BBC

'We made it hard for ourselves'

FT: West Ham 2-2 Liverpool

West Ham United

West Ham captain Katrina Gorry speaking to Sky Sports: "Disappointing. I thought we made it hard for ourselves. We were against ten for a good chunk of the game and I don't feel like we really capitalised on it well enough. They are a good side in transition and it is something we needed to be aware of, and unfortunately we are only taking a point out of this one.

On positives to take: "We'll have to look back on that I think. Look, we scored some good goals but I don't think we utilised the extra player well enough."

'We believed in it all the way'

FT: West Ham 2-2 Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool goalscorer Beata Olsson, speaking to Sky Sports: "We do it all together. We go into this game and we want three points but then we had to adjust a bit with what happens but we did that so well. Everyone is fighting so hard. It is nice that we believed in it all the way so we could get the point."

On Taylor's half time team talk: "He said that we did fine in the defence and that we should keep our shape, but we should try to play a bit more down the sides to actually pin them down a bit. We got some good crosses into the box and I think that's what turned it around for us."

On taking it as a positive point going forward: "I think we will all be disappointed because we went into this game wanting three points and we know we could get that. I even thought we could have got that with one player down. I had a feeling we could score another goal, but I guess we will be happy about it in the long run."

'It will be tough, but we are confident'

FT: Brighton 0-3 Chelsea

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor speaking to Sky Sports:

"I'm really pleased with the performance and the result. Coming here, being able to score three goals, to create as much as we. created and to keep a clean sheet, it's a really good performance.

"It was a great performance from Sandy Baltimore individually. It's great when you have players with that talent. It was important for us to get that first goal, and then it was easier in the game."

On what she told her players at half-time:

"I always ask the team to find a good balance between keeping the ball and also having the desire to hurt the opposition. Sometimes we need to improve our runs in behind, to have a more direct style of football but also open the spaces in midfield. I think in the second half we were able to do that a bit better than in the first half.

"It's always better to finish with a win before the break. That's the best way we could have ended the year in the WSL."

On the unfamiliar position of trailing the league leaders:

"Since when I joined the club we have always been at the top of the table, this is the first time we are behind. That's fine, sometimes that happens, I still trust my players and know the quality we have.

"There are many games left for us to reverse the situation. It will be tough, Man City are performing really well, Arsenal and Man United and all the teams in this league are really good. It will be difficult, but we are confident and that's the only thing we can do, to still have belief, because everything is possible."

'I’m honestly speechless'

FT: Man City 6-1 Aston Villa

Manchester City

Man City striker Khadija Shaw speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about reaching 100+ goals for the club: "Speechless. I don’t really know what to say to be honest. Coming into this game I knew that if I scored it would have been a really good milestone for me, but I’m honestly speechless. I don’t know what to say."

On the way she took her goals: "I think it’s a little bit of everything. Sometimes it’s instinct. Sometimes it’s practice. You practice in front of goal and the more you’re in front of goal the more confident you become. When I come in the games I know I have to be ready in the box for when the balls come and the service comes. I would say a little bit of both."

On reaching this milestone after a challenging year: "Yeah definitely. The beginning was a bit challenging, a bit difficult. Even a couple of weeks ago with what happened back home [in Jamaica] mentally it was a bit tough, but for me I just try to do the best that I can."

"I have always said that I try to focus on what I can control because when I focus on what I can control, the rest can do its bit. For me, a good job today, four goals, six points, and we keep going."

'I've had to play at training to make up the numbers'

FT: Brighton 0-3 Chelsea

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton manager Dario Vidosic speaking to Sky Sports:

"I thought we defended quite well in the first half, we conceded a world-class goal. That deflated us a little bit,.The Second half starts and we score an own goal trying to clear it. Then they found their groove. It was a tough one."

On the performance of goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley:

"It was good, she handled the week well, coming in. She's done well and there was not much she could do about the three goals. She made some really good saves."

On Brighton's injury issues:

"It's difficult for us at the moment, we've had academy kids stepping up to help us, I've had to step in at training just to make 11 v 11s. We prepare the best we can, but the intensity and everything lifts when you play the girls who were on the field today and the ones who came on.

"That change of speed caught us off. We never really got our rhythm, then we got a bit negative and weren't moving as much. We had one or two chances but weren't able to create more."

