BBC

Arsenal's dramatic move to steal Eberechi Eze away from arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur is a ruthless statement of intent designed to show this is the season they plan to finally claim the biggest prizes.

Spurs were ready to roll out the welcoming carpet for Crystal Palace's England forward on Wednesday, the deal virtually done with every indication the 27-year-old was set on the move.

It then filtered out that Arsenal were assessing the seriousness of a knee injury to forward Kai Havertz, which could potentially put a dent in their attacking resources - a weakness that played a significant part in manager Mikel Arteta's side ending empty handed for the fifth year in succession last season.

Instead of taking the cheaper option of exploring the loan market, as was first expected, Arsenal went for broke in spectacular style by setting up a £60m coup to take Eze to Emirates Stadium from right under the noses of Spurs.

Eze's move to Arsenal, which is now fully expected to be successfully concluded, is not simply a devastating psychological blow aimed across north London at Spurs.

It is a clear signal that they have no intention of falling short in their stated aim of mounting a serious Premier League title challenge, as well as making inroads deep into the Champions League once more after reaching the semi-final last season.

It is strategy in stark contrast to the inertia that gripped Arsenal last season, when their failure to solve an obvious problem - namely sign a recognised striker - cost them dearly.

Spurs thought they had Eze wrapped up, the possibility of a cash-plus-Richarlison deal discussed, but Arsenal moved with lightning speed once they were confronted by the possibility of Havertz facing a spell on the sidelines.

Arsenal have been linked with Eze all summer, but it was thought their interest had cooled once Ethan Nwaneri agreed a new five-year contract, on top of signing Chelsea winger Noni Madueke in a £48.5m deal.

Havertz's injury, and its potential consequences, reignited that interest to leave Spurs stunned.

Arteta knows this is the season he must land a major prize, and to do this he has been heavily backed by Arsenal's hierarchy.

As well as Madueke, the Gunners have concluded moves to sign Spain's outstanding midfield man Martin Zubimendi in a deal worth up to £60m and, at least 12 months too late, a recognised striker in Viktor Gyokeres, signed from Sporting Lisbon for £64m.

In Eze, who had two years left on his Palace contract, Arsenal will get a versatile forward rich in natural talent who is a match-winner - as he proved when scoring the winner against Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May.

This was a follow-up to the spectacular right-foot finish that set Palace on their way to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Wembley in the semi-final. Eze also scored the Eagles' opener when they beat Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage in the quarter-final.

Eze has demonstrated he has the temperament and talent for the big occasion when inspiring Palace to the first major trophy in their history.

Arsenal will hope he has plenty of those occasions ahead.

He is a scorer and creator of goals, adding real threat to Arsenal's front line, with 14 goals in all competitions last season.

Eze was a boyhood Arsenal fan and was part of the club's academy until he was 13. He may have been initially keen on a move to Spurs, but once the Gunners showed their hand was only one part of north London he was heading to.

He has achieved his goals the hard way, spending time at Fulham, Reading and Millwall before signing for Queen's Park Rangers. He left Loftus Road for Palace in a £19.5m deal in August 2020.

Spurs believe they did all they could to conclude a deal - apart from actually concluding it - but it is a hammer blow to chairman Daniel Levy and manager Thomas Frank, who also thought they had a deal for Morgan Gibbs-White in the bag only for him to sign a new contract at Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal will revel in the local rivalry of snatching away a prime transfer target for Spurs, but the wider context demonstrates the Gunners are deadly serious about ending the wait for success that now stretches back to 2020.

Eze has previously admitted to "crying for a week" when he was let go by Arsenal in 2011, but this gifted forward has now been given a golden opportunity to make up for lost time.

Arsenal have launched a move for Crystal Palace attacker Eberechi Eze.

Sources have told BBC Sport Arsenal will offer around £60m for the England forward, who is also wanted by Tottenham.

