Tottenham Hotspur

Two goals in the last 10 minutes of normal time saw London City Lionesses claim victory in the Women’s Super League on Sunday after we’d twice come back from behind to draw level.

Freya Godfrey’s early effort in the aftermath of a corner was cancelled out by Tinka Tandberg’s penalty after Drew Spence was brought down in the box, with Eveliina Summanen subsequently equalising again with a fine free-kick after Nikita Parris had restored her side’s advantage in the opening stages of the second half.

But shortly after the Lionesses forged ahead for a third time on 81 minutes, Kosovare Asllani’s delivery going in off Amanda Nilden, they finally killed off our challenge when Godfrey bagged her second of the game to make it 4-2 as we missed out on a chance to climb to third in the table.

More to follow...

We can confirm the starting line-ups and substitutes for Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League early kick-off against newcomers London City Lionesses at Hayes Lane (11.55am UK).

Martin Ho has made two changes to the team that started the 2-1 win over Liverpool last time out.

In defence, Ashleigh Neville returns to our backline for her third start of the campaign, with Josefine Rybrink named amongst the substitutes.

Cathinka Tandberg is back in the starting XI and leads the line for the London derby this afternoon with Bethany England making way and amongst our substitutes.

Midfielder Eveliina Summanen will wear the captain’s armband for the clash.

Here’s our full team…

Kop, Nilden, Naz, Holdt, Vinberg, Hunt, Tandberg, Spence, Summanen (c), Neville, Koga.

Substitutes: Heeps, Grant, Bartrip, England, Rybrink, Graham, Thomas, Gunning-Williams, Ahtinen.

Will Lankshear scored his fifth goal of the season for Oxford United, but it wasn’t enough to help his side take any points away from West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Our on-loan striker was on hand to convert Przemyslaw Placheta’s cross along the six-yard box and give the visitors a 54th-minute lead at The Hawthorns.

But Ryan Mason’s men turned things around to run out 2-1 winners, leaving them 14th in the Championship standings while the U’s stay one place above the drop zone.

Will completed the full 90 minutes – he’s currently up to 15 appearances in all competitions since joining Oxford in the summer.

With a strong second-half showing, our Under-18s surged to a comfortable 4-0 win over Ipswich Town at Hotspur Way on Saturday.

The first half yielded the first of two Armend Muslika goals - a beautiful free-kick - but both teams had chances and were unable to add to the scoreline.

In the second period, however, we took control, with a second goal coming via an Oliver Boast header. Boast turned provider to set up substitute Phoenix Offiah, before Muslika finished the scoring with a driving run and low shot to make it nine goals in as many league games on a personal level.

Conall Glancy, marking his first Under-18 start since his arrival this summer, almost had the perfect opening to the game but his outstretched leg couldn't quite reach Muslika's flashed drive across goal.

Soon after, though, Muslika scored the opener with a precise free-kick, curled into the far corner after 11 minutes.

The rest of the half was a more even affair, with our goalkeeper Blake Irow called into action on several occasions. Each time, however, he had the measure of shots from Roman Burton-Yerevich, Joel Adedemola and Isaac Boakye-King. We pressed forward as well, with Glancy and Muslika drawing saves from Ipswich goalkeeper William Fletcher.

In the second half, Ezra Agyekum's header missed narrowly, but from the resulting play Boast rose highest to a cross to double the advantage.

Substitutes throughout the second half brought a younger complexion to our line-up, and one of those replacements - Offiah - struck instantly. Boast, now playing on the right-hand side, drove down the wing and squared a low pass across goal, leaving his team-mate a simple finish.

Muslika provided a creative spark throughout. His mazy dribble almost produced his second goal, only for his shot to hit the post. Not long after, though, he grabbed our fourth with a low shot past Fletcher's near post.

‘We go away fairly happy’

Interim Under-18s Coach Joe Staunton reflected positively on the game, which provided opportunities for younger players and saw plus-points at both ends of the pitch.

"It's always nice to score four goals," said Joe. "We created plenty of chances across the game. It's important to defend your penalty box well, so to not concede and score several goals, we go away fairly happy.

"We've got some players away internationally, we've got some playing with the Under-21s today, we've got some players who are unfortunately out through injury, so it's an opportunity for others who are well due some minutes - whether they're first-years, second-years - and to have a number of Under-16s come to join the game today is something we also try to push. To finish with four Under-16s on the pitch is credit to them, and deserving based on their performances so far this season."

Thomas Frank spoke to the media after our 2-2 draw against Manchester United in the Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Here's what he had to say...

Do you have mixed emotions after that?

