Tottenham Hotspur

One of the voices of European football on talkSPORT and Sky Sports, well known for The Football Ramble podcast, an author and writer for The Guardian - and a regular contributor here at Spurs for almost 10 years - Andy Brassell continues to give his insight into our UEFA Champions League opponents as part of our '60 seconds on...' feature this season.

Next up, it's Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt at Deutsche Bank Park in our final match of the UCL league phase, MD8, on Wednesday evening (8pm UK) - a win secures our place in the top eight, and straight into the Round of 16 in March.

@andybrassell

Increased expectations at DB Park...

Andy: "It’s fair to say Eintracht Frankfurt are in a bit of a spot at the moment. They've just fired the coach, Dino Toppmöller, the son of Klaus Toppmöller, who took Bayer Leverkusen to the Champions League final and to the brink of the treble in 2002. It was a real shame to see him go because they've progressed so much under him, brilliant to watch. They've recruited and sold brilliantly in recent years, of course, under Markus Krösche, the sporting director. However, that in turn - and I think you can add the Europa League win under Oliver Glasner as well - has increased expectations. So, even though Krösche said just before Christmas that they had to be aware of the fact that they've come a long way in a short time, and expectations are higher, maybe they should be a bit more humble… he was also driven to distraction by the fact that, in his words, the team kept making the same mistakes again and again and again, particularly defensively, this season."

Defensive issues...

Andy: "So, they've conceded 42 goals, which is the joint largest amount in the Bundesliga alongside Heidenheim, who are bottom, favourites for relegation and not won in absolutely ages - and lost a couple of big players over the last couple of years. It felt to me before the start of the season that Bayern Munich were going to be too good for anyone else, but maybe Eintracht Frankfurt could be the next best, but they’ve fallen short of that. Of course, they're not going to get into the next round of the Champions League, either - they're not going to get into the knockouts (Eintracht Frankfurt are 33 of 36 teams and can't make it into the top 24). At the moment, they're nine points off the Champions League places - the top four - in the Bundesliga. They're also five points off the top six. So, they're well short at the moment."

Three goals in 13 minutes...

Andy: "We saw again at the weekend against Hoffenheim how Eintracht Frankfurt took the lead, played quite well in the first 45 minutes and then conceded three goals in double-quick time - 13 minutes (52, 60, 65). Defensively, they just can't get a hold on the game at all. They're very vulnerable to counter-attacks and set-pieces as well and concede goals in flurries. Now, the players they've got suggest that shouldn't really be happening. They may be missing a number six-type player, which I think is potentially good news if your name's Xavi Simons going into this game, maybe it's a game that he could run. This is also expected to be the last game under caretaker management of Dennis Schmitt. He's the Under-23 coach and Under-19 coach, Alex Meier, who was a goalscorer of some renown for Eintracht Frankfurt back in his day, he was a great player for them."

Replacing Ekitike...

Andy: "So, from a pride perspective and, of course, from a winning-money perspective, this is important for Eintracht Frankfurt. But, at the moment, they're not the equal of the side that Spurs knocked out of the Europa League (2-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals) last season and made it difficult for them. They've struggled to replace Hugo Ekitike (signed for Liverpool in the summer) as well. Now, they've got on board Jonathan Burkardt, although he wasn't a like-for-like replacement, a very different type of striker – he scored eight in eight Bundesliga starts and he's been out injured since November, which is a real blow to them. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, who started the season very well, his form has slowed a little bit, which means a lot is leaning on Can Uzun, who's a terrific player and I think will end up in the Premier League in the next couple of years. They're not compact, unbalanced all over the place and they need to get a new coach and turn things around, which is potentially all good news for Spurs for Wednesday night!"

Last time we met...

Ahead of our League Phase meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday night, here is a look at our record against German sides.

Since first playing in European competition in 1961, we have played 33 matches against German opposition, facing 10 different sides.

Meeting our first German test in 1974 in the shape of 1FC Cologne on the continent, we ran out 2-1 winners in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, our latest opposition from European nation came just last week as we ran out 2-0 winners at home to Borussia Dortmund on matchday seven of the League Phase.

Of our 33 matches, we have come out on top 17 times, drawing five and losing 11.

We have won four of our last five encounters with German opposition, two of which were against Wednesday's hosts Eintracht, while we are unbeaten in our last six such games against German opponents, which includes four games against Die Adler.

In fact, we haven't suffered defeat against the men from the Main since 1982 - a 2-1 second-leg defeat in the European Cup Winners' Cup, although we progressed overall having won the first leg 2-0.

Of our visits to Germany (17), we have come out on top on seven occasions, losing seven and drawing the other three.

We have won on our last two trips to Germany, defeating Eintracht 1-0 at Deutsche Bank Park in April last year having edged TSG Hoffenheim in Sinsheim three months earlier.

Last time out - Solanke the match winner on a famous night in Frankfurt

The date and kick-off time for our Adobe Women’s FA Cup fifth round tie with London City Lionesses have now been confirmed.

We will travel to Hayes Lane to take on London City under the lights on Monday 23 February, 2026.

