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Tottenham Hotspur have a tough task ahead of them when they take on Arsenal on Sunday, but there are three players who could make the difference for the hosts.

Tottenham Hotspur have never looked more like underdogs going into a North London derby than they do right now, but that does not mean a victory is off the cards.

Igor Tudor just so happens to be the mid-season specialist, and he will be looking to make an instant impact at Spurs with a big result at the weekend.

However, the Tottenham first-team squad has more than its fair share of injuries, so big performances are needed from those set to take to the pitch. Here are the three Spurs players who could have what it takes to get their team over the line.

Micky van de Ven is the ultimate threat

It is rare for a player to be his club’s best available defender and their most dangerous attacking threat too, but here we are.

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Micky van de Ven will be crucial to Tottenham, as he uses his pace to make recoveries and win duels, but that is just one aspect of his game.

The Dutchman is an aerial threat at set pieces, and he also has an eye for goal whenever he finds himself on the edge of the opposition penalty area.

If Spurs are to claim a surprise victory over Arsenal, van de Ven will surely contribute in some shape or form.

Xavi Simons can unlock Arsenal’s defence

Tottenham fans were left red-faced when Eberechi Eze hammered home a hat-trick in the North London derby earlier this season. Then there was Xavi Simons, who was signed instead of the England international, yet looked like a massive flop.

Plenty has changed since then, with the 22-year-old silencing those who chose to disrespect him with some tremendous attacking displays.

Simons can create moments of magic with just one pass, and his innovation could be the difference between Spurs winning or losing their upcoming derby fixture.

It will be very interesting to see whether the attacking midfielder looks even more dangerous under the management of Tudor, as Frank’s system appeared to hold him back.

Dominic Solanke has been scoring goals for Tottenham

There have been a number of attacking players at Spurs who have failed to perform this season, but Dominic Solanke has gone the opposite way.

The 28-year-old struggled in front of goal during his first campaign at Tottenham, but he has already netted four times since his long-awaited return from injury.

Solanke is really impressive as a link-up player, and he looks even better as a goalscorer, although he has not scored in his two most recent appearances.

Can the Englishman rediscover his shooting boots and get Spurs a goal or two on Sunday? Let us hope so.

Tottenham Hotspur have been eyeing a move for a Championship starlet since last summer, but they will face Man United competition.

One would expect Spurs to bolster the middle of the park in the summer, with Tottenham keen on adding a top-class creative passer to their midfield.

Adam Wharton has been described as Tottenham’s dream midfield target, but the North Londoners may have to set their sights a little lower as they look set to miss out on European qualification.

Spurs were reportedly considering a move for Middlesbrough’s £30m Hayden Hackney in January before they signed Conor Gallagher, but a deal for the Boro star may not be easy to complete in the summer.

Tottenham face Manchester United competition for Hayden Hackney

TEAMtalk have now claimed that Tottenham also explored an approach for Hackney last summer, but ultimately, Boro were not willing to sell their midfield starlet.

The London club may have more competition to contend with in the summer, as the report says that Man United are now monitoring the 23-year-old ahead of the summer window.

The Red Devils allegedly view the England U21 international as someone who can bolster their midfield depth and as part of their long-term succession planning.

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The belief at the Manchester club is that the Championship star is capable of developing into a Premier League regular.

Middlesbrough’s fate this season could dictate Hackney’s future

TEAMtalk say that Boro priced Hackney out of a move in the January window after Nottingham Forest showed ‘serious interest’.

The report says that the belief is that the midfielder will be playing Premier League football next season, either through his boyhood club being promoted or by making a big move.

Boro are currently sitting in second place in the Championship table, and the publication adds that they will be in a strong position to retain their academy graduate should they get promoted to the top flight.

Ramon Vega, who was one of Thomas Frank’s biggest critics, believes that Igor Tudor will instantly fix one of the Dane’s mistakes at Tottenham

Multiple times over the last few months, Vega insisted that the Spurs job is simply too big for Thomas Frank.

The former Tottenham defender even suggested that the Spurs players did not respect Frank, claiming that the Dane was too nice for the role.

The 54-year-old may feel that he has been proven right, given the reports that have come out since the former Brentford boss departed Tottenham Hotspur.

