Inside Futbol

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Swindon Town boss Ian Holloway has admitted that he is a big fan of the style of football that Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou plays, ahead of meeting the club’s Under-21s.

Spurs Under-21s are having a difficult season so far as they have registered only one win in their last nine all-competition games.

They have drawn both their EFL Trophy games and League Two outfit Swindon are their opponents tonight at the County Ground.

Robins boss Holloway insisted that he is excited to play against a team that play under the influence of Postecoglou’s style of play.

And the Swindon manager kept no secrets about how much he likes ‘Angeball’ and admitted it will be difficult for his side to deal with the young Spurs side.

“Obviously, we are playing the Tottenham youth team, who play Angeball, which is wonderful”, Holloway told Swindon Town’s in-house media before the meeting with Spurs Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

“I am a big admirer of his [Postecoglou], how he rolls his full-backs in.

“It is a great challenge for me to try and get our team to do that.

“But, I am really looking forward to it; hopefully, we can play well I will see what else I have got in the squad.”

The Robins are currently struggling in League Two and the Spurs side will try and register their first EFL Trophy win of the season tonight.

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Galatasaray defender Davinson Sanchez will have scouts from English and Spanish clubs watching him in action against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League on Thursday.

Sanchez moved to Turkey from Tottenham only in 2023 and wasted no time in making a big impression with the Istanbul giants, growing his reputation and putting himself in line for a potential return to a bigger league.

The centre-back was linked with a move back to England in the summer where Everton were interested.

However, a transfer did not eventually materialise and Sanchez is still on Galatasaray’s books and is set to play in his side’s next game against Tottenham in the Europa League.

The interest in him has not waned and Sanchez is set to watched from the stands by scouts from multiple clubs, according to Turkish daily Takvim (via Sabah).

Among those who will watch Sanchez are English and Spanish clubs.

Which sides are going to check up on Sanchez is unclear.

The match will be a special occasion for the Colombian international against his former team on Thursday.

It now remains to be seen whether Sanchez is able to prevent Tottenham from registering their fourth Europa League win in a row.

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Tottenham Hotspur are not done and dusted if they want to sign a player they have an agreement for next summer as his will is likely to have a big say on whether or not a deal happens.

In the summer, Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou sanctioned a number of departures, including Emerson Royal, Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Giovani Lo Celso also went and for a cut-price fee to Real Betis.

However, the low-cost acquisition came with a price for Real Betis as Spurs have an agreement with the Spanish club to be able to sign Johnny Cardoso for a set price next summer.

Cardoso has become an important part of the Real Betis side since last season and Spurs will be able to trigger a clause which could see them sign the player for €25m, during a set window.

However, whether Spurs do pull the trigger and whether the deal happens depends in large part on the player.

According to Spanish daily Marca, Cardoso’s will is likely to have a big say on if the move happens.

Tottenham could have work to do in order to convince the midfielder to make the switch to north London.

Cardoso has so far made 12 appearances for the Spanish side in the current campaign, being booked once.

A United States international, his contract at Betis runs until 2029.

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Tottenham Hotspur legend Graham Roberts feels Spurs’ 4-1 win over Aston Villa was their best ever result under Ange Postecoglou.

Spurs trailed 1-0 in the Premier League clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to a Morgan Rogers goal for Villa with 32 minutes on the clock.

A strong response was on the cards from Spurs in the second half though as goals from Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke (two) and James Maddison, saw off the visitors.

Postecoglou even took off Heung-Min Son with the score level at 1-1, but it did not stop Spurs from sealing all three points and Roberts was impressed.

He feels that the result was the best Tottenham have had under Postecoglou, while reserving special mentions for Radu Dragusin, Pape Matar Sarr and Dominic Solanke.

“Considering the effort the lads put in the during the week and the injuries in game that was for me our best result in two years under Ange, absolutely superb”, he wrote on X.

“Proud of the lads to a man today and special mentions to Radu today Sarr and Solanke.”

Spurs will now look to build on what is a key win over top four rivals in the shape of Aston Villa.

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Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 14:00 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has selected his team to welcome Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon.

The Premier League clash brings together two teams who have aspirations of finishing in the top four this term.

Both sides had contrasting fortunes in midweek as Spurs dumped Manchester City out of the EFL Cup 2-1, while Aston Villa were knocked out by Crystal Palace, also by a 2-1 scoreline.

The last meeting between the two happened in March this year at Villa Park and saw Spurs score an impressive 4-0 win.

Tottenham are without defender Micky van de Ven, who has a hamstring strain.

Guglielmo Vicario is Tottenham’s goalkeeper today, with a back four of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Radu Dragusin and Destiny Udogie in front of him.

In the engine room, Postecoglou goes with Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Dejan Kulusevski also plays.

Leading the attacking threat are Brennan Johnson, Heung-Min Son and Dominic Solanke.

If Spurs need to make changes then they have options on the bench that include Timo Werner and James Maddison.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Manchester City

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Dragusin, Udogie, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Son

Substitutes: Forster, Davies, Gray, Bissouma, Bergvall, Maddison, Moore, Werner, Richarlison

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AC Milan senior advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic has added one of Tottenham Hotspur’s in-form players to the Rossoneri’s transfer wish list..

