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Thomas Frank has made it very clear how he wants Tottenham Hotspur to play, and Spurs fans will certainly be excited by his statement.

While Tottenham have made a solid and strong start to the Frank era, their positive results so far have been founded on a strong defensive foundation.

The Lilywhites are yet to really fire on all cylinders as an attacking force this season, which, in a way, is the polar opposite of the problem they had under Ange Postecoglou.

It is a balance that Frank is looking to get right, but the new Tottenham head coach is very clear in his mind on how he wants his side to play.

Thomas Frank wants to play the Tottenham way but with defensive solidity

The 51-year-old has insisted that he wants his side to be brave in possession of the ball and score a lot of goals.

However, he explained that the offensive flair should not necessarily come at the cost of defensive solidity, pointing out that it is important to defend well to win titles.

Frank told Football.London: “I think it’s extremely important that we are brave and we are offensive and we play forward. I think that’s crucial. Over the years, all the teams I’ve been part of, we’ve scored a lot of goals, and I’m convinced we will continue that way because that’s the way Tottenham should play and will play.

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“I think playing offensively, bravely and forward is extremely important but if you want to achieve something big and consistently over the years, you also need to be pretty good at defending. I haven’t seen one team achieve something fantastic without being good at defending.

“You can just see the Europa League final, I think that Tottenham did fantastic in that game, defended very well for a long time in the game. The best teams in the world are very good in almost all phases.”

Frank is confident Tottenham’s attack will click into gear

The Dane admitted that getting the offensive phase of play correct is harder and takes more time than mastering the defensive organisation.

However, Frank insists that he has already seen promising signs that suggest that his side will click into gear in the offensive phase of the game.

He added: “I think the most difficult thing in football is to try to score a goal. It’s a low-scoring game compared to a lot of other sports or a lot of other games. To get that free-floating type of play, that relationship between people, try to put structures in [takes time].

“Unfortunately, sometimes the opponent wants to interrupt it or disrupt it. So the offensive is definitely more difficult, but absolutely not impossible.

“And I also think that I’ve seen very promising, positive signs of the offensive part of the game as well.

“I think that the second half against Burnley was extremely good, how much we created. I like the way we went about it against West Ham, took a little bit of time to get into the game to create.”

Tottenham Hotspur came back from two goals down to earn a valuable point against Brighton & Hove Albion, but Randal Kolo Muani was unavailable to play the fixture.

Randal Kolo Muani is yet to make his first Tottenham Hotspur start since arriving on a summer loan move from PSG. However, he did make his debut in the Champions League, coming off the bench to play 15 minutes during the 1-0 win over Villarreal.

With Dominic Solanke remaining out with injury, Muani was expected to be given some first-team opportunities, but he was left out of the Tottenham first-team squad to face Brighton.

Spurs got off to a poor start and found themselves two goals down just after the half-hour mark. Despite this, Richarlison began a comeback which was completed by a Jan Paul van Hecke own goal, and each team ended up taking one point from the game.

Randal Kolo Muani missed Tottenham’s match through injury

It was reported that Randal Kolo Muani had a good injury history before he joined Tottenham. However, he has already been ruled out of his first match at Spurs due to a problem with his fitness.

Football London report that Thomas Frank left Muani out of his squad due to a dead leg he picked up in training. The striker was supposed to have been named on the Spurs bench until his injury.

Muani had only missed one game through injury in his senior career before today, due to a sore adductor while he was at Eintracht Frankfurt. The 26-year-old also missed a match at PSG with a virus.

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Will Kolo Muani get his Spurs opportunity?

Richarlison has rediscovered his goalscoring form after finding the back of the net against Brighton. As well as this, it seems Frank prefers Mathys Tel as a striker, considering he started there against West Ham.

Therefore, it is difficult to see how Muani will find his way into the starting lineup, especially when Solanke returns. However, he did well in his previous loan spell at Juventus and has not had enough time to showcase his talents. Tottenham’s schedule is already beginning to get busier, so perhaps Muani will get his chance when he returns.