Talks between Tottenham and Crystal Palace had accelerated over the past few days, with multiple sources telling BBC Sport they were progressing positively. However, no agreement has been reached.

The Gunners have concerns over a knee injury sustained by forward Kai Havertz and Eze, 27, would offer Mikel Arteta an option in that area of the field.

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner said on Wednesday that Eze will start in Thursday's Uefa Conference League play-off tie against Fredrikstad, along with Liverpool-linked Marc Guehi, as they remain "committed to the team".

Sources have told BBC Sport Eze wants to join Arsenal before the transfer window closes on 1 September.

Eze had a goal ruled out when Palace began their Premier League campaign with a draw at Chelsea on Sunday.

The England international has an expired release clause in his contract which was worth an initial £60m, plus a further £8m in add-ons.

Palace benefited hugely from Eze's 14 goals across all competitions last season, having scored in their 1-0 FA Cup final win against Manchester City.

Eze joined the Eagles from Queens Park Rangers for £19.5m in 2020 and his current deal runs until the summer of 2027.

Manchester City have won just four of their last 12 Premier League games against Tottenham Hotspur (D2 L6), though beat them 1-0 in their last meeting in February. They last secured consecutive league wins against Spurs between December 2017 and April 2019 (4).

Spurs have won two of their last four Premier League games at the Etihad (D1 L1), more than they did in their previous 11 visits combined (D2 L8). Following their 4-0 victory last season, they’re looking for consecutive wins away at Man City for the first time since May 2010.

The last four Premier League meetings between Manchester City and Tottenham at the Etihad have produced 21 goals (9 for City, 12 for Spurs), with the away side netting at least twice in all four. The last side to score 2+ goals in five consecutive top-flight away games against Man City were Sunderland between 1980 and 2000. Â

Since the start of April, Manchester City have picked up more points than any other Premier League side (26), and are the only ever-present side to remain unbeaten in that time (W8 D2). They also have the most clean sheets (7) and have faced the fewest shots per game of any side in the division since April (7.6).

Tottenham Hotspur are looking to win their first two Premier League games in a season for the first time since 2021-22, which was also the last time a manager won his first two league games with Spurs (Nuno Espírito Santo then). They are winless in their last 11 games against non-newly promoted sides, however (D2 L9), since a 1-0 win over Man Utd in February.

In all competitions, Pep Guardiola has lost nine games against Tottenham Hotspur in his managerial career, only losing more against Liverpool (10). Spurs are also one of three teams he’s faced 10 or more times and won fewer than half of his games against (11/23, 48%), along with Liverpool (6/24, 25%) and Real Madrid (13/27, 48%).

Spurs’ Thomas Frank led Brentford to a 2-1 victory at the Etihad when he was Bees boss in November 2022. Only two managers have beaten Pep Guardiola away in the league with two clubs – José Mourinho (Real Madrid in 2012, Man Utd in 2018) and Antonio Conte (Chelsea in 2016, Spurs in 2022).

Erling Haaland has scored 48 goals in 48 home Premier League appearances for Man City. The only player to hit 50 Premier League home goals in fewer than 50 appearances is Alan Shearer, who scored his 50th home goal in his 47th game.

Tijjani Reijnders both scored and assisted in Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Wolves on his Premier League debut – no player has ever achieved this in their first two City appearances in the competition, while Reijnders or teammate Rayan Cherki could be the first player since Emmanuel Adebayor in August 2009 to score in their first two Premier League games for the club.

Richarlison netted a brace in Spurs’ 3-0 win over Burnley on MD1, already hitting 50% of his total for the entirety of the 2024-25 Premier League season (4 in 15 games). The Brazilian has the best minutes per goal ratio of any player who has featured across the last two Premier League seasons (goal every 95 mins), also enjoying a 27.3% conversion rate.

Tottenham forward Mathys Tel says the online racist abuse he received after the club's recent defeat in the Uefa Super Cup will not "bring him down".