Spurs made some significant signings in the summer transfer window and were able to see off any interest from other clubs in their important players.

Ange Postecoglou is plotting a successful campaign for Spurs this season and is leaning heavily on his side’s attacking power to make a key difference.

He has so far been able to count on attacker Dejan Kulusevski, who has been in top notch form, scoring twice in Spurs’ last four Premier League games and providing two assists in their recent EFL Cup win over Manchester City.

Kulusevski’s form has not gone unnoticed and, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato.com, Ibrahimovic has placed him on AC Milan’s wish list.

It has been suggested that the north London club would want a minimum of €50m to let their Swedish star go.

Kulusevski is happy at Tottenham and does not appear to be looking for the exit door.

However, former Sweden superstar Ibrahimovic could play a key role to convince Kulusevski to make his decision about coming back to Italy.

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Tottenham Hotspur star Archie Gray has revealed that being a Celtic supporter, the chance to play Rangers at Ibrox will be a special thing for him and he cannot wait for it.

Gray signed for Tottenham only in the summer and has already featured in four Premier League and three Europa League games for them.

Though there are quite a few games Tottenham still have to play in the Europa League league phase and there is one particular game that Gray is keenly relishing.

Spurs are scheduled to play Rangers at Ibrox on 12th December and the game has particular significance for the 18-year-old.

Having supported Celtic while growing up, Gray insists that taking on the Bhoys’ arch rivals Rangers holds special significance.

Gray admits he has attended a clash between Celtic and Rangers and cannot wait to play at Ibrox.

“Definitely [looking forward to the Ibrox game]”, Gray told football.london.

“Especially watching Celtic and supporting them a little bit you always look for the Rangers game.

“The chance to play at Ibrox is a special thing and I can’t wait for it.

“I have been to one [Celtic-Rangers game] and it wasn’t at Ibrox.

“They’re brilliant games and I love them every single time.

“Even on TV they’re just as good to watch.”

Gray switched from Leeds to Tottenham only this summer for a fee worth between £30m and £40m.

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Juventus would like to take Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin back to Italy on loan in the January transfer window.

The 22-year-old centre-back joined Spurs from Italian outfit Genoa in the winter window earlier this year, but he has struggled to break up the partnership between Cristian Romero and Micky van den Ven.

In the summer, Napoli showed interest in taking Dragusin back to Italy, but Tottenham decided to keep hold of him.

Italian sides have continued to note Dragusin’s lack of football and now Napoli have been joined by Juventus in wanting the Romanian.

According to Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport (via AreaNapoli), Juventus are interested in signing Dragusin in January.

The Turin giants would like to snap up Dragusin on a loan deal.

Tottenham are claimed to want to cash in on Dragusin if he goes and would ask for at least €25m to do business.

Dragusin has a contract with Spurs until June of 2030 and it remains to be seen whether he will be joining an Italian side in the winter.

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has claimed the Spurs squad have a very high ceiling, after they put Manchester City out of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.

Postecoglou’s side have had an up and down season so far, with regular failings in the Premier League leaving questions over their top four hopes.

However, on Wednesday, Tottenham knocked Manchester City out of the EFL Cup by defeating them 2-1 at home to progress to the next round.

Postecoglou stated that he is constantly seeing his Spurs side grow and believes that wins against teams like Manchester City help to accelerate their progress.

The Tottenham boss stated that he is very optimistic and bullish about defending his players, as he thinks that the Spurs group have a very high ceiling.

“I continue to see growth in this group of players and this team”, Postecoglou said in his post match press conference.

“I want them to have these moments because I know how important it is to accelerate the growth of what we’re doing.

“But for me, personally, nothing really changes.

“It’s about trying to continually push this group to become the team we want to be.

“We’re not there yet, fair to say.

“But as I said yesterday, I’m really optimistic and bullish about this group of players.

“I just think they’ve got a really high ceiling and we’ve just got to keep focusing on that.”

Tottenham will face Manchester United in the next round of the EFL Cup on 17th December in front of their home crowd.

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Ashley Phillips has revealed that he is keen to start regular games for Stoke City, where he is on loan, and added his goal for the loan was to get experience of regular football.

Spurs signed that highly rated young centre-back in 2023 from Blackburn Rovers and he is currently on loan with Stoke.

Phillips has featured five times for Stoke in all competitions since joining and on Tuesday he scored his first goal at senior level against Southampton in their EFL Cup fixture.

After starting a game at the weekend against Sheffield United, the Spurs loanee made his second straight start on Tuesday against Southampton and added that he is eager to play regular games.

Phillips admitted that his goal behind the loan spell is to get as much regular football as possible and hopes that his performance against the Saints will be able to convince Narcis Pelech to give him more opportunities.

When asked about how eager he is to play regularly, Phillips told Stoke City TV: “Very eager.

“It is the reason why I came, to get regular performances, and hopefully performances like that can help to convince the gaffer.”

The Tottenham loanee earned praise from Stoke boss for his performance on Tuesday and he will be eyeing a place in the starting line-up against Derby County at the weekend.