Football London

Here are our Tottenham player ratings after their FA Cup exit at the hands of Aston Villa on Saturday evening

Tottenham fell to a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday and here are our Spurs player ratings.

Thomas Frank stuck to his word and named a strong Spurs team. Without the suspended Cristian Romero, Kevin Danso came in alongside Micky van de Ven with Pedro Porro and Ben Davies the full-backs. Destiny Udogie was back on the bench following his recovery from a hamstring problem and so was Dominic Solanke after four-and-a-half months out with his ankle issue.

The hosts started brightly but were punished for slack defending 22 minutes in as it was all too easy through the middle for Donyell Malen as he turned, ran and passed to the free Emiliano Buendia, who sprinted on and crashed a shot home.

Spurs then lost Richarlison to what looked like a hamstring issue in the first half, with Randal Kolo Muani replacing the Brazilian.

Every time Spurs looked to be building something they opened up at the back and in first half added time Villa scored again. Mathys Tel gave the ball away on the edge of the Tottenham box and after a swift array of passes, a clever backheel from Buendia presented the ball to Morgan Rogers to fire home.

The hosts found a goal back nine minutes into the second half. Kolo Muani won the ball back in the Villa half, sprinted on and played in Wilson Odobert to strike a low shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

Spurs huffed and puffed but could not find another goal to keep themselves in the competition they first won as a non-league side in 1901.

Here are our Tottenham player ratings:

Guglielmo Vicario

Couldn't get near Buendia's powerful effort or Rogers' low shot. Everything else he had to do was pretty much routine. 5

Pedro Porro

Seemed to get caught on the wrong side of Malen for the opening goal. Made a great goal line clearance to deny Buendia in the second half and another sliding challenge in the box soon after. 6

Kevin Danso

Sent a header over and a shot wide at the other end of the pitch. Battled away without keeping Villa out. 6

Micky van de Ven

Captain for the night and he didn't do too much wrong and chased back to make some good challenges. 7

Ben Davies

Made a hat-trick of good early tackles, including one which sent Odobert away for a shot and another which culminated in a wayward Tel volley. Kept pushing and tried to help build the attacks in the second half even though he must have tired. 7

Joao Palhinha

Made some good interceptions and challenges in each half. Was particularly dominant in the second period. Spurs' best player by a distance. 8

Archie Gray

Left chasing shadows at times in the first half but played more of a part in the second period. 5

Wilson Odobert

Sent an early shot at the keeper from outside the box. Otherwise was ineffective until he burst to life nine minutes into the second half with a low strike past Bizot. His confidence was up after that and he had another effort saved.. Faded a little after that little burst. 7

Xavi Simons

Had flashes of inspiration in the first half including a run which ended with a Kolo Muani effort ruled out for offside. Upped his game in the second half and had two curling shots pushed away by the keeper. Was Spurs' chief creative outlet and had a goal ruled out for offside, which is was. 7

Mathys Tel

Some bright play down the left in the first half but it was his loose pass that gave Villa the ball for their second goal. Worked hard in the second half before coming off. 6

Richarlison

Barely touched the ball before pulling up with what looked like a hamstring problem. 4

Subs

Randal Kolo Muani

Sent an effort into the net from Xavi's pass but was well offside. Then won the ball back and played in Odobert to score. Set up Xavi for an effort that was flagged offside. Very hot and cold with his play but he grabbed an assist and had some key touches. 7

Dane Scarlett

Got involved without really making an impact. 5

Djed Spence

Wasteful in possession when he came on for the final minutes. N/A

Dominic Solanke

A mass brawl broke out following Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa. Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers celebrated the victory in front of the away fans, which didn't go down too well with Joao Palhinha, who was in close proximity.

Players and coaching staff from either side piled in as tempers boiled over. Kevin Danso and Ezri Konsa pulled Palhinha away, while Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke did their best to hold Rogers back.

Things eventually settled down, and Unai Emery's side celebrated the win with the travelling support. Meanwhile, a chorus of boos erupted at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after another disappointing result.

The Lilywhites have now only won one of their last seven games across all competitions, and Thomas Frank is under pressure to turn things around. At Hotspur Way on Thursday, the Dane was asked whether he needs to make any signings in the January transfer window.

Keeping his cards close to his chest, Frank said: "I think there's a couple of things in it. I think the last five games we've played, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Brentford, Sunderland and Bournemouth, I think it's been consistent, good competitive performance - through the roof, no, but good competitive, consistent performances.

"That's what you need in a long season. Those five games should have given us more than the five points we got. Probably eight, nine, 10 points and if you get that from those games, it's different. So, that's what we're focussing on."