The 20-year-old Frenchman was the target of abusive messages on social media after Spurs lost the match 4-3 on penalties after letting a two-goal lead slip in normal time.

Tel came on as a substitute in the 79th minute and was one of two Spurs players who failed to convert from the spot in the penalty shootout.

Spurs said they were "disgusted" by the abuse and those who sent the messages to Tel, who joined the north London club from Bayern Munich permanently in the summer, were "nothing but cowards".

Speaking for the first time since the incident in a post on his Instagram account, external Tel said he wanted to say "thank you" for all the "messages of support" he had received.

"I was also disappointed about Wednesday night but racism has no place in our society. Every day is a learning curve, and every day is a lesson," Tel said.

"I know where I come from, where I started and none of this will bring me down. With work and humility, respect reigns."

Tel's comments come in the wake of racist abuse suffered by Bournemouth player Antoine Semenyo in their opening match of the Premier League season against Liverpool at Anfield.

Last Friday's game with the current champions was briefly halted in the 29th minute after Semenyo flagged it up to the referee.

Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero has signed a new four-year contract to commit his future to the club.

The 27-year-old Argentina centre-back joined Spurs from Atalanta in August 2021, initially on loan before the move was made permanent the following summer.

He has made 126 appearances for the club, scoring eight goals, and captained the side in the Europa League final as Tottenham beat Manchester United to end their 17-year wait for a trophy.

After being heavily linked with a move to Atletico Madrid over the summer, Romero was named club captain by new head coach Thomas Frank and the deal ensures he will remain in north London until 2029.

The former Belgrano defender, who had two years left on his previous deal, follows right-back Djed Spence in signing a new long-term contract.

Spence, 25, arrived from Middlesbrough in 2022 but endured a difficult start to his Spurs career and spent loan spells at Rennes, Leeds and Genoa.

Last season he emerged as an important player for Ange Postecoglou and has made 42 appearances, scoring twice.

Spence's existing deal was set to expire in 2028.

Another Premier League season has begun, with new-look sides, new-look tactical approaches and plenty of optimism (and pessimism!) among the fans.

We could have picked out many observations across all teams - but here are five that caught our eye in particular at the weekend.

Arne Slot's Liverpool have brought in attacking reinforcements but the balance of their side looks off. Against Bournemouth, they were bright going forward but looked susceptible to conceding on the break.

Last season, Liverpool only conceded two goals from fast breaks all season. In the first game of this season, they equalled that number.

So what has changed for Liverpool?

The personnel informs how tactics are executed and Slot pointed towards sloppy passing in midfield as a reason Liverpool were so exposed. These misplaced passes gave the opposition time and space against a disorganised defensive shape while attacking the centre of the pitch.

This is more dangerous than losing the ball in the wide areas as attackers are closer to goal, in better shooting positions.

Although Slot focuses mainly on the sloppy passing and dispossessions in midfield, it is objectively true that Liverpool committed many bodies to their attack. At times, there were seven or eight players in and around Bournemouth's box, leaving Liverpool with very few players back to defend.

For Antoine Semenyo's second goal, both Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson were attacking in the opposition's box so were unable to get back to defend the counter-attack when the ball was lost.

Yes, decision-making and passing quality needs to be better but Slot may need to tweak the positions of the full-backs or central midfielders when Liverpool are attacking for additional protection against dangerous counter-attacking sides.

Rodri's season-ending injury last September clearly derailed their Premier League campaign but rather than simply awaiting his return, Pep Guardiola has found a solution without him and the former champions have been getting back on track since the start of the year.

Below is Man City's 'non-penalty expected goal difference per game' (that's a mouthful) since the start of last season, which tells us how much a team dominates their games by creating lots of good chances and limiting their opponents to few, bad ones.

It's the X-ray stat, the one that shows how good teams are before hot finishing streaks and the rub of the green come into play.

