Inside Futbol

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Tottenham Hotspur loanee Josh Keeley has revealed that his future is up to his parent club Spurs and Leyton Orient to decide.

The Spurs goalkeeper joined League One outfit Leyton Orient this season on loan after signing a deal with Tottenham in the summer to extend his stay.

On Saturday, Keeley remarkably scored an equaliser in injury time against Oldham Athletic in the Os’ FA Cup fixture to push the game to extra time, which Leyton Orient managed to win through Dan Ageyi’s goal.

Spurs loanee Keeley has established himself as a regular for the League One outfit and Richie Wellens’ side might try to sign him on a permanent basis.

Keeley, however, pointed out that he still has a few years left on his Tottenham contract and thinks that his future is up to Spurs and Leyton Orient to decide.

When asked about his situation with Spurs, Keeley told Leyton Orient TV: “I have just signed a new deal there in the summer and so I have another few years left, but I think the talks are between Orient and Tottenham; it is not really up to me.

“It is up for them to decide.”

Keeley’s contract with Tottenham expires in June 2027 and it remains to be seen whether Spurs will be willing to let the young goalkeeper leave.

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Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 13:30 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur have named their starting line-up and substitutes for this afternoon’s Premier League meeting against London rivals Fulham at home.

Ange Postecoglou watched his side play out a 2-2 draw with Roma in north London on Thursday night, as Spurs continued their Europa League push.

Tottenham returned to winning ways in the Premier League last weekend with a stunning 4-0 win away at Manchester City and Postecoglou would love the same level of performance today.

Fulham were beaten 4-1 by Wolves on their last league outing and inconsistent results see the Cottagers sitting 12th in the Premier League table.

Tottenham have Fraser Forster in goal today, with a back four of Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie.

Midfield sees Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr start, while James Maddison, Timo Werner, Brennan Johnson and Heung-Min Son pose the attacking threat.

Postecoglou can turn to options off the bench if needed at any point and they include Sergio Reguilon and Dejan Kulusevski.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Fulham

Forster, Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie, Bissouma, Sarr, Maddison, Werner, Son, Johnson

Substitutes: Austin, Spence, Gray, Reguilon, Kulusevski, Bergvall, Olusesi, Williams-Barnett, Lankshear

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Tottenham Hotspur star Dejan Kulusevski is confident that Sweden boss Jon Dahl Tomasson and Nottingham Forest attacker Anthony Elanga will be able to solve any dispute between them.

Elanga has not been a regular in Tomasson’s Sweden squad this season as he last featured for the national team in early September.

In October’s international break, Elanga did not play a single minute for Sweden and Tomasson revealed after that the Tricky Trees forward has been snubbing his calls and texts.

In the November international break, Elanga was not called up, but Sweden’s form has remained bright nonetheless.

Spurs star Kulusevski, though, considers the situation to be not a dangerous one and he is confident that Elanga and Tomasson will solve it from their end.

He believes that fans have not seen the last of Elanga in a Sweden shirt.

“I have no problems with anything in life and if it is necessary, I know that it will be solved from both sides”, Kulusevski told Swedish daily Aftonbladet.

“There is no danger.

“Anthony is a fantastic footballer and I am sure he will help us in the future.”

Elanga came on off the bench for Nottingham Forest in their 1-0 win over Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Saturday.

The next chance for the winger to return to the Sweden fold will come in March.

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Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are amongst a host of Premier League sides keen on Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens, but could be disappointed if they want him now.

A product of Manchester City’s youth academy, Gittens left the Sky Blues in 2020 for Germany and worked his way through Dortmund’s youth set-up.

His performances both in the Bundesliga and the Champions League this season have been impressive, allowing him to catch the attention of top Premier League sides.

Gittens is wanted by Liverpool and Tottenham, along with Chelsea and Arsenal, according to German broadcaster Sky Deutschland.

Some of the clubs have even started initial talks to get clarity on what they would need to sign Gittens in the future.

Premier League sides are set to be disappointed though if they move soon as Gittens has no desire to leave Dortmund.

Gittens believes he is in the best place and feels settled at Dortmund.

Gittens’ camp have also maintained a healthy relationship with the club, giving last season’s Champions League finalists an advantage.

His deal is also set to run for another four years.

Gittens does see himself playing in the Premier League in the future, but English sides look set to have to wait.

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou thinks that when he is gone, everyone will crave his style of entertaining football.

Spurs 2-2 drew on Thursday night against Roma in the Europa League despite leading the game twice and a late equaliser in injury time from Mats Hummels forced Postecoglou’s side to share the points.

Tottenham boss Postecoglou has regularly come in for criticism due to his attacking style of football, which has cost them points several times since he took over.

Postecoglou stated that he does not understand the need for him to change his style of football to become more pragmatic and stressed that he will continue to push his side to play differently.

He pointed out that Tottenham would have missed out on a 4-0 win against Manchester City at the weekend if he decided to be pragmatic and sit back after the 2-0 scoreline.

The Spurs boss also added that people who are criticising him now will crave his style of entertaining football when he is gone from the Premier League.

When asked about whether he will take a pragmatic approach after the draw against Roma, Postecoglou said in his press conference: “Look, I don’t know how many ways I can say this.

“I understand it.

“Look, there’s plenty of room for pragmatism in walks of life and in football as well.

“But I’m just not interested in it.

“I don’t know why I need to change my approach to be like everyone else wants me to be.

“I’ll continue to push this team to be a bit different, to play football in a different way and maybe when I’m long gone you’ll all pine for my entertainment, and you’ll have had your fill of pragmatism.