On the first half of the season:

"It's really positive. In the first 11 games I've fielded the same 11 only twice, every other week we have been forced into changes through injuries. You need a bit of time, players play together and find their rhythm, their connections, we have been lacking that. That is my wish to Santa, that everyone stays fit and healthy in the second half of the season."

'We can’t take anything for granted'

FT: Man City 6-1 Aston Villa

Manchester City

Man City boss Andree Jeglertz speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "We are creating so many scoring chances in different ways and scoring so many goals, I’m happy about that of course. We will continue doing that hopefully, but we need to continue working hard every day.

"We can’t take anything for granted. What we have done nobody will take that away from us but it’s in Spring that everything will be determined."

On Khadija Shaw's performance: "She is of course a great player and a great person I am really happy to have her in my team. To be able to score as many goals in the league like she is doing in the last years is fantastic. It shows something about the qualities.

"In every game she is a great teammate also. She knows everything is not about her. She is working every day to help the team to become a bit better. Happy to have her in the team. "

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur: Women's Super League stats & head-to-head  BBC

Goalkeeper John Victor makes his Premier League debut for Nottingham Forest.

He keeps his place from the Europa League win at Utrecht with Matz Sels out with a groin injury but Sean Dyche makes eight changes from Thursday's victory.

Nicolo Savona, Nikola Milenkovic and Neco Williams return along with Igor Jesus, Ibrahim Sangare, Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson and Omari Hutchinson.

Nottingham Forest XI: John, Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Hutchinson, I. Jesus.

Subs: Gunn; Morato, Douglas Luiz, Ndoye, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Bakwa, Zinchenko, Abbott.

Thomas Frank makes two changes to the Tottenham side from the Champions League victory against Slavia Prague.

Rodrigo Bentancur and Randal Kolo Muani replace Joao Palhinha and Wilson Odobert, who are on the bench.

Brennan Johnson returns to the bench after missing the mid-week win.

Tottenham XI: Vicario, Spence, Gray, Romero, Porro, Van de Ven, Bentancur, Kolo Muani, Kudus, Xavi, Richarlison

Nottingham Forest's Europa League campaign is a problem for their boss Sean Dyche, because it is a distraction from their relegation fight.

Of course Forest want to do well in Europe but if you asked Dyche what his priority is then it has to be climbing the table.

As for Tottenham, I still don't know what we are going to get from them.

Yes, they have won back-to-back home games against Brentford and Slavia Prague but that doesn't mean they have turned the corner.

A lot depends on what kind of team Dyche puts out on Thursday against Utrecht but if he focuses mostly on Spurs then I can see this being a very tight game.

I have already gone for a lot of draws this week, but this is another one where I don't feel confident backing either team to win it.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Premier League LIVE: Sunderland vs Newcastle, Palace vs Man City, Forest vs Spurs & West Ham vs Villa  BBC

Nottingham Forest seek to move further from the relegation places when they host Spurs at the City Ground on Sunday. BBC Sport explores some of the key talking points around this game.

Forest's 2-1 victory at Utrecht on Thursday was their first away win in a major European competition for 30 years.

The display was an improvement from the inferior showing at Everton last weekend, during which Forest shipped three Premier League goals without reply for the fourth time this season.

"We were nowhere near it on the physical side," admitted Sean Dyche after the 3-0 loss on Merseyside. "We were trying to come here to play, but we didn't start well. The players deserve a lot of credit, but they have to fight and play to their shape. We were well short of that."

Anderson is key

Elliot Anderson was one of the few players to emerge with any credit from the previous Premier League outing. The England midfielder had the most touches of any player with 94, completed the joint most passes with 60 and won 12 duels – two more than anyone else.

Anderson's importance to this Forest team is well documented and no other Premier League midfielder has contributed more line-breaking passes in the opponent's half this season than the 23-year old.

Forest completed the Premier League double over Spurs last season but Dyche has a poor record against the Lilywhites. The 54-year-old has won two of his 17 Premier League clashes with the north London club, drawing five and losing 10, with his last victory back in February 2022 while in charge of Burnley.