The Spurs boss continued: "Overall, like the performance, it's my job to deal with all the scrutiny. No problem, I can face all the questions. I'll take all the blame. I'll take all that. Also, my job is to look through everything and look through the defeat last night."

Frank added: "The next thing is, it's almost, as you say, the perfect storm - and in a storm, someone is building fences and hiding them behind it, others are building windmills and getting stronger and getting more energy and learning from it."

Then, when asked if he'll be given time to improve Spurs' form, Frank said: "No doubt about that. I'm going to put it this way. Would we have loved to be higher in the table and get more points? 100 per cent.

"We work very hard every single day to make sure we perform well and land in the best possible position in every season," added the Dane. "I'm working hard with the staff, with the players, with the leadership. This is just a tough spell. We'll get through this."

On the Lilywhites' misfortune in the final third, Frank said: "We definitely want to do more. I think we've scored enough goals, not enough, but acceptable amount of goals."

And, on whether his style of football is 'entertaining enough', Frank said: "That's absolutely right. It's a fair question. That frustration of course I share is the ethos of the club.

"It's something we've been working very hard on. I see myself as above average intelligence. I'm very aware of that. My teams have always produced chances and scored goals and this team will do the same.

"I think it's fair to say that we may be lacking a bit of some of the tough, free-floating offensive players that we had here in the last season. That's part of the challenge.

"Then part of all the bits that we need to work hard on every day to improve is another area."

Spurs boss Thomas Frank is under growing pressure at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, following his Arsenal cup blunder at Bournemouth and his team's FA Cup struggles against Aston Villa

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has been the subject of taunts from travelling Aston Villa fans during the FA Cup third round clash between the two teams.

During the first half the 9,000 fans in the sway end could be heard signing "Thomas Frank is an Arsenal fan." The chant refers to pictures emerging of the Spurs head coach drinking out of an Arsenal branded cup ahead of Wednesday night's 3-2 loss against Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Later in the match, with Villa leading, chants of "You're getting sacked in the morning" could be heard, presumably coming from the away end.

Tottenham went into the match against Villa looking to bounce back from the disappointment of the loss against Bournemouth.

But goals from Emi Buendia in the 22nd minute and Morgan Rogers just before half time saw them trail 2-0 at the break. Wilson Odobert halved the deficit in the second half as Spurs searched for a way to turn the game around.

A possible early exit from the FA Cup piles more pressure on Frank.

It will not be helped by the image of him holding the Arsenal cup. Responding following the game against Bournemouth, he said: "I think it's fair to say that we're not winning every single football match so it would be absolutely, completely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal.

"Is there anyone thinking I've done that? All the staff has done it.

"They've been in the changing room, the game before us. Its normal to take a cup, give me an espresso, I do that before every game. I think actually it's a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked a question about that.

"I think we're definitely going in the wrong direction if we need to worry about me having a cup with another logo of another club, of course I'll never do that. That's extremely stupid."

Should Spurs go on to lose against Villa, it will mean that the team are winless in their last four games in all competitions, having only won once in their last seven matches.

Following the FA Cup clash with Villa, Spurs are back in action next weekend when they host struggling West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off).

Richarlison was forced to come off during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur's clash against Aston Villa. The Lilywhites striker appeared to suffer a hamstring injury after making a run behind the opposition backline.

Shortly after pulling up, Richarlison hit the deck. While the Brazil international received some on-field treatment from the Spurs medical staff, Thomas Frank called an impromptu team meeting with Xavi Simons, Kevin Danso, and Archie Gray.

The Tottenham boss held a magnetic tactics board in one hand and gestured with the other. Richarlison was eventually helped to his feet and ushered off the pitch.

A few moments later, Randal Kolo Muani was brought on. As it stands, the severity of the Brazilian's problem remains to be seen, and Frank will be expected to provide on update in his post-match press conference.

Richarlison has somewhat established himself as a regular in the Dane's side this season. He has already featured 30 times for Spurs this season, scoring eight goals and providing three assists.

The 28-year-old looks set to join a long list of injured players at Hotspur Way. Speaking to reporters ahead the FA Cup third round tie against Aston Villa, Frank commented on Tottenham's situation.

"Lucas [Bergvall] is being assessed today – we’ll know more later today with him," began the Dane. "Same with Rodri [Bentancur]. Rodri has a hamstring injury, looks like a bigger one unfortunately.

"We don't know the time frame, that we also will know later. [Mohammed] Kudus is unfortunately a bigger one to the tendon in the quad, so that's one where we expect him back after the March international break.