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have taken an alternative approach to their recent summer transfer business. For a team who have dominated the ball, playing slowly and methodically for the last few seasons, they have now looked to introduce directness and counter-attacking threat.

Against Manchester United, Arsenal played more directly and it was to their detriment on the day. We saw numerous quick attacks consisting of players carrying the ball quickly upfield over large distances before trying to play through balls for the attackers. In seasons gone by, they would've likely opted to hold the ball, passing it backwards before restarting their attack.

Martin Odegaard was primarily the player leading the majority of counter-attacks. Viktor Gyokeres' best attacking zones are in the inside right channel. As the Swede darted in behind, Odegaard's weight of pass was off and chances broke down. This made the game end-to-end, suiting United's quick attackers.

Odegaard being left footed here was slightly problematic too. Angle-wise, using a right-footed player would allow the pass to go towards the goal rather than curling away from it, making it easier for someone like Gyokeres to shoot early. Imagine Kevin de Bruyne's through balls (from right central midfield) to Erling Haaland if you're struggling to understand what I mean.

Although this style of play was ineffective in the opening game, there are positives. If Arsenal can get the final pass correct, they'll find themselves in clear goalscoring opportunities more often. How Arsenal balance their slower possession style with this newer, transitional quality will be an important thread to their season.

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Tottenham and Burnley.

Here are some of your comments:

Tottenham fans

David: Amazing game - it was really nice to see the ball run so smoothly. I never really thought much of Richarlison, but now it looks like he is bound to have an amazing season. Go Thomas the Frank Engine! Choo choo!

John: Good win and nice to get three goals - even better not to concede any. The team looks like a unit that knows what its doing, playing like a proper team. Frank knows what he's doing.

Neil: A good start - three points and three goals plus a double for Richie - who, if he stays mentally and physically fit, will be a bonus. A lot still to work on for Frank, but after losing all those games last season, it was nice not to be worried all match.

Iain: Great win, but don't get too excited because there's another 37 league games to go. Frank's trust in Richarlison paid off and was, by a long way, the outstanding player, with Mohammed Kudus deserving applause for his performance too. Manchester City away next week will be a better test for Spurs' players. But football is a funny old game, so who knows!

Brian: Still a small sample size, but it is interesting to see how more or less the same squad as last year can look so robust, as if they are now playing with their whole bodies rather than just their feet. The best of the Ange era was still on display with Johnson's goal, but that was the icing, not the cake. Great start!

Phil: While it was a good start to the league, we were very lucky again. Just like the Europa League final. Attack was good but, yet again, very shoddy in defence - hence good luck needed.

Burnley fans

Chris: No surprises, but no worries - it's the Premier League isn't it. Just keep focused and don't panic. Great manager and keen squad to succeed. It will take time.

Jonathon: We weren't as bad as the scoreline shows but this is the Premier League. We can't afford to leave players free in the box when we have five at the back. We need attackers with actual quality as well. I feel like it's going to be worse than the Kompany season. Maybe I'm overreacting...

Alan: Crushed. I hoped Burnley would get a positive result, but it is the manner of the loss that is so disheartening. Defensive set-up beaten after 12 minutes and no way back. Another long season with nothing but disappointment to look forward to.

Paul: Judging from that, it's going to be a very long season. We simply do not have a credible goal threat. That will make attacking us easy for other teams. If we do not beat Sunderland at home next week we will find ourselves stranded at the foot of the table. And that will be that.

Bristol Rovers vs Tottenham Hotspur U21: EFL Trophy stats & head-to-head  BBC

Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer explains how Tottenham have adopted a more direct approach to their playing style under Thomas Frank, by placing an emphasis on long passes as well as putting more crosses into the box.

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Two goals from Richarlison, including a stunning scissor kick, help Thomas Frank win his first Premier League match in charge of Tottenham as the home side see off Burnley 3-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

MATCH REPORT: Premier League - Tottenham 3-0 Burnley