Thomas: "Of course, the emotions inside me are high, but I take the positives out of this game. That’s what I believe and how I believe in building a good team and keep adding layers to it. Overall, a fine/good performance against a good Man United team which is definitely in flow. We are talking a bit about our, how can you say, level of defensive, attacking threats and to play against a Man United team that play with confidence with Cunha, Amad, Mbeumo and Sesko coming on and we kept them to five shots. It’s just another example on the other way around that it’s not that easy to create in the Premier League even though they had all their big boys out there. Second half, I was extremely happy with our response. We are playing at home and of course we all want to win and don’t talk too much about home form and all that. I know we need to win before we don’t talk about it. The way we turned it around to stay in the game, kept doing the right thing throughout the second half - very happy with that. Alo, so close to winning it. On any other day, we win it."

It felt like your substitutions worked...

Thomas: "Yeah, sometimes you are lucky but of course every single time I take a decision to sub a player it’s with one aim - to make the team win or get back into the game or try to see the game out. It’s with only one aim - to try to win the game. No doubt, Mathys did well, great goal, great involvement and in general I think Xavi played a fine game, positive, but also you need a bit of freshness.

Did you hear the fans boo Xavi Simons coming off?

Thomas: "I just say every time I make a decision it is with one aim. To make the team better."

What were you looking for specifically from Mathys?

Thomas: "To score a goal."

So much of this fixture from Spurs perspective has been about the final, the four wins last season - was that something you could feel in the last few days? Did it affect your preparation? Can you see United's improvement?

Thomas: "I saw this game as one game ahead of us, to try to do everything we could to try to win it. That was the aim. I spoke before the game about it's clear they have improved this season. They look, how can you say, more in sync together, especially going forward they look like a big threat. That's why I actually think, I know we conceded two goals, but if you said to me before the game you concede five shots, I would take that. So we're all happy."

Did you expect Mbeumo to start on the left?

Thomas: "It's not the first time Ruben has, how can you say, played around with the front three. I think no matter where Bryan plays he's a threat, which he showed again today."

You said your defence played well, but it didn't do particularly well from the first goal, and then you weren't as much of a threat with your offensive players until the end of the game, are you still a work in progress?

Thomas: "I don't think I said that they played well, the defence. I think I said if you concede five shots, then before the game you probably would have taken that. That's not the same as the two shots they had, maybe even on target, was two situations we probably could have done better in, and we will of course look through that and go through the details, so that's of course a fair point. Then we play a game against a team where both teams try to cancel each other a little bit out, and we always want to create a little bit more, but you can then flip that and say, hey, we scored two goals in a situation where it was difficult to create."

You started with a certain formation up front, made changes at half-time, then more with 20 to go, which worked brilliantly - are you still trying to find the right combination in attack?

Thomas: "Yeah, I think that's fair. We are searching to find the right balance up front, and I think when we look at the game back, I think there was positive bits going forward also from the game. I think we created one of the biggest chances - Richarlison from a cross from Brennan after, what, five, 10 minutes. Sometimes it's the small things - he scores on that instead of Bryan then it changes a little bit and opened up the game a tiny bit more, but we constantly work on the relationships and try to improve it with the players and try to find what is exactly the right blend, but I think there were small steps in the right direction."

Was Kolo Muani coming off a physical thing?

Thomas: "He actually struggled a little bit, but nothing big."

Cristian Romero came off with a couple of minutes left....

Thomas: "Yeah, he was just done physically. He just came back from that injury. He's fine."

So he'll be okay for the internationals?

Thomas: "Yes."

How much of a blow was having him come off, given the manner of the goal you conceded?

Thomas: "Yeah, but his position, he wouldn't have been near the goal anyway, so it's a cross on the side, and then he would have been in the middle zone, so this was back post, so that wouldn't have affected anything."

Can you talk about Wilson Odobert's performance - why did you feel it was right to not start him today?

Thomas: "We tried to work around what is the best way to attack the opponent in front of us, and at the same time still keep a little bit of flow. We wanted two strikers, Kolo Muani and Richarlison, for the crosses, which we though was an area where we potentially could hurt United. I think it worked perfectly with the first one, where Richarlison got a big chance, so that could have been an unbelievable, fantastic game plan from us. That was part of it, and we need different personalities and types for different games. Wilson, he's positive. I think he's stepping forward, or stepping up, and doing things that look right."

Speaking to us afterwards, it was put to Thomas how football’s emotions can turn in an instant. “Of course it's tough, of course it is painful, but for me there’s a difference compared to Chelsea is it was a much better performance. Also, we didn’t lose.

“I know I'll take the positives out of it, but of course when you're in the moment and you think you've won it, you just see all the positivity, everything, everyone is happy, we’ve finally won at home, all that... that's the beauty of the game - sometimes we're on the right end, sometimes we're on the wrong end.

“I think it was an even first half. I don't think there was much in it, both sides. You could say we could play a little bit better, on the flip side, we gave United nothing. I know they scored a goal, I’m not looking away from that, and we had a massive chance to Richarlison.