Ramon Vega says Igor Tudor will demand discipline from Tottenham players

It was reported by The Athletic last week that Frank struggled to get the Tottenham players to work hard in training and that the intensity of the sessions under the Dane dropped compared to those under Ange Postecoglou.

Vega believes that the new interim Spurs head coach will not allow standards to drop and will demand full discipline from the Tottenham squad.

He wrote on X about Tudor: “One thing is for sure about him. He is a no-nonsense manager. He will demand 100% discipline and character from the players. This dressing room needs to be after no respect for Frank to keep us up.”

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Tudor has told Spurs fans what to expect

In his first interview as Tottenham boss, Tudor revealed that he has asked each Spurs player to give something more than they have recently as the club attempts to get out of the difficult spot they are in.

The Croat has also expressed a desire for Spurs to play positive and offensive football, which would be music to the supporters’ ears.

Tottenham are battling two other Premier League clubs for a former Chelsea star, who is dominating the Serie A this season.

Spurs are expected to prioritise strengthening their forward line in the summer, and they have reportedly set their sights on a winger who has scored eight goals and provided two assists from just 17 Serie A games this season.

It has been reported over recent days that Tottenham have moved into pole position to land Christian Pulisic from AC Milan.

According to an update by CaughtOffside, Milan are expected to demand £60-£70m for Pulisic, and it has now emerged that the Lilywhites will have to battle two other clubs for the winger.

Tottenham facing competition from Arsenal for Christian Pulisic

The USA international is not only Milan’s top scorer this season, but is the joint second-highest goalscorer across the Italian top flight, with only Lautaro Martinez having found the back of the net more often in the competition.

He has thus emerged as the linchpin for this Rossoneri side, and according to Football Insider, his form has attracted a lot of interest from the Premier League.

The report claims both Tottenham and Arsenal have expressed an interest in a summer deal for the 27-year-old.

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The two North London clubs have also joined in the race for Man United, but Milan are not expected to let him go without a fight.

Milan are reluctant to lose Pulisic

Pulisic is set to enter the final year of his contract at the San Siro this summer, but Football Insider reveal that Milan hold an option to extend it by one more year.

The Serie A giants are ‘extremely reluctant’ to lose the former Chelsea man despite the interest from the Premier League elite.

Former Tottenham Hotspur scout Mick Brown reveals that one former Spurs player is very high on the North London club’s managerial wishlist for the summer.

Igor Tudor has taken charge of Tottenham until the summer, but reports indicate that Tudor is not likely to be given the job permanently unless something extraordinary happens over the coming months.

It has been claimed that Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi are among Spurs’ leading contenders, but more recently, another English manager has also been mooted as a contender.

Just a few days ago, TEAMtalk reported that the Tottenham hierarchy have been very impressed with Michael Carrick’s work at Man United, having considered him for the role last summer as well.

Brown has confirmed that the Lilywhites have indeed been keeping tabs on their former midfielder, but suggested that the 44-year-old will also be of interest to many other clubs.

He asserted that Carrick will be one of Tottenham’s top targets should United decide against appointing him permanently.

Brown told Football Insider: “Tottenham Hotspur are keeping tabs on Michael Carrick. He’s obviously got connections at the club after his time there as a player, the same as he does at Man United, so he’ll be on their radar if he is available.

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“They’ve been impressed by the job he’s done at United in the short time he’s had. Carrick has been impressing at Man United and that’s going to mean a lot of clubs are looking at him, including Tottenham, if he doesn’t get the job.

“Man United, obviously, are in control there and if they decide he’s the man they want, then that’s the job he’ll get regardless of who else wants him. But if he becomes available, I’m sure he’s going to be very high on the list at Tottenham, because they’re looking at all of their options.”

Brown says Spurs are confused about which manager to turn to

Over recent days, there have also been suggestions that Tottenham have discussed a move for Eddie Howe, who has come in for criticism at Newcastle this season.

Brown claimed that there is confusion at the North London club regarding what to do next after the recent managerial failures at the club.

The former Tottenham scout added: “It’s difficult to see where Tottenham are going to go with their next manager, do they want to go back to attacking football or stick with a stable, pragmatic style?

“They can’t seem to decide, they’ve bounced between the two for so long with Mourinho, Conte, Postecoglou, now Frank and none have worked out.”

