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Son Heung-min Confirms Date of Imminent Tottenham Return  FotMob

Spurs will be looking to reinforce their Champions League credentials when they welcome Wolves to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening.

Tottenham look vibrant under Thomas Frank

Thomas Frank has enjoyed an excellent start to his reign in North London. After four years establishing Brentford as Premier League regulars, the Dane finally got his big move in the summer.

So far, Spurs have won three of their five league matches, including a solid 2-0 victory over Manchester City and they occupy third place in the table.

Frank even secured Spurs’ first Champions League win since November 2022 with a 1-0 triumph against Villarreal.

Wolves, on the other hand, are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table. With zero wins and 12 goals conceded, a clash against Spurs is the last thing they want to face.

Solace may be found in the EFL Cup. Vítor Pereira’s side dismantled Everton 2-0 in the third round. Now, this type of performance must be displayed in the top flight.

Key players

Under Frank, Spurs’ goals have come from several different sources. Richarlison was on the bench for the 3-0 win over Doncaster in the Carabao Cup, but he should return to the starting XI this weekend.

With three goals in seven matches, the Brazilian could be a key fixture under Frank.

Summer signing Xavi Simons has yet to get on the scoresheet, but he has registered an assist. Elsewhere, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Bergvall have also contributed effectively in the final third, recording six assists between them.

Pereira must end their winless drought in the Premier League sooner rather than later and this could influence his team selection.

Tolu Arokodare came off the bench against Everton in midweek and scored the clincher in the 2-0 victory. Jørgen Strand Larsen may not have a league goal to his name this term, but he did net twice against West Ham in the Carabao Cup last month.

Tenacious midfielder João Gomes will likely return to the starting XI against Spurs. The Brazilian ranks in the top 10% for both tackles (14) and duels won (34) in the top flight this season.

Team news

Randal Kolo Muani missed the cup clash with Doncaster with a minor injury and he could be missing from the clash against Wolves.

Ben Davies may also miss out, while long-term absentees include Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Drăgușin and James Maddison.

Only one player is a doubt for Wolves. Andre was taken off against Everton, but it looks as though his problem is a minor one. It remains to be seen whether he will recover in time for Saturday.

Prediction

Spurs’ early season form shows that they are a different animal under Frank compared to Ange Postecoglou. Last season saw the Old Gold win 4-2 at Molineux while also securing a share of the spoils away from home.

Saturday will be a much harder task given the North Londoners’ form of late. Expect the home side to emerge victorious this time: Spurs 3-1 Wolves.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

They stuttered along the way and they were playing arguably the worst team in the history of top flight English football, but Tottenham Hotspur WON A FOOTBALL MATCH against Southampton last weekend. It was only their fifth league win from their last 19, going back to November. After elimination from both domestic cups in the space of five January days and with them still 14th in the Premier League, the only realistic chance of Ange Postecoglou still being with the club by the summer would seem to be winning this competition, which would put them into next season’s Champions League. No pressure, Ange. But then, Eintracht Frankfurt haven’t been impressive recently either. They’ve lost four of their last six Bundesliga matches, though they do remain third, behind Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen.

Europa League pedigree

These two have met in European competition twice before. In 1981/82, Spurs won 3-2 on aggregate in the Third Round of the European Cup Winners Cup, while they also met in the 2021/22 Champions League, drawing 0-0 in Frankfurt before Spurs won the return match 3-2 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. These two have also each won this competition twice before; Spurs in 1972 and 1984, and Eintracht Frankfurt in 1980 and as recently as 2022, when they beat Rangers in the final.

Key players

This hasn’t been an especially brilliant season for many Spurs players, but one who’s coming of age is Brennan Johnson, who’s scored 16 this season in all competitions. He’s now their top scorer in both the Premier League and the Europa League.

The main goalscoring threat for Eintracht Frankfurt is Hugo Ekitike, who signed on loan from PSG last season before making his transfer permanent last summer. He’s scored 19 in 40 in all competitions so far this season.