Thomas Frank has provided an interesting response when asked about Tottenham Hotspur sitting near the top of the Premier League table.

Spurs sat third in the table going into matchweek five, having won three and lost one of their first four games. However, the Lilywhites picked up an extra point away to Brighton, pushing them up to second for a short time.

The most impressive thing about Frank’s men in the opening four games was their defensive solidity, with the Lilywhites proving nearly impossible to break down, conceding just one goal. Unfortunately, that tally tripled after conceding another two at the hands of Brighton.

Frank has labelled Cristian Romero as one of the best centre-backs in the world, and the Dane will be hoping that the Spurs captain can help his side keep plenty more clean sheets over the coming months.

Thomas Frank is not paying any attention to Tottenham’s position in the Premier League table

Tottenham may have made an impressive start to the 2025/26 campaign, but Frank insists he will not pay any attention to the standings until very late in the Premier League season.

When asked when he will start looking at the Premier League table, Frank smiled and responded (via Tottenham): “April? Let’s put it that way. I think I looked at the table a couple of times after one of the last games, and I thought, ‘ooh, is that team that high or that low?’ because I’m not looking at it.

“I’m trying really to focus on ourselves and our performances and what we can do. It is so easy to get dragged into something you can’t control.”

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Frank gives Spurs fans the license to dream

Tottenham have found themselves near the top end of the table at this stage of the campaign on a few occasions over recent years, only for the wheels to come off at the second of the season.

While Frank insisted that the supporters have a right to dream of the impossible, he also made it clear that he will remain focused on the here and now.

The Spurs head coach added: “I think for the fans, they should dream, they should hope and all that. That is what football is all about.

“I also dream and hope, but I’m a little bit closer to the action, so I need to stay level-headed and focus on the next training because it needs to be perfect like today.

“It was very good training, with the coaches, with the staff, top players. Everything ran very well, and then I need to do what I can to make sure we win more.”

The half-time whistle has blown between Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League, and the player ratings are in.

Tottenham player ratings vs Brighton

Guglielmo Vicario – After his first-half howler, the Italian had little to do after the break as Spurs pushed for a leveller. Barely tested, but the damage was already done. 4.

Pedro Porro – Saw lots of the ball in both halves of the pitch, sticking to his defensive duties while also supporting attacks as Tottenham pushed higher up. Put in some lovely crosses that Richarlison and co should have got a lot closer to. 6.

Cristian Romero – Much improved after the interval. Aggressive, front-foot defending and keen to step into midfield to win possession with the line higher. 5.

Micky Van de Ven – A quieter shift once Brighton’s threat faded. Stuck to his defensive basics and ventured forward only at set-pieces 5.

Destiny Udogie – Looked really bright considering this was his first 90 minutes of the season. Defended well on his side, while also overlapping and getting into some really dangerous positions. 6.5.

Rodrigo Bentancur – Improved in the second half, sharper on the ball as Spurs hunted an equaliser. Withdrawn for Simons as Frank reshuffled his midfield. 5.

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Joao Palhinha – With Spurs focused on attack, the Portuguese had little to mop up defensively but did his bit when needed, breaking up play with tackles and keeping possession moving. 5.

Lucas Bergvall – Loose with the ball at times, guilty of stray passes and lacking composure under pressure. However, he did drag Spurs up the pitch a few times too. You can see him trying to sniff out more goalscoring chances. 6.

Wilson Odobert – More direct after the break and tidier in possession, but still carried little threat in the final third. Replaced by Johnson. 4.5.

Richarlison – Dropped deeper to link play and involved himself more in the build-up. Still, his first-half goal was his only real impact in the box. 5.5.

Mohammed Kudus – Tottenham’s brightest spark once again, picking up where he left off in the first half, as he laid on Spurs’ second with a teasing cross that forced Van Hecke into an own goal, and he also created a glorious chance for Simons with a clever cut-back, only for the Dutchman to fire wide. 7.