Frank finding solutions

Tottenham travel to the East Midlands seeking to win three successive games for the first time under Thomas Frank. The pressure had been mounting on the 52-year-old head coach after a series of limp London derby performances, but it appears one of the solutions to his side's problems was right under his nose.

Gray matters

The appearance of Archie Gray in central midfield has coincided with back-to-back home victories for Spurs and the 19-year-old is staking a serious claim to be part of Frank's starting XI going forward.

The teenager was comparable to a Swiss army knife under Ange Postecoglou last term and he was used in a multitude of positions, with centre-back and right-back his most common.

This season, he has predominantly played in his favoured midfield birth and seems, for now, to be the missing link between defence and attack.

Tottenham attacking midfielder Xavi Simons says playing in the Premier League has "always been the objective", but admits he is facing "a challenging period" for the first time in his career.

The 22-year-old joined Thomas Frank's side in August in a £51.8m move from RB Leipzig.

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show about why he wanted to play in the English top flight, Simons said: "I wanted to play in the best league in the world and prove to myself I could do it.

"That is the motivation I've always had. With no disrespect to any other league, there is everything here - technical players, physical players and tactical coaches.

"The project at Tottenham is really exciting too. We have a lot of good, young players in the squad and that is what got me most excited.

"I want to win titles this year and I want to compete for everything, so this was the right decision for me."

When asked about having a strong mindset at such a young age, Simons replied: "The mentality I have is because of my mum. I have the same mentality as her.

"If I had to describe my mindset in one word, it would be discipline. I never negotiate with myself and I know what I have to give up to get to where I want to be.

"A lot of things can happen to you as a footballer, in a positive way and a negative way, but the one thing you have to keep is discipline. That is a non-negotiable for me.

"Every day I wake up and say to myself: 'I need to stand up. Today is a new day and a new journey.'"

This will be seventh major European match between Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund – the German side won both in the UEFA Europa League in 2015-16 but Spurs have won all four in the Champions League, across the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns.

Borussia Dortmund have played more UEFA Champions League games against Spurs without winning than any other club (P4 L4), while they’ve only lost more often against Real Madrid (8).

Borussia Dortmund have lost 10 of their 14 away UEFA Champions League matches in England (W3 D1), including losing seven of their most recent eight visits (W1). They’ve lost at the Etihad this season in a 4-1 defeat to Man City.

Tottenham Hotspur are the only side to have won all three of their home UEFA Champions League matches without conceding this season, scoring eight goals in their three wins. They’re unbeaten in their last 23 home European matches (incl. qualifiers), winning 19 and drawing four since a 1-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in February 2020.

Tottenham have kept a clean sheet in 54% of their UEFA Champions League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (7/13). Among teams to play more than 10 games at a stadium in Champions League history, only Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón (62%, 21/34) and Arsenal at the Emirates (56%, 35/63) have kept a clean sheet in a higher percentage of their games at one stadium.

Borussia Dortmund have the highest shot conversion rate (24%) in the UEFA Champions League this season, and are the team who have overperformed their xG total by the biggest margin (+6.2 – 19 goals from 12.8 expected goals).

Tottenham’s most frequent source of goals in the UEFA Champions League this season has been own goals by the opposition (3), ahead of Randal Kolo Muani and Micky van de Ven who have scored two each.

Since the start of last season, Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy has been directly involved in more goals (22) than any other player in the UEFA Champions League (16 goals, six assists). His 16 goals are also the joint-most by any player in this period, along with Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé.

Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha has scored with three of his five shots from outside the box in the UEFA Champions League this season (60%). This is the highest conversion rate by a player with 3+ goals from outside the box in a single edition since Oscar for Chelsea in 2012-13 (3/4 – 75%).

Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck has made more line-breaking passes (85) than any other defender in the UEFA Champions League this season, while he also leads all defenders in the same metric in the competition since the start of last season (286).

Son Heung-min, as he did so often in a magnificent Tottenham Hotspur career, arrived on the scene with perfect timing.

The great South Korean, who scored 173 goals in 454 games for Spurs, was back at the club for the first time since leaving for Los Angeles FC in the summer.

It was fitting that it was a big European night that marked the return of the talisman who played a key role when Spurs reached the Champions League Final in 2019 and made his farewell appearance as captain when they won their first trophy for 17 years by beating Manchester United in the Europa League Final in Bilbao last season.