“But look, if we were pragmatic I’d say at 2-0 up at City away, we’d have probably settled and we wouldn’t have got the victory we did and made it a special moment for our club.”

Tottenham Hotspur are set to take on Fulham on Sunday before they face Bournemouth on 5th December.

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Paul Robinson has expressed a note of caution around Tottenham Hotspur having to face Rangers, but insists Spurs still have their Europa League fate in their own hands.

Ange Postecoglou’s side twice led against Roma in north London on Thursday evening, but were pegged back twice, with an injury time Mats Hummels goal making sure the Italians claimed a point.

The result leaves Spurs on the cusp of the top eight in the lengthy Europa League table, following five games, and Scottish giants Rangers sit a place ahead of them on goal difference.

Rangers provide Spurs’ next Europa League opponents and though former Tottenham goalkeeper Robinson feels the side still have their fate in their hands, he issued a note of caution on the Gers.

While Spurs were drawing, Rangers were thrashing Nice 4-1 in France and Robinson admits the Gers are ‘different’ in Europe than they are in Scotland.

“Rangers in a European competition are different to their league form”, Robinson said on BBC Radio 5 live.

“For Tottenham to go away to Rangers, you would like to think Tottenham have still got it in their hands.”

In dropping points to Roma, Robinson believes that Spurs need to improve both in their organisation and leadership.

“Spurs have only got themselves to blame.

“From the set-play it is about organisation and leadership”, he added.

Rangers will welcome Tottenham to Ibrox on 12th December.

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Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Roma

Competition: Europa League

Kick-off: 20:00 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur have named their starting line-up and substitutes to play host to Italian giants Roma in the Europa League this evening.

Spurs thrashed Manchester City 4-0 at the weekend and it marked a return to winning ways after back to back defeats.

Spurs sit comfortably in the Europa League table with three wins from their four league stage games and start as favourites to get another win tonight.

Visitors Roma have won just one of their four Europa League matches and are now bossed by experienced tactician Claudio Ranieri; they arrive in north London on the back of a 1-0 loss at Napoli at the weekend.

Fraser Forster is between the sticks for Tottenham tonight, while in defence Ange Postecoglou picks Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies and Archie Gray as a four.

Midfield sees Spurs field Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Heung-Min Son lead the attacking threat.

Postecoglou has options to turn to off the bench if needed, including Timo Werner and Lucas Bergvall.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Roma

Forster, Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Son

Substitutes: Austin, Whiteman, Udogie, Hardy, King, Bissouma, Bergvall, Maddison, Olusesi, Williams-Barnett, Werner

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Ex-Leeds United boss Neil Redfearn is of the view that Tottenham Hotspur loan star Manor Solomon looked really sharp against Luton Town on Wednesday night and did his job well.

Tottenham agreed a loan deal with Leeds to let Solomon join them in the summer and in a sign Spurs continue to see him as part of their plans did not include any option for the Whites to buy him.

After missing the early part of the season due to an injury, Soloman is back fit and on Wednesday played his first 90 minutes since joining the club against Luton Town.

Leeds won the game 2-0 and Redfearn is of the opinion that the Tottenham loanee, despite not getting on the scoresheet, played his role very well in the game.

The former White boss also added that Solomon looked sharp and pointed out that the Spurs winger is facing tough competition in the Leeds team due to their strong forward department.

“I thought he looked really sharp”, Redfearn said post match on BBC Radio Leeds.

“He did really well throughout the 90 minutes.

“I thought he really played his part.

“I said it before that they [Leeds] have the best four wide players in the division by a country mile and there is good competition for places.”

The Tottenham winger has started three straight league games for Leeds and has found the back of the net twice.

It remains to be seen if Spurs will look to recall him in the January transfer window.

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Tottenham Hotspur full-back Destiny Udogie believes that his team-mate Djed Spence is an incredible player and admits the two are good friends.

After initially falling out of favour with his parent club, Spence had to go out on three different loan spells to Rennes, Leeds United and Genoa.

However, an impressive pre-season with Tottenham this year helped Spence regain his place in the first team squad and he was even given a new contract by the London club.

Since then Spence has played in four Premier League games and one EFL Cup match, with the chances of his increasing his overall first-team minutes being curtailed by injury.

The 24-year-old though has left his mark on his team-mates, one of whom is Udogie, who believes that the full-back is an incredible player and a good friend.

“Obviously I think Djed is an incredible player”, Udogie said at a press conference.

“We’re really close friends, we speak a lot and try to help each other in the game.

“As everyone in the group, you have to help and I hope he can help us as much [as he can].”

Spence’s current contract is set to keep him at Tottenham until at least the summer of 2028.

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has insisted that though he wants to play out from the back he does not need his goalkeepers to be Paolo Maldini or Michel Platini.

Under the 59-year-old manager, Tottenham have adopted an attacking style of football which involves playing out from the back.

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has played a key role in it all but is now set to be sidelined for a significant period of time after fracturing his ankle in the 4-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday.

Now as the manager prepares for his side’s upcoming matches, with veteran goalkeeper Fraser Forster in his plans, he has made it clear what he wants from his goalkeepers.

“I do want to play out from the back but I don’t want them to be Maldini or Platini”, Postecoglou said at a press conference.

“I keep telling our players not to pass back to our ‘keepers because they’re the ones with gloves on.

“Hitting long kicks is actually more difficult, there’s more skill involved.

“I’m asking them to do short passes.

“It’s more taking away the risk for them and having the structure to make it a clean process.

“It’s just about changing their mindset.

Tottenham are in Europa League action on Thursday night when they welcome Claudio Ranieri’s Roma side to north London in a league stage game.