Substitutes

Xavi Simons – On for Bentancur and operated as a No.10. Brought energy and incision, forcing a save from Verbruggen before dragging a Kudus cut-back wide. Spurs’ best chance fell to him. 6.

Brennan Johnson – Replaced Odobert on the left but had little impact and no clear sight of goal. 5.

Djed Spence – Came on for Pedro Porro in the 88th minute. N/A.

The half-time whistle has blown between Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion as Thomas Frank looks to make it three wins in a row, and the player ratings are in.

Tottenham Hotspur trail at the break in their Premier League fixture against Brighton, with a single goal separating the two sides.

We’ve rated every Tottenham player from 1 to 10 based on their first-half performance at the Amex Stadium.

Tottenham half-time player ratings vs Brighton

Guglielmo Vicario – Nothing the Italian could do about the opener, beaten cleanly by Minteh. But he’ll be kicking himself over the second, as Ayari’s strike from range should have been a routine save. Instead, Vicario let it slip by. 3.

Pedro Porro – Up against a tricky customer in Mitoma, and it showed, with the Spaniard beaten a few times down his flank. That said, his passing was sharp, and he tried to release the ball quickly when in possession; he also made a couple of overlapping runs. 5.

Cristian Romero – Brighton didn’t create much after their opener, but Romero will know he was at fault for playing Minteh onside in the build-up. 4.

Micky Van de Ven – Caught out for the first goal, far too eager to press high into midfield and leaving space behind for Minteh to exploit. 4.

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Destiny Udogie – Making his first start of the season and offered plenty going forward. Direct, aggressive, and repeatedly reached the byline to deliver crosses. Brightest of Spurs’ back line. 5.

Rodrigo Bentancur – Completely bypassed for Brighton’s opener, nowhere near Rutter in midfield as the move developed. 4.

Joao Palhinha – Spurs dominated the ball for large spells, leaving Palhinha with little defensive work. Still, he didn’t close down Brighton’s midfielders quickly enough, allowing them to pick passes and shoot too easily. 4.

Lucas Bergvall – The Swede worked hard to impact both ends of the pitch, but it was his mistake at the wrong end that proved costly. Sloppy in possession, gifting the ball straight to Ayari, who fired in Brighton’s second. 4.5.

Wilson Odobert – Given his first start and looked lively early on, linking nicely with Udogie down the left. But he lacked strength in the build-up to Brighton’s opener, muscled off it far too easily as the hosts broke away. 5.

Richarlison – Marked his afternoon with a poacher’s finish, reacting sharply after Kudus’ pass found its way into his path to pull one back for Spurs. Beyond the goal, his link-up play was tidier than usual, knitting attacks together with more composure. 6.

The Tottenham Hotspur team which will face Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League today has been announced.

Thomas Frank’s side come into the match on a high after Tottenham’s 1-0 win against Villarreal in midweek which saw them begin their Champions League campaign on a high.

A trip to the Amex Stadium is not an easy fixture as Manchester City found out earlier this season, having suffered a 2-1 defeat.

The Seagulls, however, only have the above-mentioned victory in the Premier League to their name with four points from their opening four matches.

What is the Tottenham team vs Brighton?

Frank confirmed on Friday that Dominic Solanke is still out with an ankle injury, but has returned to training outdoors along with summer signing Kota Takai, who is yet to make his Tottenham debut.

Mathys Tel’s ineligibility for the Champions League saw him miss out against Villarreal, having previously started in Tottenham’s 3-0 win against West Ham United last weekend.

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James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski remain sidelined, while Yves Bissouma and Radu Dragusin are both still not ready to feature.

This is the teams that take to the field at Brighton:

BRIGHTON XI: Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Gruda.

TOTTENHAM XI: Vicario; Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Palhinha, Bergvall; Kudus, Richarlison, Odobert.

Subs: Kinsky, Danso, Spence, Gray, Johnson, Sarr, Xavi, Scarlett, Tel

Tottenham must win their next five Premier League matches

Tottenham face a horrific run of Premier League fixtures in November where they will come up against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in succession.