"The latest on Dejan Kulusevski. We know it's a complicated injury. If there's one person who can accelerate that, it's Dejan. He's a top pro and has got a top mentality.

"The most important thing is to remove the pain in the knee. He got an injection to help that 10 days ago. We know in three to four weeks if it's settled and when it's settled, hopefully, he’ll be on the grass and from there, we’ll see what’s happening."

On Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke, who were each later named on the bench, Frank said: "Yeah, both of them trained. Both of them are getting closer, definitely.

"Dest a bit closer than Dom, obviously, because he's only been out for five weeks-ish. So, that's of course, less than six months. But both of them are positive and improving."

Here's the Tottenham Hotspur team that Thomas Frank has named to face Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Saturday evening

Thomas Frank has stuck to his word and named a full strength Spurs team to take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with some long-awaited faces back on the bench.

The Lilywhites need to bounce back from the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth and the Spurs boss will be hoping they can progress in the cup. The aftermath has been difficult for Spurs with Micky van de Ven clashing with a fan after the game and captain Cristian Romero hitting out at figures at the club in an Instagram post before getting an additional game ban for the events after his red card at Liverpool.

Along with that Thomas Frank was booed again by the fans, then revealed summer signing Mohammed Kudus is out until April with midfielders Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall also injured. There was a furore over the Tottenham boss drinking coffee from an Arsenal-branded cup and frustration from the fans at a lack of transfer activity, beyond an impending move for Santos' teenage left-back Souza, to boost an ever-shrinking squad.

Without the suspended Romero, Kevin Danso comes in alongside Micky van de Ven. Pedro Porro and Djed Spence are again the full-backs but Destiny Udogie is back on the bench following his recovery from a hamstring problem and so is Dominic Solanke after four-and-a-half months out.

Archie Gray and Joao Palhinha start as Frank's only fit central midfielders. In attack, the Dane had to leave something on the bench to be able to bring into the game and after a disappointing display at the Vitality Stadium, Randal Kolo Muani is the man who finds himself placed among the substitutes with youngsters Luca Williams-Barnett and Jun'ai Byfield.

Here's the Tottenham team Frank has selected:

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank is under pressure at Spurs after joining from Brentford last summer

FA Cup action has made its comeback and Tottenham Hotspur face a stern examination in the third round against Premier League rivals Aston Villa on Saturday evening at 5.45pm. With Unai Emery's men in exceptional form, Spurs will need to be at their best, even with the advantage of playing at home.

Leading Spurs is former Brentford boss Thomas Frank. Both he and his squad have found consistency elusive in the Premier League this campaign, sitting 14th with just seven victories from 21 fixtures.

The manager finds himself under considerable scrutiny despite arriving only last summer, though he remains convinced he has earned the right to continue at the helm.

When questioned about the recent poor run ahead of the Villa fixture, Frank responded: "Put it this way, would we love to be higher in the table and have more points? 100 per cent. We work hard every single day to make sure we perform well. We want to land in the best possible position at the end of the season.

"We need to look at the FA Cup game, a good opportunity against Villa, a team who is flying in this moment in time. The tournament is very important for the fans, we won it eight times in our history. This is a tough spell, we will get through this."

With the cup tie approaching, Football London examines the man currently steering the Spurs ship.

Arsenal controversy

Prior to the midweek fixture against Bournemouth, Frank was photographed clutching a cup bearing the crest of north London rivals Arsenal. For a manager already facing significant scrutiny, this incident proved particularly unhelpful.

"I definitely did not notice it," Frank explained afterwards. "It would be completely stupid of me to take it if I knew. It's a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked about it. I would never do something that stupid. I think we're definitely going in the wrong direction if we need to worry about me having a cup with a logo of another club."

The match proved disappointing for Spurs, with the Cherries securing a 3-2 victory courtesy of strikes from Evanilson, Eli Junior Kroupi and new Manchester City signing Antoine Semenyo.

Wife

Frank is married to Nanna Theil, who has stood by him throughout his career, according to The Athletic. During the early stages of their relationship, he balanced coaching responsibilities with pursuing a psychology degree and when they started a family they faced a crucial decision about whether full-time coaching was the right path forward.

Nanna trained as a psychologist and has also been employed by the children's association. Teddy Hebo, chairman of Hvidovre where Frank previously managed, credits her as the driving force behind his achievements and his most devoted advocate.

She provides him with honest feedback and when he "goes a bit wild", she helps ground him.

