Tottenham Hotspur

Second-half strikes from forwards Eloise Summers-Mee and Grace Bellwood ensured our Women’s Under-19s began the new year with three points as we defeated Newcastle United in the Professional Game Academy (PGA) League on Wednesday afternoon.

Cruz Fuller-Fagan, who returned to the starting XI to lead the attacking line, grabbed her second goal in three games to give us the lead inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour of the contest on Tyneside, but we were pegged back by the hosts on the stroke of half-time.

A strong second-half showing was needed after the break and, in the final 10 minutes of the game, we reinstated our advantage with Summers-Mee netting her second league goal of the campaign before Grace Bellwood, just minutes after being introduced from the substitute's bench, wrapped up the victory for Sabiha Jamal's side and extend our unbeaten run to three games in the competition.

More details to follow…

"Bournemouth are winless in 11, but recent performances suggest victory is around the corner. Questions remain about the involvement of one of the club’s most important players, while Spurs likely have to reshuffle after Mo Kudus’s injury, too."

Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit

Will Antoine Semenyo play?

Despite talk of an impending exit, Andoni Iraola said on Tuesday 'Antoine (Semenyo) will play' against Spurs - before adding no deal has been agreed yet. “For me, he is our player and I hope he continues. My understanding, because I have been in other markets before, not just at this club, (but) in others, there is a chance this is his last game.” Semenyo’s qualities are obvious - and certainly were during Bournemouth’s 1-0 win at Spurs back in August. His power, pace, close ball control, strength and extremely direct running have caused many teams problems – plus only Erling Haaland and Igor Thiago have more goals than his 9 in the Premier League this season.

Which key attacker is missing?

There was bad news for Bournemouth ahead of this game with Justin Kluivert ruled out after an injury picked up against Arsenal. The versatile forward, so affective in the 10 position with his skill and direct play, requires knee surgery that will keep him out for months. The Dutchman hasn’t quite been as prolific this campaign (2 goals, 0 assists) after a standout 24/25 for Bournemouth, having scored 12 Premier League goals and claimed 6 assists too. It’s an injury, coupled with Semenyo’s potential departure, that has Iraola calling on the club to make signings this window.

Who replaces Kluivert tonight?

Eli Junior Kroupi is an obvious candidate to come in – the 19-year-old striker who belted in a thunderous long range effort in the weekend loss to Arsenal. The striker has adapted superbly having stepped up from the 2nd tier of French football to play in the Premier League – scoring six goals already. However, using him alongside Evanilson may not be an option right now, with Iraola admitting he feels the team becomes too light in midfield. “I have to find a way where he can give us more things because when we play with two strikers, I feel like we lose control a little bit in games.” Amine Adli, mainly a winger, was also lively when he came on against Arsenal.

Why haven't Bournemouth won since October?

An August win in N17 was part of on a seven game unbeaten run for Bournemouth, as they climbed to second after beating Nottingham Forest on 26 October. Some defeats in their 11-game winless sequence since are understandable – losses at Manchester City and Aston Villa, while they gave Arsenal a fright as they went down 3-2 at the weekend. But points dropped at home to West Ham (1-1), Everton (0-1) and Burnley (1-1) have seen them drop to 15th. Iraola’s football is daring - they press very aggressively and his side break at pace, with bodies, when they get possession – but that can come at a cost. Brentford especially exploited their highline recently, with Igor Thiago doing a superb job of holding up the ball before playing in quick wingers like Kevin Schade – who got a hat-trick in a 4-1 win. "It's quite easy to see our problems. We are one of the teams that scores more goals, but we’re one of the teams that concedes more goals too," Iraola said yesterday, adding his team are not doing 'the right things' when defending their box. Disrupted seasons to anchoring midfielders like Lewis Cook, Ryan Christie and Tyler Adams (out with an injury) hasn’t helped either – while they have a near whole new backline after summer sales of Milos Kerkez, Dean Huijsen and others.

How to cope without Kudus...

Thomas Frank has confirmed that Mo Kudus is 'likely' out of tonight’s game after going off against Sunderland. Xavi Simons returns from suspension, a boost no doubt, but there are some big calls up front – especially on the both wings. “I think also it's fair, there's no-one who's really grabbed that shirt on the left-hand side so I think that's definitely up for grabs,” explained Frank when asked about Mathys Tel’s contribution in that position on Sunday. Wilson Odobert looked sharp, in the first half especially, playing in the 10 position, and it feels like the kind of game where his running ability, with and without the ball, is needed regardless of what position he plays. Lucas Bergvall was back as a sub on Sunday and could be the number 10, while Randal Kolo Muani and Richarlison can play through the middle or up front.