Before then, Spurs will take on Brighton, Wolves, Leeds, Aston Villa and Everton which are all winnable matches if the club really do have aspirations of a top four finish this season.

First and foremost, Tottenham need to fully focus on the test ahead at Brighton, where they have failed to win on their last two visits.

Tottenham Hotspur are valued very differently by different platforms, with one financial analysis company claiming that they are the second most valuable club in the Premier League.

According to reports, since Daniel Levy’s departure, two different consortia have held talks with Tottenham regarding a takeover of the club.

Spurs have confirmed that they rejected two approaches to buy a stake in the club, including one from PCP International Finance Limited, headed by former Newcastle United chief Amanda Staveley.

ENIC have said that they are not looking to sell the North London club, but a new report has looked at what hypothetical value Tottenham Hotspur will be sold for if a takeover does go through.

Only Man City deemed more valuable than Tottenham in Premier League

TBR Football have now taken a deeper look at how various platforms rank Tottenham’s value compared to other Premier League and European giants.

They say that, according to the deductions of Forbes, KPMG’s Football Benchmark, Sportico, and others, Spurs are deemed to be worth between £2.5bn and £3bn.

Most of them put Tottenham at a lower value than Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, as well as European giants like Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.

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However, according to a study by data-driven financial insights platform Kinnaird Sports Intelligence, Tottenham are deemed the second most valuable club in the Premier League after Manchester City.

Their model uses a more scientific formula, emphasising the inherent underlying value as opposed to indexing against recent transactions.

Finance expert explains Tottenham’s commercial income boosts their value

TBR Football spoke to Kinnaird’s founder Joe Roberts, who explained that it is Tottenham’s commercial transformation over the last decade that gives them the edge.

He also pointed out that the club’s low wages-to-turnover ratio also makes it appealing to potential investors.

Explaining Kinnaird’s deductions, Roberts told the outlet: “Tottenham represent one of the Premier League’s most impressive commercial transformations.

“They have leveraged their multi-purpose stadium – valued at £1.5 billion as of June 2024 – to quadruple commercial revenue over the past decade, effectively decoupling commercial growth from sporting success.

“The Kinnaird Valuation Model, which heavily weights commercial revenue as an indicator of brand strength and resilience to sporting volatility, ranks Tottenham exceptionally well.

“The club’s latest accounts reveal Spurs generated nearly as much commercial revenue as they paid out in wages and salaries – delivering the Premier League’s highest brand strength multiplier.

“A stadium re-evaluation, uplift, and investment in the playing squad have also contributed to the sharp rise in valuation in recent years.

Tottenham have been handed a boost in their rumoured pursuit of a Brighton star as a new report has shed light on his future.

Jan Paul van Hecke has emerged as one of the most consistent centre-backs in the Premier League of late and is now being tipped for a big move.

It emerged last week that Tottenham are exploring a January move for Van Hecke, who is allegedly valued at £44m by Brighton.

It has since emerged that Spurs are expected to face competition for Van Hecke’s signature, and a new report has suggested that the player could indeed be on his way out of the Amex Stadium soon.

Football Insider now reports that the Netherlands international has resisted Brighton’s attempts to tie him down to a new contract so far.

The report says that Van Hecke made this decision after both Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle expressed an interest in his services during the summer.

The outlet also spoke to transfer market expert Pete O’Rourke, who revealed that the 25-year-old wants to play in the Champions League.

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O’Rourke said: “If a Champions League club came calling, [Van Hecke] might be interested in a move away to progress his career and play at the highest level possible.

“Brighton are obviously very happy with him, but there’ll be clubs looking at Van Hecke because at 25, he’s got real potential to become a top, top player for club and country. It’s no surprise that some of the bigger clubs across Europe are keeping tabs on him.”

Spurs have two aces up their sleeve in the Van Hecke transfer race

Spurs may have an advantage over Newcastle and Van Hecke’s other suitors if the defender becomes available in January.

