to life back in the Premier League with two wins, two draws and two defeats.
"It's good that we have had such a positive start, but it is a long road and we have to make sure we deliver consistency," Leeds boss Daniel Farke said.
"We want to be able to stay in the league, so we have to keep going."
On whether Leeds have an advantage over Tottenham following Spurs' midweek trip to the Arctic Circle to play in the Champions League, he added: "Nowadays they don't travel by bicycle or coach, it is a private jet and they have chefs and all sorts!"
Frank praises Spurs' mentality
Leeds v Tottenham (12:30 BST)
Tottenham fought back from two-goals down to draw with Bodo/Glimt in midweek and Thomas Frank believes Spurs' mentality and desire not to give up are their strongest points.
"I think its football and in football there is a relatively big risk the opponent will score and you need to manage to overcome that," he said.
"If you see the amount of games teams are playing, you need the ability to come back from setbacks.
"I think the mentality and foundations we are building, I think it is very important that you are able to do that."
'Set-pieces could dominate the narrative'
Leeds v Tottenham (12:30 BST)
Paul Birch
BBC Sport
Elland Road has been a fortress of late for Leeds and they have gone an entire year unbeaten in home league games dating back to 14 September 2024 versus Burnley.
Manager Daniel Farke has had the luxury of naming the same starting XI for three straight matches as their encouraging return to the top flight goes on with a record of two wins, two draws and two defeats.
After scoring only once in their first four games back in the Premier League they have notched five across their past two. All their top-flight goals this season has been scored by a different player, with Sean Longstaff becoming the sixth when he opened his account for the club in the draw with Bournemouth last week.
The ex-Newcastle midfielder is proving to be an astute signings so far. Since he made his first start for the club on 30 August, he has made the joint most tackles in the top flight (19), while the eight chances he has created can only be beaten by three players.
Set-pieces, which are the talk of the Premier League right now, could again dominate the narrative. Just three teams have netted more set-piece goals than Leeds' four this season, but the Whites have shipped six set-piece goals themselves â only West Ham have conceded more.
After just one defeat in 10 under new boss Thomas Frank, criticism of fourth-placed Tottenham feels somewhat harsh, but grumblings at their lack of attacking cohesion are growing.
Spurs' top scorer so far this season is own goals with four, which tells its own story about what work Frank still has to do in the final third of the pitch.
Mitigation for their lack of creativity from midfield comes in the form of missing injured playmakers James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski. However, there remains plenty of attacking options, but making them gel is taking longer than anticipated.
No side in the Premier League has outperformed their expected goals as much as Frank's side, having scored four more goals than their xG of seven, a figure that a club is unlikely to sustain over the course of a season.
Also top of his to-do-list will be stopping his team having to rely on late equalisers to salvage a point, having done so in three out of their last four matches.
One thing the north Londoners do boast is an excellent record against Leeds United and have scored four goals in each of their last three encounters, two of which ended in 4-0 and 4-1 away victories. They have never won three league games in a row at Elland Road, while no side has ever scored four goals in three successive away league matches at Leeds.
Elland Road, though, has been a fortress of late and they have gone an entire year unbeaten in home league games dating back to 14 September 2024 versus Burnley.
Manager Daniel Farke has had the luxury of naming the same starting XI for three straight matches as their encouraging return to the top flight goes on with a record of two wins, two draws and two defeats.
After scoring only once in their first four games back in the Premier League they have notched five across their past two. All their top-flight goals this season has been scored by a different player, with Sean Longstaff becoming the sixth when he opened his account for the club in the draw with Bournemouth last week.
The ex-Newcastle midfielder is proving to be an astute signings so far. Since he made his first start for the club on 30 August, he has made the joint most tackles in the top flight (19), while the eight chances he has created can only be beaten by three players.
Set-pieces, which are the talk of the Premier League right now, could again dominate the narrative. Just three teams have netted more set-piece goals than Leeds' four this season, but the Whites have shipped six set-piece goals themselves â only West Ham have conceded more.
Fair play to Leeds, they have really surprised and impressed me so far. There is a good balance to their team because they carry a threat and can dig in too.
Apart from a heavy defeat at Arsenal, they have been competitive in every game so far and their good start would have been even better but for late goals against Fulham and Bournemouth.
Even so, they have got more points than I expected at this stage and Daniel Farke deserves a lot of credit.
I think there were question marks over whether he could manage at this level because of his Premier League record with Norwich but, as I've said before, he never really had the squad there to be able to compete.
Tottenham have had a difficult week, having to fight back to rescue draws against Wolves and Bodo/Glimt, and this is going to be another tricky game for them.
I can actually see it ending in another draw for Spurs. At least they played in the Arctic Circle on Tuesday night rather than Wednesday, but a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday is still far from ideal, and this Champions League campaign is going to stretch their squad.
Sutton's prediction: 1-1