Multi-million pound salary

From humble beginnings earning a mere £100 for his first coaching role, Frank now commands a multi-million-pound salary at Tottenham Hotspur. It's reported that he pockets around £8m annually, placing him as the third-highest paid manager in the Premier League.

Despite currently navigating through a challenging period with Spurs, Frank has a proven track record, having transformed Brentford into a mainstay in the Premier League since his arrival in 2018.

He now faces the daunting task of steering Tottenham out of their current predicament.

Tottenham Hotspur are looking for some FA Cup relief as they take on Aston Villa in the third round on Saturday evening.

The north London outfit have endured a few days to forget with the defeat at Bournemouth, Micky van de Ven clashing with a fan after the game and captain Cristian Romero hitting out at figures at the club in an Instagram post before getting an additional game ban for the events after his red card at Liverpool.

On top of that Thomas Frank was booed again by the fans, revealed that summer signing Mohammed Kudus is out injured until April with midfielders Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall also out, while there was even a furore over the Tottenham boss drinking coffee from an Arsenal-branded cup and frustration from the fans at a lack of transfer activity, beyond an impending move for Santos' teenage left-back Souza, to boost an ever-shrinking squad.

So the FA Cup should be a welcome distraction for Spurs although it brings a high-flying Villa side to N17. Spurs will be wearing a special kit in the match to commemorate the 125th anniversary of their historic FA Cup win in 1901 as a non-league side.

Our Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold is reporting live from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Scroll down for the latest updates from the FA Cup clash in north London.

Tottenham forward Mathys Tel is reportedly open to a January loan move after limited game time this season, with the French striker seeking regular football ahead of the 2026 World Cup

Tottenham Hotspur forward Mathys Tel is reportedly weighing up a potential January exit from the club.

The 20-year-old secured a permanent £30million transfer from Bayern Munich last summer following an initial loan spell, but has struggled for opportunities under manager Thomas Frank.

Despite an encouraging six-month period under previous boss Ange Postecoglou, Tel has been handed just five starting berths this campaign, finding the net on three occasions. The young striker was initially left out of Tottenham's Champions League squad in September, though he was later added back in December following Dominic Solanke's injury setback.

According to BBC Sport, the attacker is contemplating a temporary switch this month as he seeks regular football ahead of France's World Cup campaign. Tel has yet to earn a senior cap for Les Bleus, although he boasts an impressive record at U21 level with 12 goals in 20 outings.

These developments emerge after Spurs icon Harry Kane backed Tel's ability to reach his ceiling at the north London outfit following his arrival from the German giants.

During a Q&A session with supporters on the Cleats Club app in February, after Tel's initial loan switch, Kane said: "It is a great move for both parties. Mathys is a great guy, really hard-working and full of potential.

"It will be important for him to get some minutes under his belt, get some regular game time and hopefully develop, keep improving and fulfil all the potential that he has.

"It's great for Tottenham to have a young, hungry player with loads of talent to hopefully score some goals and help push Tottenham as far as possible.

"I wish him all the best and hopefully he has a fantastic time there, I know he will. I am sure all the fans will make him feel really welcome as well."

Tel had previously disclosed that Kane recommended Spurs as an ideal place to continue developing his game.

Speaking on Tottenham's official social media platforms, Tel revealed: "He told me this is a big club with a lot of very good people,

"The pitch is very nice. The training centre is very good and if you go there, you can enjoy it.

"So everything was positive from Harry Kane."

Here's the Tottenham team that we reckon Thomas Frank will select to face Aston Villa in their FA Cup third round clash on Saturday

Thomas Frank has declared that he will be selecting a full strength Spurs team to take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Lilywhites are looking to bounce back from a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday night thanks to a last-gasp Antoine Semenyo goal. Thomas Frank's side had opportunities to take all three points themselves before the hosts' late winner and the Spurs boss will be hoping they can progress in the cup.

Frank will be without captain Cristian Romero, who has received a one-game ban and a £50,000 fine following an FA charge for failing to leave the pitch promptly and behaving in a confrontational manner towards the referee after his red card against Liverpool last month.

Romero accepted the charge and Tottenham will not appeal the decision, meaning the Argentine will serve his third one-game suspension of the season so far.

Tottenham have agreed a £13million deal with Santos for 19-year-old left-back Souza who is set to undergo his medical in the coming days but has not arrived in time for this cup clash against Villa.

Unai Emery's side sit third in the Premier League and will pose a difficult test for Tottenham, especially with the home side's form over the past year in N17.

Frank said ahead of the game: "We'll be going full strength. Yeah, all in, because we want to win it. Both the game and the tournament if possible, but it’s one game at a time. We’re facing a very good Villa team. We know that, but we’ll go all in to try to win that game."