Last time at the Vitality...

Darren Anderton is one of our modern day greats.

League Cup winner in 1999, the right-sided midfielder played 357 times for us over a 12-year period, 1992-2004, having signed from Portsmouth. He was our record-appearance maker in the Premier League for many years on 299 before being finally overtaken by Hugo Lloris in August, 2021.

Darren formed a telepathic relationship with goalscorer Teddy Sheringham, was key to the performances of Teddy and Jurgen Klinsmann together in 1994/95 and earned 30 caps for England - he was a member of Terry Venables’ team that took apart Holland on the way to the semi-finals of Euro 1996 - he set up Paul Gascoigne's iconic goal against Scotland - and then scored against Colombia in the 1998 World Cup Finals in France.

What is perhaps less known is that Darren ended his 18-year playing career at Bournemouth.

Signed in 2006, he was there in 2008/09 for Bournemouth's 'great escape' when they recovered from a 17-point deduction to survive in League Two, before beginning a journey that reached the promised land of the Premier League. They won the Championship in 2014/15, first played in the Premier League in 2015/16 and have been in the top flight for nine of 11 seasons since.

Speaking to us back in 2019, Darren recalled those days back on the south-coast...

First of all Darren, tell us about your move to Bournemouth...

Darren: “I’d been up at Wolves with Glenn (Hoddle) and really enjoyed it, but my dad was ill at the time and I wanted to come back down to the south (he was born in Southampton). I had friends in the area, a few knew the Chairman and it all came about via a chance meeting. The club said to me ‘let’s try to make it happen’. It was a club with the reputation of trying to play the right way and that’s what I was all about. Sean O’Driscoll was manager when I signed, but he left that day! Kevin Bond then came in and it went from there. I had two-and-a-half great years down there.”

You clearly enjoyed your time there...

Darren: “It was a great set of lads, good young players and it was nice to be appreciated. They could see I wasn’t just there for a ‘jolly-up’ as such, I did things right. The fans were always good to me as well. To see where they are now, it’s fantastic.”

You were there in some difficult days in League Two. What was that like?

Darren: “At that time (2008/09) the club was more or less bottom of the Football League after a points deduction. Bondy left, Jimmy Quinn came in and we started okay, but it started going pear-shaped. As I said, I was there to enjoy my football and always promised myself if I wasn’t doing that, I’d retire and that’s what happened. The new owners accepted that. They soon sacked Jimmy Quinn, Eddie Howe came in and the rest is history. It’s incredible what has happened since then, unbelievable.”

Yang Min-Hyeok has joined Championship side Coventry City on loan for the remainder of the season, having been recalled from his loan at Portsmouth.

The 19-year-old South Korea international spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Pompey - also in the second tier - where he scored three goals in 16 appearances in all competitions.

Yang also had a loan spell at Queens Park Rangers during the 2024/25 season, scoring twice in 14 appearances.

We can confirm some changes to our Academy’s fixture schedule over the next couple of weeks.

Our Under-21s’ home Premier League 2 fixture against West Ham United this Friday (9 January) has been postponed due to the visiting club’s involvement in the Vertu Trophy.

The match has been rearranged to take place at Hotspur Way on Saturday 4 April, kick-off 1pm.

In addition, our home Under-18 Premier League fixture against Aston Villa has again been rescheduled, this time owing to Villa’s participation in the FA Youth Cup.

The match has been brought forward to Wednesday 14 January – kick-off remains at 12pm at Hotspur Way.

Alfie Dorrington has been recalled from his loan at Aberdeen.

Having spent the second half of the 2024/25 campaign on loan at Pittodrie, where he lifted the Scottish Cup in May, the defender rejoined the Scottish Premiership side on loan in July.

He went on to make a further 14 appearances for the Dons, including six in European competition.

A product of our Academy, Alfie made his senior debut for us in December, 2024, in a 5-0 Premier League win over Southampton.

Women’s Under-19s defender Lucy Barraclough is targeting a stronger second half to the campaign after a season full of ‘highs and lows’ so far in the Professional Game Academy (PGA) League.

After finishing seventh in the first phase of the PGA League, our young side were placed into division two for the second phase of the competition and are currently placed in fifth after the first three games – including a win against Liverpool and draw with London City Lionesses before winning the subsequent penalty shootout for a bonus point.

The young defender, who joined us from Liverpool’s Academy in the summer of 2024, is just one of two players to have featured in every game this term and has started in 15 of 16 games this term, with four of those coming in the FA Women’s National League – a cup competition that saw our youngsters go toe-to-toe with senior opposition.