“The second half, the way the players kept going, no matter what, staying in the game, kept doing the right thing, I liked that a lot. Then we got the equaliser, which you know is a fantastic thing. Then we got the winner - we thought it was the winner - then we conceded. You can say there are things we need to do better, yes, and the thing that was very positive, the fans pushed us forward.

“I'm very aware there's a lot we can do better, very aware. We are trying to build something here that we want to be unbelievably good and we want all the fans to be extremely happy, but in a tricky moment in the second half against a good team that started well, we kept going. The fans were behind us. You see that energy where both parts are bouncing off each other and going forward. I think that was very nice to feel.”

A second-half equaliser from Max McFadden earned our Under-21s a battling point to draw 1-1 at Fulham in the Premier League 2 on Saturday afternoon.

After a first half that won’t live long in the memory at Motspur Park – both sides failing to register a shot on target – the game burst into life just two minutes after the restart when Farhaan Ali-Wahid was in the right place at the right time to convert from close range after Tom Olyott’s curling effort struck the woodwork.

Our young side responded well and deservedly got back on level terms in the final quarter-of-an-hour as a well-worked move down the left was capped off with a lovely header by McFadden from the centre of the box to level the scores with his first goal for the club.

The two teams traded opportunities in the closing stages of the contest, with the home side going closest to a late winner, but we held on to earn a point on the road in south-west London.

Oliver Irow sent a low drive from the edge of the box just wide before, at the other end, Olyott curled wide from right side of the box as both sides searched for an early opener in the opening quarter. Those turned out to be the only notable opportunities until the half hour mark when Jonathan Esanga curled a free-kick from a central position, about 20 yards out, narrowly over the crossbar.

Aaron Loupalo-Bi then flashed an effort just right of the area wide of the near post as Fulham, who had won three on the bounce before the encounter in an unbeaten start to the campaign, were the side in control of the contest towards the end of the first half, but both teams couldn’t be separated in a first period that lacked quality in the attacking areas.

However, just two minutes after the restart, the hosts found the breakthrough as Olyott’s curling effort from the right edge of the box struck the post and the ball fell kindly to Ali-Wahid to convert the rebound despite appeals for an offside for the forward. Aaron Maguire had to be alert shortly after to keep the deficit at one, getting down low to his right to push away Olyott’s free-kick from around 25 yards out.

Tynan Thompson was introduced 10 minutes into the second period and the forward went close to finding the leveller on the hour mark as, after cutting inside from the left, his effort from edge of the box deflected off a Fulham defender and struck the outside of the post. Our first shot on target was recorded on 69 minutes when a poor clearance saw McFadden regain possession outside the area and his right-footed curler forced Marco Underwood into a diving save while, at the opposite end, Oliver Gofford headed over from close range.

Our positive response after falling behind was eventually rewarded on 76 minutes as good link-up play down the left saw Thompson advance to the byline before lifting the ball into the centre of the box and McFadden was there to guide his header into the back of the net.

Oli Irow went close to putting us ahead five minutes later, his left-footed strike from inside of the box taking a slight deflection before going wide. But it was Fulham who should have won it late on with two big opportunities, first Gofford racing behind our backline before flashing a shot into the side-netting. Then, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Esenga’s cross from the right was met by Samuel Amissah at the back post but he sent his header from left side of the six-yard box wide, as we withstood late pressure from the hosts to take home a well-fought point.

A dramatic finale saw us forced to settle for a point against Manchester United on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing to a first-half goal from Bryan Mbeumo and struggling to break down the visitors, momentum totally shifted in the final few minutes after Mathys Tel came off the bench to level it up before Richarlison’s glancing touch put us 2-1 ahead in the 91st minute and sent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium into delirium!

However, we were denied another victory over United – who we beat in all four meetings last season including that famous Europa League Final in Bilbao – when Matthijs De Ligt headed home from a corner in the sixth minute of stoppage time to leave it all square in a wild finish.

We made three changes from the midweek Champions League win over Copenhagen in N17 with Djed Spence, Joao Palhinha and Richarlison in for Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur and Wilson Odobert.

There was a decent tempo to the game in the early stages even if there was very little goalmouth action of note and the first real chance came on 16 minutes when Bilbao hero Brennan Johnson shifted the ball onto his left foot and sent over a lovely cross but Richarlison didn’t get a clean connection on his header as it bounced harmlessly wide.

At the other, United won the ball back high up the pitch in the 22nd minute and Matheus Cunha advanced into the box before seeing his shot deflected wide. The visitors were just starting to enjoy more possession in attacking areas when they went ahead just after the half-hour. It was a goal that could have been avoided as Pape Matar Sarr had the opportunity to clear his lines inside our area but played a short pass back to Micky van de Ven whose clearance was then blocked and United regained possession. The first cross into our box was headed away by Spence but Amad Diallo picked up the loose ball, clipped over another cross and there was Mbeumo to head into the top corner from eight yards out.