However, the Dane's injury update on Thursday brought new injury blow after blow with Mohammed Kudus out until April with a quad injury, Rodrigo Bentancur set to miss a prolonged period with a hamstring problem and Lucas Bergvall due to be assessed for what appeared to be a reoccurrence of his injury against Crystal Palace.

That leaves Frank with Archie Gray and Joao Palhinha as his only fit central midfielders. At the back, the Spurs boss had a couple of potential changes to make with either or both of Kevin Danso or Ben Davies potentially coming in.

In attack, the Dane needs to leave something on the bench to be able to bring into the game and after a disappointing display at the Vitality Stadium, Randal Kolo Muani could be the man who finds himself relegated among the substitutes.

Here's the Tottenham team we reckon Frank will go with:

The Tottenham Hotspur boss has made it clear what his intentions are at the north London club and given some more injury news

Thomas Frank has made it clear that he did not join Tottenham Hotspur to finish anywhere other than on top of the Premier League eventually.

The Dane has found life tough at Spurs since leaving Brentford with just two wins in his past 12 Premier League matches and an injury list that has stirred echoes of the problems his predecessor Ange Postecoglou had to tackle last winter. On top of that, the north London club sold last season's top scorer Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace for £35million only to lose the player who had been keeping him out of the line-up, Mohammed Kudus, until April with a quad injury.

Tottenham sit 14th in the table and after last season's 17th-place finish, Frank made it very clear that he has no intention of accepting mediocrity in the Premier League.

"That’s impossible at Tottenham. I didn't just come to this club to finish 14th, 10th, eighth, sixth, fourth, third, second. We want to build something that can be very successful all the time," said the 52-year-old. "I’m very aware where we are at the moment. I think it’s fair to say that not many are.

"I know where we want to go and then we need to be judged at the end of the season."

The Spurs boss explained that he speaks to club owners the Lewis family "on text or we talk sometimes" but there had been no planned meeting with them for a "couple of weeks" with CEO Vinai Venkatesham his main port of call at the club, speaking to the former Arsenal supremo every other day.

Frank is waiting to be able to use key players and long-term absentees Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski. While the England international is finally back in training after struggling with an ankle problem since the summer, the Swede is yet to return after patella surgery in his right knee in May last year.

At first it was assumed that Kulusevski would miss the start of the season and then Frank said he hoped to have him available by the end of last year and now it could be another month until the 25-year-old is ready to try again after feeling discomfort in his knee when he initially returned to training on the grass.

"It was not going forward as quickly as we thought but it's an injury we haven’t seen that much in football history," admitted Frank. "It's a complicated injury, where it’s important to make sure there’s no pain in the knee. That’s why he got an injection and it hopefully will help. So in three to four weeks’ time, he’ll be on the grass pain-free."

Spurs go into their FA Cup clash with high-flying Aston Villa on Saturday without Kudus, Kulusevski, Solanke, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, James Maddison and potentially Destiny Udogie, although the Italian is back in training. Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma have been away at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Senegal and Mali facing each other last night and Bissouma sent off.

With the Lilywhites missing central midfielders galore and football.london having previously reported that Frank wanted another midfielder, the Dane was asked if that was now a priority position.

"We’re looking in every position. We also have a few away at the Africa Cup of Nations," he said. "I think, when you want to improve the squad, of course there are some positions that are maybe more obvious than others, but we are out there. If we can improve the squad, we’ll improve the squad."

Frank will also be without captain Cristian Romero, who has received a one-game ban and a £50,000 fine following an FA charge for failing to leave the pitch promptly and behaving in a confrontational manner towards the referee after his red card against Liverpool last month.

Romero accepted the charge and Tottenham will not appeal the decision, meaning the Argentine will serve his third one-game suspension of the season so far. The World Cup winner has also racked up seven yellow cards in the Premier League which means if he gets three more in the next 11 matches he will face a two-game ban to continue his disciplinary issues.

Even with the absences, Frank is looking for an FA Cup run to do something similar for his team as the Europa League triumph did for Postecoglou's side last season.

"I’m very, very aware that a cup run will be fantastic. The FA Cup is the biggest cup and most historic cup tournament, not only in the UK and England, but also in the world," he said. "So we will do everything we can to win that game tomorrow and then progress to the next round and to install belief. That’s the only thing we’re thinking about.

"We'll be going full strength. Yeah, all in, because we want to win it. Both the game and the tournament if possible, but it’s one game at a time. We’re facing a very good Villa team. We know that, but we’ll go all in to try to win that game."