Tottenham Hotspur have been told that one of their midfield targets is not for sale this summer, and he has Premier League experience.

After a quiet January window, reports indicate that Tottenham are plotting an ambitious squad rebuild in the summer.

One would expect that to include significant reinforcements in the middle of the park, where Spurs have been lacking in options to create chances and progress the ball.

It was revealed by former Tottenham scout Mick Brown a few days ago that Spurs are eyeing a move for Everton’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Everton will not sell Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Tottenham

After his struggles at Chelsea, the 27-year-old has impressed at the Hill Dickinson Stadium this term, scoring five times and providing four assists in 19 Premier League outings so far.

Football Insider have now claimed that Everton will resist any attempts to prise Dewsbury-Hall away from the club at the end of the season.

The Toffees want to kick on next campaign and build on the foundation they have laid, and are set to take a firm stance that they will ‘definitely’ not sell their star midfielder.

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It is revealed that Spurs will thus be forced to look elsewhere for centre midfield additions in the summer window.

Spurs may struggle attract the calibre of players they want

This report comes amidst repeated claims over recent weeks that Adam Wharton has emerged as Tottenham’s dream midfield target.

However, as one would have expected, Spurs are not the favourites to land the Crystal Palace star, who is also attracting interest from several top clubs in the Premier League.

With the Lilywhites looking set to miss out on European qualification, they will likely have a hard time convincing elite players to come to N17 in the summer.

Bayern Munich director Max Eberl has responded when asked about the Bundesliga club’s interest in Tottenham starlet Luka Vuskovic.

The 18-year-old centre-back has surpassed all expectations in his first taste of football at the highest level, and his stock is continuing to grow with each appearance for Hamburg.

Unsurprisingly, Vuskovic’s impressive displays this season have garnered the attention of some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

One of those is Bayern Munich, who are planning to test the waters for the Spurs youngster in the summer transfer window.

Max Eberl keeping his cards close to his chest regarding Tottenham’s Luka Vuskovic

Amidst the transfer speculation, we have also seen some Bayern Munich legends waxing lyrical about Vuskovic.

However, Eberl has now revealed that Bayern are relaxed about their squad planning for the summer and suggested that the targets will be finalised by the time the transfer window opens.

He was asked about centre-backs like Vuskovic, Inter Milan’s Yann Aurel Bisseck and Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck being linked with a switch to the Allianz Arena.

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Erbel responded to Sport1: “We’ve reached the point where we’re not under pressure regarding squad planning. We can calmly decide what happens next. Of course, we’re still keeping an eye on the market. We certainly won’t rule out any option that would benefit Bayern.

“I’m someone who finalises his squad planning early. I managed to do that in Mönchengladbach, in Leipzig, and, incidentally, here at Bayern as well. Everything was done by mid-July, before the start of preseason training.”

Spurs have no intention of letting Vuskovic go

According to updates over recent weeks, Tottenham are expected to rebuff any approaches for Vuskovic in the summer.

In fact, it has been reported that Spurs have already knocked back approaches from Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig for the 18-year-old.

Tottenham Hotspur have been warned by Bobby Zamora that a club legend will not return to North London, despite reports in the media suggesting the contrary.

Spurs have been struggling for an identity since 2019, having had several failed managerial experiments.

Reports indicate that Tottenham are keen to return to their DNA and are thus targeting bringing Mauricio Pochettino back to the club in the summer.

However, Spurs have now been asked to forget about the idea of reuniting Pochettino with another club legend, with whom he worked at N17.

Bobby Zomora claims Harry Kane will not consider Tottenham return

Tottenham have a first refusal option on Harry Kane, who is continuing to break records at Bayern Munich.

Reports over recent months have indicated that Spurs are hoping to pull on Kane’s heartstrings by selling the prospect of a fairytale return to N17.

However, Zamora believes that the England captain will only return to the Premier League to play for a club where he can win major trophies.

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When asked if Kane would return to Tottenham, the former Spurs striker told William Hill: “I don’t think we will. He’s happy there and doing very, very well. It will be interesting. I can’t see it. If he comes back to England for a last hurrah, I think he will want a real opportunity to win one of the major trophies in England.

“If it’s one season, or two seasons he has back in the Premier League, he will certainly want to give himself the opportunity to win something – because obviously he never managed that at Spurs. As things stand, they don’t look like frontrunners to be able to nab him, in my opinion.”