An emotional Son addressed Spurs fans before kick-off, receiving a predictably rapturous reception, before watching Thomas Frank's team take another important step forward with a comfortable Champions League win against Slavia Prague.

It was almost as if Spurs were fated to deliver in the presence of one of their modern greats, who went to view a mural painted in his honour before kick-off having been unable to say goodbye when he left for the United States.

Son's presence added a feel-good factor in an environment that has endured its share of toxicity this season as Frank has struggled to convince Spurs fans of his suitability to tackle a more high-profile task than at previous club Brentford.

And there is no doubt this has been a vital week for Frank, whose short spell at Spurs hit a low after the recent defeat at home to Fulham, when he publicly criticised those who jeered keeper Guglielmo Vicario after a mistake led to a goal as "not true Tottenham fans."

This is a high-risk, high stakes strategy. Frank needed results to back up that sort of confrontational talk and in the last three games Spurs have delivered.

Spurs came from behind twice to earn a point at Newcastle United, cruised past Frank's former club Brentford, then added this convincing 3-0 win against Slavia Prague to this mini-revival.

Before the victory against Brentford, Spurs had played 16 league games at home in 2025, winning only three and losing 10. This is the tide Frank has to turn.

This was not a perfect performance, with too many opportunities given to a mediocre Slavia side, but Spurs were always in control and have now moved to the edge of the top eight place in the Champions League table that guarantees automatic entry into the knockout phase.

In the Champions League context, it was also the perfect response to the 5-3 loss away to holders Paris St-Germain in their last game, in which Spurs actually played well for an hour before being over-powered by sheer quality.

The heavy defeat was something of an outlier in this campaign, with Spurs securing four clean sheets from their six games so far, conceding seven overall.

If Frank is looking for vital signs of progress, he will also detect them in the improved performances of Xavi Simons in his last two games, making one goal and scoring another against Brentford, followed by another significant contribution against Slavia.

He was joined by Mohammed Kudus in providing real threat – and even competition between themselves when Spurs were awarded two second-half penalties.

Before this, Spurs were given huge assistance with their opening goal after 26 minutes, Slavia defender David Sima directing a header past his own keeper Jindrich Stanek with some aplomb after Cristian Romero had flicked on Pedro Porro's corner.

Spurs' win was sealed with those two second-half spot-kicks, Simons very keen on taking the first before Kudus assumed responsibility successfully, but then getting his chance later when he was brought down by Igoh Ogbu.

Kudus had, at this time, been replaced by Mathys Tel. Captain Romero handed the ball to Simons, who completed the formalities.

Having lost six consecutive Premier League games against Spurs between 1998 and 2024, Nottingham Forest did the league double against them last season.

Tottenham haven’t won any of their five Premier League away games when conceding against Nottingham Forest (D1 L4), with all three of their victories at the City Ground being to nil.

Only bottom side Wolves (9) have failed to score in more different Premier League games than Nottingham Forest this season (8). However, when they do manage to find the net, Forest are unbeaten in their last 11 league games (W6 D5) since a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in April.

Following their 2-0 win over Brentford last time out, Tottenham are looking to win consecutive league games for the first time since August when they beat Burnley and Manchester City in their opening two games.

Only Crystal Palace have won more Premier League away games (5) and points (16) than Tottenham this season (4 wins, 14 points), while Spurs are also the only side to have scored in all of their games on the road so far this term.

Tottenham have the largest difference between goals scored (25) and expected goals (15) in the Premier League this season, netting around 10 goals more than their xG suggests.

Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has won just two of his 17 Premier League games against Spurs (D5 L10), with both of those victories coming with Burnley (2-1 February 2019, 1-0 February 2022).

Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche’s next Premier League defeat will be his 153rd in the competition, putting him joint seventh on the list of most managerial defeats in the competition alongside Arsène Wenger, albeit the Frenchman has managed 488 more matches (828) in the competition than Dyche (340).

Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson had made more line breaking passes in the opponent’s half than any other player in the Premier League this season (90).

Richarlison has been involved in more Premier League goals than any other Tottenham player this season (8 – 6 goals, 2 assists). The Brazilian has had a hand in 18 goals (17 goals, 1 assist) in his last 24 league starts for Spurs.