We tried to respond with Xavi Simons getting into some nice areas and showing some good touches, while we won a handful of corners in the final stages of the first half but couldn’t make them count and went in behind at the break.

We came out with renewed intensity at the start of the second half and United had goalkeeper Senne Lammens to thank for keeping them in front. First, he made a close range save to deny Cristian Romero’s flick from half-time substitute Odobert’s cross before diving to his left to push away Palhinha’s half-volley from just inside the box.

The ball was in the back of the United net in the 63rd minute, Richarlison slipping a pass in to Johnson who beat Lammens but the flag went up for offside and it was ruled out. The visitors were dropping deep whenever we had the ball, inviting us to break them down but always carried a threat on the break and when Diallo clipped a ball over the top for Bruno Fernandes, the midfielder had plenty of space but lifted his shot over the bar.

The game had just started to feel like it was heading away from us as we couldn’t quite fashion that chance to draw level when, almost out of nowhere, we did exactly that. It was a lovely goal too as three substitutes combined, Odobert sliding a ball down the inside left channel to Udogie, his low cross found Tel who turned and shot in one swift motion, the ball flicking off the toe of De Ligt and flying past Lammens to make it 1-1. The visitors almost regained the lead immediately when Benjamin Sesko was played through and was in on goal, only for van de Ven to show that pace once more to get back and get an important touch as the United forward went to shoot, with Guglielmo Vicario able to gather.

It was a big moment too, as we completely turned the game on its head a minute into stoppage time when we took the lead. The ball fell to Odobert 20 yards from goal, he hit a curling right-foot effort which flew through a mass of bodies in the box, with Richarlison getting a glancing touch on the shot to send the ball into the net and spark fantastic celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.

Sadly though, a fifth consecutive win against the Red Devils eluded us as they managed to find an equaliser in the final seconds. It was a straight-forward goal too, a Bruno Fernandes corner to the back post headed in by De Ligt in the 96th minute. Heartbreak in the end, but a draw was probably a fair result.

A second-half equaliser from Max McFadden earned our Under-21s a battling point to draw 1-1 at Fulham in the Premier League 2 on Saturday afternoon.

In a first half that won’t live long in the memory at Motspur Park – both sides failing to register a shot on target – the game burst into life just two minutes after the restart when Farhaan Ali-Wahid was in the right place at the right time to convert from close range after Tom Olyott’s curling effort struck the woodwork.

Our young side responded well and deservedly got back on level terms in the final quarter-of-an-hour as a well-worked move down the left was capped off with a lovely header by McFadden from the centre of the box to level the scores.

The two teams traded opportunities in the closing stages of the contest, with the home side going closest to a late winner, but we held on to earn a point on the road in southwest London.

More details to follow…

We’re set for our first meeting with London City Lionesses in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday.

The newly promoted side have enjoyed a positive start to life in their maiden campaign in England’s top flight, sitting sixth in the table with nine points from their first seven games, while we’re sat in fourth with 15 points out of a possible 21.

Here’s all you need to know ahead of our clash with the Lionesses on Sunday…

What time does the match start?

The game begins at 11.55am UK time.

How can I watch the game?

Supporters in the UK will be able to watch the game on Sky Sports+ and Sky Sports’ YouTube channel, while it will also be available on WSL YouTube.

If you’re following us from overseas, check out this link here to see if the game is live in your area.

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

Video highlights will be available on club channels 10 minutes the full-time whistle, alongside all the post-match reactions.

What is the team news?

Chris Williams, who took the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, reported that all players who were involved in the win against Liverpool is available for this weekend’s clash at Hayes Lane.

Long-term absentees Maite Oroz, Ella Morris and Luana Buhler remain unavailable for selection.

For the hosts, defender Teyah Goldie is in contention to feature this weekend after returning to training this week.

However, they will be without Isa Kardinaal, Lucia Corrales, Danielle van de Donk, Sofia Jakobsson and Emily Orman.

Who is the referee?

Stacey Pearson is in the middle for Sunday’s London derby.

She will be assisted by Anastasiya Voloshchuk and Lorraine Catchpole.

Grace Lowe will be the fourth official.

What kit colours will the teams be wearing?

London City Lionesses will be wearing their all-home strip, consisting of light blue shirts, black shorts and black socks.

We’ll be wearing our third kit for the encounter at Hayes Lane, featuring vibrant yellow shirt with blue detailing, yellow shorts and yellow socks.

What will the weather be like?

The early morning in Bromley will mist and fog but that will soon lift with sunny spells throughout the day. Temperatures at around 14 degrees.