Team News

Spurs remain without Radu Drăgușin, Dejan Kulusevski and Kevin Danso. Drăgușin will be missing for the remainder of the season, and while Kulusevski and Danso could return for the second leg in Frankfurt next week, though it’s touch and go and they may well be held back for the following weekend’s match against Nottingham Forest. Richarlison is understood to be close to returning, but this hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Eintracht Frankfurt have a fairly substantial injury list at the moment, but their big current concern will be the absence of experienced goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. He should be available for the second leg, but his experience – he has 9 caps for the Germany national team – will surely be missed.

Prediction

It’s Spurs, so there’s always going to be some degree of fatalism in the air, but Eintracht Frankfurt haven’t been in stellar form themselves of late and were eliminated in the first knockout stage of last year’s Europa Conference League. In line with their previous European meetings, I’ll go large on this one with a 3-2 win for Spurs, setting up a tight second leg in Germany next week.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

Southampton's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed following a 3-1 defeat by Tottenham on Sunday.

Brennan Johnson scored twice at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while Mathys Tel was also on target from the penalty spot to consign Ivan Juric's side to an immediate return to the Championship.

The Saints are the first side in Premier League history to be relegated with seven matches still to play.

Johnson did the damage with a first-half brace, rounding off a swift counter in the 13th minute, and doubling his tally by volleying home just before half-time.

Mateus Fernandes halved the deficit with a neat finish in the 90th minute, but after Welington felled Johnson in the box, Tel's stoppage-time penalty ended Spurs' four-match winless league run.

Ange Postecoglou's side, who had dropped to 16th place following Saturday's results, climbed to 13th, with Southampton remaining rooted to the foot of the table.

Data Debrief: Unwanted history for sinking Saints

Southampton have now been relegated in two successive Premier League campaigns, having only suffered the fate twice in their first 45 top-flight seasons.

Losing for the 25th time in their first 31 games, the Saints are only the third team to do that in a Premier League season after Sunderland (2005-06) and Sheffield United (2020-21).

With his brace, Johnson took his Premier League goal tally for the campaign into double figures (11), achieving the feat in a league season for the third time in his career.

Tel sealed the victory and, aged 19 years and 344 days, became the first teenager to score for Spurs in the top flight since Dele Alli in April 2016 (19 years and 365 days against Manchester United).

Two out of form London rivals

Neither club are in especially stellar form at the moment, with Chelsea having won just four Premier League games in 2025 so far and Spurs having won just three and both clubs having been eliminated early from both the EFL and FA Cups. Chelsea’s only recent wins have come against relegation fodder in the form of Leicester City and Southampton, while Spurs have failed to win any of their last three Premier League matches.

History

Chelsea have long had the upper hand in this fixture, with Spurs having won just two of their last sixteen meetings, going back more than six years. They’ve won more Premier League matches against Spurs – 36 – than any other team, while earlier this season Chelsea won 4-3 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Going back a little further, both sides have some degree of reason to be a little cheerful. Spurs won their last major trophy against Chelsea, the EFL Cup in 2008, and beat them in the 1967 FA Cup final. But the last time the two clubs met in a cup final, Chelsea beat Spurs 2-0 to win the 2015 EFL Cup.

Key players

Southampton aside, Chelsea haven’t scored more than a single goal in a Premier League match since the start of February. Enzo Maresca will, therefore, likely be pleased to see the return of Nicolas Jackson from injury. Jackson is Chelsea’s second highest goalscorer so far in the Premier League this season behind Cole Palmer with nine goals. But will Maresca throw him straight back in?

With the pressure starting to build on Ange Postecoglou, the Spurs manager needs big performances from his available big name players for this match. James Maddison scored the goal that finished off AZ in their recent Europa League last 16 match. Spurs will be needing his creativity in midfield if the Chelsea defence is to be unlocked.