The Brighton defender is an international teammate of Micky van de Ven and Xavi Simons, and Tottenham will be hoping the pair can persuade him to come to N17.

However, there may be a slight conflict of interest in Van de Ven’s case as the pair may be competing for one position at Spurs if the Segulls star does make the move to the London club.

Harry Redknapp has revealed what he expects to unfold at the Amex Stadium this afternoon as free-flowing Brighton take on a defensively resolute Tottenham Hotspur.

While Tottenham have made a strong start to the season, they have not managed to deliver complete performances since the first two games of the season.

Thomas Frank himself admitted that Spurs struggled offensively against Villarreal, and the Dane will be hoping for a better showing from his attackers against Fabian Hurzeler’s men.

Paul Merson has predicted a high-scoring draw between Brighton and Tottenham, while other pundits have given the home side the edge, but Harry Redknapp disagrees.

Harry Redknapp expects Tottenham to edge out Brighton

Chris Sutton has said that his gut feeling is that the Seagulls will overcome Spurs at home, but Redknapp admitted that Brighton have been a bit too hot and cold for his liking.

The former Tottenham manager expects a tight game with plenty of chances, but he backed the North Londoners to come out on top.

Redknapp told BetVictor: “Brighton have been quite up and down this season. I’ll be honest, I don’t quite know what to make of them. They looked excellent at home to City, but haven’t been great aside from that.

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“Aside from that defeat to Bournemouth, it’s been a great start for Spurs and for Thomas Frank. It was by no means a classic, but it was important that they started the Champions League campaign with a win, just to keep that momentum going. I think we’ll see a good game, plenty of chances, but I’m picking Spurs.”

Prediction: Brighton 1-2 Spurs.

Redknapp picked 22-year-old as the player to watch

Simons was not at his best against Villarreal, but the newcomer has shown enough glimpses of his quality in his two appearances to get Tottenham fans excited/

The Netherlands international has been picked as the player to watch in the encounter on the South Coast by Redknapp.

Tottenham Hotspur supporters are now calling on Thomas Frank to finally hand one player his first start of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action this weekend with a tricky trip to the Amex, where they face Brighton and Hove Albion.

Thomas Frank will be hoping his side can extend their winning run to three matches, having followed up last weekend’s derby success with an impressive midweek victory in the Champions League.

Yet, as Spurs prepare for gameweek five, a lingering debate remains amongst supporters, as a handful of players are still waiting to make their first start under Frank, and fans are now pressing for one of them to be unleashed.

Tottenham fans want Destiny Udogie to start vs Brighton

With the meeting against Brighton just hours away, Tottenham fans have taken to social media to call for full-back Destiny Udogie to be included from the start.

The Italian defender is yet to be named in Frank’s starting eleven this season, with Djed Spence occupying the left-back role and Udogie limited to cameo appearances from the bench.

When asked on X if they wanted Udogie to start against Brighton, one Tottenham fan replied: “Definitely and then sub later on in the second half.”

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Another added: “Maybe for energy levels and to overlap Xavi?” while a third simply said: “Definitely yes from me.” One more wrote: “Yes, if only to rest Spence to start on the right against Doncaster so we can rest Porro to start against Wolves.”

There were some mixed opinions, however, with one supporter saying: “The fear is it may compromise our defensive solidity, Spence is better defensively and Brighton away is a very tough fixture. I feel the Doncaster and Wolves games is where you can start Udogie. I like Udogie’s attacking attributes but he is a liability at the back.”

Another fan added: “If we can consistently switch up players for games we will have a much more fit and focused squad.” A further comment read: “Yes, so Porro then can be rested in the Cup.”

Udogie or Spence? Spurs’ left-back dilemma

Destiny Udogie is a quality player on his day, but Djed Spence looks in strong form at the moment, although it has to be said that the chemistry between him and Simons on the left does not appear to be the smoothest.

Spence often finds himself crossing with his weaker foot, which reduces the quality of his delivery into the box, something that Udogie could improve if handed the chance to start in his natural position.