Kane is not expected to leave Bayern Munich this summer

Tottenham’s record goalscorer has played down talks of leaving Bayern and has suggested that he could stay in Bavaria beyond the end of the season.

Reports from Germany have even indicated that Kane is willing to extend his contract with the Bundesliga giants and has already decided against a summer exit.

It appears that Spurs fans may thus have to forget about the dream of bringing the superstar back for at least another 18 months.

Tottenham Hotspur are plotting a move for a young Japanese forward who has been setting Belgian football alight this season.

Spurs have struggled for goals this season, and the club may thus be keen on adding more firepower to their forward line in the summer.

Additionally, Richarlison has been linked with a summer exit from Tottenham, while reports indicate that the Lilywhites are not likely to sign Randal Kolo Muani permanently.

That means that a number nine could be a priority for the club in the summer, and a young centre-forward has now reportedly caught their eye.

Tottenham battling Premier League rivals for Keisuke Goto

SportsBoom have now revealed that Japanese starlet Keisuke Goto has caught Tottenham’s eye with his performances in the Belgian top flight.

The youngster is on loan at Sint-Truidense (STVV) this season from RSC Anderlecht, and has delivered dominant performances, with 12 goals and four assists in 25 outings.

This has caught the attention of Europe’s elite clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, who want a versatile striker with a high work rate. The North Londoners are said to have been impressed by Goto’s mobility, which has seen him climb to the top of their shortlist.

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However, Tottenham face competition from Newcastle, Wolves, Chelsea, and Brighton, who are all eyeing a summer move for the centre-forward.

How much would Spurs have to pay for Goto?

SportsBoom say that the 20-year-old has also attracted interest from Germany, with Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart also monitoring the youngster.

Anderlecht maintain they have yet to receive a formal bid, but it is rumoured that Goto’s representatives have held preliminary talks with interested parties in London.

The outlet adds that the Belgian club are expected to demand a fee in the region of €15m–€20m (£13.1m-£17.4m) for the Japan international.

Tottenham Hotspur have been warned of the monumental financial hit they would take if they are relegated from the Premier League.

Spurs find themselves at the very real risk of going down to the Championship for the first time since the Premier League began.

The Lilywhites are one of five Premier League clubs to have never gone down to the second tier, but they now find themselves just five points off the drop zone, with 12 matches to go.

What makes the situation more concerning is that they have a new interim boss, Igor Tudor, who is new to English football, while Tottenham are also ravaged by injuries at the moment.

Financial expert warns relegation could cost Tottenham £100m

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has estimated the huge hit the Lilywhites would have to take financially if they find themselves finishing in the bottom three.

He believes that the overall impact of relegation for a club of Tottenham’s size could come to nine figures.

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Maguire told The Daily Mail: “The costs of relegation to clubs of that stature are probably in the region of £100million. The club that finished bottom of the Premier League two years ago, the last set of data we have, got £111m.

“I think by the end of this season, we’ll be looking somewhere in the region of £120m from the television companies alone. That will drop to around £45m in the Championship. So that is already about £75m.

“You then look at gate receipts. I don’t think clubs will necessarily have to cut prices as far as season tickets are concerned because you’re offering more matches in the Championship than in the Premier League but for matchday tickets, if West Ham have Hull or Swansea on a Tuesday night, they’re not going to be able to charge prices to the level they have in the Premier League.

“Matchday revenues from hospitality will be substantially down because the commercial department really will have their work cut out to sell all those boxes.”

“In the Championship, [relegated clubs] are getting probably a fifth or a 10th of the money coming from your shirt sponsor deals compared to the Premier League because your matches are not going out to all those different countries.

“You won’t be able to charge for perimeter advertising to the same extent and so on. You add all those numbers together, and they have a £100m black hole they will have to fill.”

Spurs could lose out on tens of millions even if they stay up

Even if the North Londoners manage to steer clear of relegation, they may have already cost themselves dearly by their poor domestic showing this season.

This is according to The Telegraph, Tottenham may lose out on ‘tens of millions’ in sponsorship revenue after this season.

This is because the club’s commercial partners are already reviewing the contracts they signed with Spurs after their extremely poor showing.