Team News

Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson all returned to training for Chelsea during the international break, but Omari Kellyman and Marc Guiu both remain sidelined. The injury situation is worse for Spurs, who will be missing Radu Drăgușin and Dejan Kulusevski, while Kevin Danso, Richarlison and Lucas Bergvall all remain doubtful, though could be due to return after their combined international and FA Cup break.

Prediction

Ange Postecoglou needs a result, and while Chelsea away is a bit of a nightmare fixture for Spurs – they haven’t won at Stamford Bridge in seven years – another defeat would only continue to build the narrative that the manager will be on his way come the end of this season. Chelsea may still be patchy themselves, at times, but they have the necessary institutional arrogance to get through a game like this without too many worries. I’ll go for a comfortable 3-1 Chelsea win and the agony to continue to pile up for their London rivals.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has confirmed he will retire from professional football at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Vertonghen, who now plays for Anderlecht in his home nation, has been limited to just five appearances across all competitions after Achilles and ankle problems.

The 37-year-old retired from international football last July, ending his career with Belgium as the Red Devils' all-time appearance maker with 157 caps for his country.

Vertonghen started his career with Eredivisie side Ajax before completing a move to Spurs in 2012, and would spend eight years in north London.

The defender made 315 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 14 times and twice being named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.

He was also a key figure in Mauricio Pochettino's team that reached the Champions League final in 2019, a game they lost 2-0 to Liverpool in Madrid.

Following his spell with Spurs, Vertonghen joined Benfica on a three-year deal before signing on a free transfer with Anderlecht in 2022 after his previous contract was terminated.

Vertonghen cited an inability to properly prepare for games as key to his decision, and will hang up his boots after Anderlecht's final league game of the season against Genk.

"I have noticed that it is becoming more and more difficult to prepare myself physically for training sessions and matches and to show myself as the player I want to be," he said.

"Not only towards the fans and my fellow players, but also towards myself. That is why I will be stopping after this season."

Midweek wobbles and wavering form

Three steps forward, two steps back. It looked as though Spurs had turned a corner with three straight Premier League wins, but supine defeats to Manchester City and AZ have thoroughly eliminated that brittle optimism. What was most concerning about their performance in Alkmaar was how passive they were in a match of such clear significance for their season.

So this is not an ideal time to be playing highish-flying Bournemouth, although they too have had a little wobble recently. They booked a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend with a penalty shootout win against Wolves, though this came off the back of consecutive League defeats against Wolves and Brighton. They’re still in touch with a Champions League place, and European football for next season remains an entirely achievable ambition.

History

Prior to Bournemouth’s first promotion into the Premier League in 2015, these two clubs had only ever met once before. That came such a long time ago – February 1957, to be precise – that AFC Bournemouth were still called Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, and Bournemouth won 3-1 in the FA Cup Fifth Round. Spurs have won ten of their 15 meetings since 2015, but Bournemouth won 1-0 when they met earlier this season.

Key players

Arguably the most worrying thing about Spurs’ recent dip is that they’ve gone two games without scoring, when this team hasn’t previously had too much of a problem scoring goals for much of the season. The lack of creativity against both Manchester City and AZ was clearly evident. Heung Min Son seemed furious following the AZ match, but the team needs his goals if they’re to get through this encounter unscathed. Bournemouth’s fluidity has impressed all season, and Justin Kluivert has been a critical cog in their engine. His pace, movement and intelligence is an obvious threat to a Spurs defence which has looked rickety at times this season.

Team News

Spurs may have thought that their injury issues were resolving themselves, but the sight of former-Bournemouth man Dominic Solanke walking off against AZ in pain and clutching his back is an obvious concern. Dejan Kulusevski will also be missing, though Richarlison, Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven could return. For Bournemouth, Adam Smith, Marcos Senesi and Enes Ünal are all injured, while Illia Zabarnyi remains suspended after being sent off in their Premier League game against Wolves.