The game has been selected for TV broadcast in the UK on TNT Sports and will kick-off at 7.30pm (UK).

Ticketing details for the game will be confirmed in due course.

There are so many permutations, but one thing is clear - victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in our final match of the UEFA Champions League league phase will secure a top eight finish and take us straight through to the Round of 16.

We take on the Bundesliga side in MD8 at Deutsche Bank Park on Wednesday evening with all 18 matches kicking-off at the same time - 8pm UK.

We travel to Germany knowing we'll be in the play-off round as a minimum - victory over Borussia Dortmund in MD7 last week secured a seeded berth in the play-off round - meaning we'll play the second leg of the two-legged tie at home if that's our next step.

However, victory at Deutsche Bank Park would take us directly into March's Round of 16.

It's tight going into the MD8 round of matches - just three points separate the 13 teams currently occupying positions 3rd to 15th.

MD8 fixtures

Ajax vs Olympiakos

Arsenal vs Kairat Almaty

Athletic Club v Sporting Lisbon

Atletico Madrid vs Bodo/Glimt

Barcelona vs FC Copenhagen

Bayer Leverkusen vs Villarreal

Benfica vs Real Madrid

Borussia Dortmund vs Inter

Club Brugge vs Marseille

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Liverpool vs Qarabag FK

Manchester City vs Galatasaray

Monaco vs Juventus

Napoli vs Chelsea

Pafos vs Slavia Prague

PSG vs Newcastle

PSV vs Bayern Munich

Union Saint-Gilloise vs Atalanta

Last time out - Spurs 2-0 Borussia Dortmund

Martin Ho was full of disappointment and frustration as two stoppage-time goals from Mia Enderby condemned us to a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at St Helens Stadium on Sunday.

After back-to-back wins over Leicester City at home – in the Women’s Super League and FA Cup – we were looking to build on a positive run since the turn of the year, but it wasn’t to be as the hosts eventually ran out deserved winners in the contest.

Lize Kop produced a number of key saves while we were indebted to the woodwork on three occasions but, in the last minute of the four minutes of additional time at the end, Enderby struck twice in a minute to seal our fate.

We struggled to get things going throughout the 90 minutes, showing glimpses in the second period, but Signe Gaupset being denied one-on-one by Jennifer Falk was the best of our opportunities.

“We were defending as individuals rather than as a collective team. The second half was better - we were more collective in how we defended. We were more aggressive off the ball, but also more patient and disciplined. With the ball, I thought we had some big moments in the second half that need to go in if we’re going to get something away from home.

“They didn’t, and because of that we allowed Liverpool to stay in the game. In the last two or three minutes, we defended really poorly. At this level, if you don’t defend well in those moments, you get punished – and we did today. When you get to stoppage time at nil‑nil, you just want to see the game out. That’s the frustration – not seeing it out when Liverpool were putting the pressure on.”

“When you get to that part of the game, you know it can go either way, and we didn’t put ourselves in a position where we deserved to take anything from the game. We gave away too much space, showed too much apprehension about when to go and when not to. We weren’t decisive enough in the individual duels, and again, at this level, you get punished.”

Martin wanted to praise the terrific following from our supporters on Merseyside. “They’re really important to us. We’re grateful they come out and support the team, and we always try to give them a performance they can be proud of.

“I’m disappointed that all we can do today is apologise for the result because it’s not what we wanted. I wish them a safe journey home, and hopefully next week at West Ham we’ll have big numbers again and can push the players over the line this time.”

It was late, late heartbreak for our Women as Liverpool's Mia Enderby struck twice in the final two minutes of added time at St Helens Stadium to see us to a 2-0 defeat in the Barclays Women's Super League on Sunday afternoon.

Having battled valiantly throughout the game, it looked like we were going to continue our unbeaten start to 2026, but a double from the Reds' substitute, the opener in the fourth minute of injury time before a slip allowed her a second straight from the restart, saw us fall to a defeat for the first time late December.

Despite the defeat, there was positives to take from the game with Cathinka Tandberg and Olga Ahtinen both returning from injury to make their first appearances since late November.

More to follow...

We return to Barclays Women's Super League today (kick-off 11.55am UK) as we take on Liverpool at St Helens Stadium in our first away trip of 2026.

You can watch the game live below via WSL's Official YouTube Channel...

We can now confirm our starting and substitutes for today’s Barclays Women’s Super League meeting at Liverpool (kick-off 11.55am UK).

Martin Ho makes one change to the team that started in our 3-0 win over Leicester City in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup last weekend.

Drew Spence returns to the midfield to partner back alongside Eveliina Summanen, replacing Matilda Vinberg who is named on the substitute’s bench this afternoon.

Cathinka Tandberg and Olga Ahtinen have recovered from their injury – which has kept the pair out since the November international break – and are back in the matchday squad as they are named amongst the substitutes.

Starting XI: Kop, A. Nilden, Gaupset, England (c), Holdt, Rybrink, Hunt, Hamano, Spence, Summanen, Koga.

Substitutes: Heeps, Bartrip, Vinberg, M. Nilden, Gunning-Williams, Tandberg, Ahtinen, Wijk, Blakstad.

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