One of the more experienced players in the squad, Lucy wants to use the strong end to the campaign before the festive break as a platform for when they return in the new year – an away trip to Newcastle United on Wednesday 7 January.

“It’s been good so far,” she told us, reflecting on the season to date. “There have been highs and lows, but as a team we’ve really started to come together. We’ve learned a lot from the first half of the season, and hopefully we can take that into the second half.

“It’s been really beneficial,” Lucy added, when asked about facing senior sides in the cups. “Technically, I think we’re very good, but the physicality is completely different at senior level. Being able to perform under that pressure while still using your technical ability is a great learning experience.”

Competing in her second year in the Academy set-up, Lucy reflected on how much she has grown as a player since wearing the Lilywhite shirt and what the target is heading into the second half of the season.

“Last season, I started quite strongly as having Nick’s [Hardy] confidence in me really helped me improve, and I gained a lot of momentum by starting most games,” she added. “This season, I’m just trying to carry that forward and keep performing.

“We’ve been placed in the second division based on the first half of the season, and I think we can definitely aim to finish as high as possible. The Leicester City result was disappointing but we analysed it, reflected on it, and we came back with a good win against Liverpool and a good performance against London City Lionesses. If we carry that momentum forward, hopefully we’ll get positive results in the new year.”

We head down to the south coast tomorrow night (Wednesday 7 January) to play AFC Bournemouth in what will be our ninth trip to the Vitality Stadium.

From our eight previous trips to Dorset we have returned to N17 with all three points on four occasions, and have been defeated just twice.

Despite both clubs being formed in the 19th century, our first league meeting with the Cherries wasn’t until 2015 - a memorable 5-1 away win where Harry Kane scored his second Premier League hat-trick.

Our last win at the Vitality Stadium was in August, 2023, where James Maddison scored his first goal for Spurs, before Dejan Kulusevski ensured the 2-0 victory by tapping home Destiny Udogie’s cross.

Here are some other headline stats, courtesy of Opta, ahead of what is our 18th Premier League clash with Bournemouth...

We’re back on the road on Wednesday evening as we make the trip to the south coast to take on AFC Bournemouth.

Here’s all the pre-match information you need...

What time does the match start?

The game begins at 7.30pm UK time.

How can I watch the game?

With eight Premier League games taking place on Wednesday night, Sky Sports have placed certain matches on non-football TV channels. That means our fixture will be available to watch for UK viewers on Sky Sports Golf.

If you’re following us from overseas, head over to our Spurs on TV web page to see if the game is being televised live in your region.

Our Match Centre here on tottenhamhotspur.com and the Spurs Official app will also bring you full live text and audio commentary throughout the game.

Video highlights and a full match replay will be available on SPURSPLAY from midnight.

What is the team news?

Mohammed Kudus is expected to miss Wednesday’s game after being forced off in the first half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

Xavi Simons is available again after serving a three-match suspension following his sending-off against Liverpool, while Destiny Udogie is getting closer to a return from injury.

Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke are still out, while Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert is to undergo knee surgery and therefore joins Tyler Adams, Ben Gannon-Doak, Veljko Milosavljevic, Ryan Christie, Matai Akinmboni and Will Dennis on the sidelines.

Antoine Semenyo seems set to feature despite ongoing speculation over his future, while we could come up against our former goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who joined the Cherries last week.

We’re just over a month away until we take on Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 8 February (2.25pm kick-off) in the Barclays Women’s Super League and we can now confirm the full ticket details and purchase information.

The clash against our London rivals is the first of three games to be hosted in N17 for the second half of the 2024/26 campaign, with our WSL fixtures against Everton (Sunday 15 March)* and Manchester United (Sunday 26 April)* set to be played there.

*These fixtures are subject to change.

Tickets priced below for the Chelsea fixture…

Adult - £15.00

Young Adult (18-21) - £10.00

Junior (Under 18) - £5.00

Women’s Season Ticket Holder priority window is now open until Friday 9 January at 12pm and will be able to purchase four tickets per CRN.

Men’s Season Ticket Holder / One Hotspur Members will then be able to purchase from 12pm on Friday 9 January until 12pm on Monday 12 January, with the same number of tickets per CRN.

Any Women’s Season Ticket Holder who has yet to claim their complimentary seat for this fixture can do so until 12pm on Monday 12 January.

Following these two exclusive priority windows, tickets will be on general sale right until matchday for the fixture, and the below discounts will become applicable.

Supporters wanting to purchase between six to 14 tickets can get 20% off using promo code SPURSCFCW20, while those wanting to purchase between 15 to 20 tickets can get 30% using promo code SPURSCFCW30.