Prediction

Following a couple of insipid performances, Spurs need to get back to winning ways. They’ve lost a lot of the momentum they were starting to build. And although Bournemouth have lost three of their last four Premier League games, they’re only four points off a Champions League place so arguably have more to play for than the home side in this particular fixture. I’m going for a 2-1 Bournemouth win which everyone will think was a huge surprise but which wasn’t, really.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

Tottenham Hotspur is playing home against Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wed, Feb 26, 2025, 19:30 UTC. This is Round 27 of the Premier League.

Predicted lineups are available for the match a few days in advance while the actual lineup will be available about an hour ahead of the match.

The current head to head record for the teams are Tottenham Hotspur 12 win(s), Manchester City 19 win(s), and 4 draw(s).

Have scored 8 goals in their last 5 matches

Have scored 9 goals in their last 5 matches

Erling Haaland has the most shots on target per match for Manchester City (2.2)

Have scored 8 goals in their last 5 matches

Have scored 9 goals in their last 5 matches

Erling Haaland has the most shots on target per match for Manchester City (2.2)

Tottenham Hotspur is playing home against Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wed, Feb 26, 2025, 19:30 UTC. This is Round 27 of the Premier League.

A turning point

Saturday’s win over Ipswich Town was a landmark moment for Tottenham Hotspur. It marked the first time all season that they had strung together three straight wins in the Premier League, hinting at how Spurs are slowly turning around their fortunes.

Of course, Ange Postecoglou’s team are still a long way from where they want to be, sitting in the bottom half of the table with just 12 games of the campaign left. But there are finally reasons for optimism around the North London club.

Optimism is something that is in short supply around Manchester City after a damaging week for the Premier League champions. Indeed, back-to-back defeats to Real Madrid and Liverpool highlighted the fundamental frailties in Pep Guardiola’s side.

Against Liverpool, Guardiola set up his team to control possession. City, however, failed to create many opportunities. They could lean into a more direct approach against Spurs, but that risks turning the game into a basketball match. Guardiola faces a tactical conundrum.

Key players

Son Heung-min was back to his best in Tottenham’s 4-1 win over Ipswich, contributing two excellent assists for Brennan Johnson. The South Korean has scored eight goals against City in his career and could add to that tally on Wednesday night.

Mathys Tel is expected to start as Spurs’ attacking focal point as Dominic Solanke continues to make his recovery from injury. The young Frenchman will dovetail with Son on the left wing.

Kevin Danso’s arrival has steadied Tottenham’s defence and the Austrian will need to produce a big performance to keep Manchester City’s attack at arm’s length. Djed Spence, however, will give Spurs a way to get out from the back, whether that’s as a left or right back.

With Erling Haaland a doubt to feature, Omar Marmoush could be asked to lead the line for City once again with Phil Foden another option in the final third.

Jérémy Doku and Savinho could keep their place after starting against Liverpool, although Kevin de Bruyne’s lacklustre display could push Guardiola towards another central midfielder alongside Nico González.

The pace of the Tottenham attack will keep Nathan Aké and Rúben Dias on their toes with Abdukodir Khusanov another defender who could start for City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Team news

While Tottenham’s injury troubles have eased in recent weeks, they still have a good number of important players sidelined.

Indeed, Solanke, Radu Drăgușin, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison will all miss Wednesday’s match against Manchester City with Timo Werner set to face a late fitness test ahead of kick-off.

Haaland’s true fitness is still the subject of speculation. The Norwegian wasn’t included in the squad to face Liverpool on Sunday, but Guardiola has remained coy on whether he could play against Tottenham.

Long-term absentees Rodri, John Stones and Manual Akanji will all miss the trip to North London with Oscar Bobb also a doubt.

Prediction

We’re going with goals, and the home side to shade it: Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 Manchester City

(Cover image from IMAGO)

Tottenham Hotspur - fixtures, team info and top players  FotMob