Tottenham Hotspur

Rio Kyerematen was directly involved in all four of our goals as our Under-21s swept Birmingham City aside 4-0 at Hotspur Way on Sunday afternoon.

Nutmegging Zaid Betteka to set up Matthew Craig's opener just before half-time - a long range strike which the midfielder has confirmed didn't take a touch off James Rowswell on the way through to goal - Rio was then on the scoresheet himself on the hour mark as he headed in Rowswell's delicate cross.

He added his second of the afternoon with eight minutes to play as Ellis Lehane unselfishly teed him up on the edge of the area before he became provider once more in added time as his corner was brilliantly finished by Luca Furnell-Gill for his first goal in our colours.

In our first ever meeting with Birmingham City in the Premier League 2, recent recruit James Wilson made his first start since his loan switch from Heart of Midlothian at the start of the month.

More to follow...

We can confirm the starting line-ups and substitutes for this afternoon’s Women’s Super League clash against Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (kick-off 2.25pm UK).

Martin Ho has made two changes to the team that defeated West Ham 2-1 last weekend in the WSL.

The changes come in defence as Hanna Wijk and Amanda Nilden come in for Josefine Rybrink and Drew Spence, with the latter serving the first of her three-game suspension.

Today is Hanna’s full debut for the Club, after she came on as a substitute last month in our FA Cup win over Leicester City, but also marks her first appearance in the WSL.

Starting XI: Kop, A.Nilden, Gaupset, England (c), Holdt, Vinberg, Hunt, Wijk, Summanen, Koga, Blakstad.

Substitutes: Heeps, Jackson, Bartrip, Rybrink, M. Nilden, Gunning-Williams, Tandberg, Ahtinen, Dennis.

It’s another fresh opponent for our Under-21s on Sunday lunchtime as we host Birmingham City in the Premier League 2 – and you’ll be able to watch the game live on SPURSPLAY!

Wayne Burnett’s side have never previously faced the Blues in Premier League 2 action, meaning an intriguing challenge is in store as we look to bounce back from last Friday’s 2-0 home defeat to Everton.

As previously announced, Sunday’s match against the Blues has been switched to Hotspur Way from Stevenage, but kick-off remains at 1pm.

Tune in to SPURSPLAY from just before the game starts for team news, followed by all the live action.

On-loan Alfie Devine scored the only goal of the game to hand Preston North End a 1-0 home win over Portsmouth on Saturday.

The 21-year-old midfielder rose to head home a cross from Andrija Vukcevic five minutes before half-time at Deepdale.

He had earlier gone close to breaking the deadlock, but saw his deflected shot sail just wide.

Alfie’s goal was his sixth of the Championship season so far and second of the calendar year, after scoring in a 2-0 victory at Bristol City on 4 January.

The former Wigan Athletic youngster once again completed the full 90 minutes against Pompey.

He’s made 33 appearances in all competitions for Preston to date.

Saturday’s trip to Manchester United saw January signing Souza make his debut for us.

The 19-year-old left-back, formerly of Brazilian side Santos, replaced the injured Destiny Udogie in the 55th minute at Old Trafford.

In doing so, he earned Legacy Number 903 for the club.

Legacy Numbers were introduced in October, 2023, as a way of recognising every player that has played their part in our history. Each person to have represented our men’s first team in a competitive game has their own unique number, which appears on the back of the collar of their match shirts.

Saturday’s outing, which ended in a 2-0 defeat after we’d played for over an hour with 10 men, marked only the second time Souza has been involved in our matchday squad, having been an unused substitute for last weekend’s 2-2 home draw with Manchester City.

Thomas Frank spoke to the media at Old Trafford after our 2-0 loss against Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.

Here's what he had to say...

What did you make of the red card?

Thomas: “First, I think we started the first 30 minutes well. I think it was a good away performance, very even against a Man United team in flow and playing with confidence. So, happy with that. Of course, the red card changed the momentum. I'm very proud of the players in general, but I'm proud of them in the last 60-plus, whatever, 10 injury minutes. How they showed resilience, stayed in the game, didn't crumble, kept fighting and still created some moments where we could have created that goal. Then, of course, when we did the three positive subs with 15-20 minutes to go, they scored straight after. The red card is a red card. I watched it now about five times. Cuti clearly tried to go for the ball, thought he'd just moved before and then it was a red card.”

How do you take any recklessness out of Cuti’s game while keeping the aggression?

Thomas: “I think if you look at how many red cards he has had, it's not like he had that many throughout his career. You play with passion and you play with aggression and there's a fine line when did you do that.”

Is Destiny Udogie’s injury a hamstring issue?

Thomas: “We will assess him tomorrow. So, of course, I will probably see you (media) guys in two days' time or less and then we'll know more. We'll assess him tomorrow.”

Do you have any regret in making Cristian captain?

Thomas: “No, there's not. Also, he said he was sorry for the incident, apologised to his team-mates in the changing room. No, I think he's one of the most important players and I think when he performs top, he’s driving the team.”

With respect, if he gets sent off after 28 minutes at Old Trafford, he’s not helping you, might it be better to give someone else the armband?

Thomas: “I think it's fair to say I don't think he had any intention to get a red card after 28 minutes.”

Maybe that makes it worse if he doesn't know what he's doing…

Thomas: “I think that's your perception.”

So, you're not going to consider at least maybe taking the armband from him?

Thomas: “No.”

With the red card and injuries piling up, how do you keep the team motivated and tell them that the corner is going to turn?

Thomas: “I'm very happy with the players and what they're showing, I think they actually show a lot of resilience because it's very, very tough to get out there every week and don't get enough of the good results. We can't run away from that - we haven't won enough in the Premier League. We're just coming on the back end of four good games where we also showed a lot of resilience. Before that, we also did it, but we didn't get enough of the results when we turned around in the second half. So, I think there's still a lot to hang the hat on in terms of resilience but the performances need to be backed up with a little bit, do more, and get a little, keep doing the right things because then the results will show.”

I know you sometimes speak about you need to get sugar at the end of the hard work. Do you and the players need enough sugar to keep going?

Thomas: “I think there's no other alternative than keep going. I think that's fair to say, which we will do, of course, but it's in life and football, there's very tough times. In the very tough times, head up, head down, stand up, face it, keep going. There's no other way. That's what the players are doing. They show it every single week. The good thing is, I think, actually, as I said, there was Dortmund, Frankfurt, two good performances and results. In the second half, very good against City. There was more good and positives against Burnley, I know we wanted to win. I think the resilience the players showed today in terms of, you know, where it's so easy to crumble, so easy to go out there and lose 5-0. They stayed in the game throughout, had a chance to come back into it. So, I think they show a lot.”

You're having to sit here and defend Cristian, which you have. What has he said to you? Because he's let you down…

Thomas: “We haven't spoken specifically about the situation because he apologised to the players, to us, to the players, to the team in there. That's enough for me for now. That’s it, nothing more to do now.”

So, he can't play for you now in the league until the middle of March - given the number of absentees you've got, that's not helping the situation at all, is it?

Thomas: “No, it isn’t.”

Thomas Frank said he was proud of the resilience shown by the players as we fought with 10 men for over an hour before succumbing to a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday morning.

We started brightly and looked a threat – chances falling to Conor Gallagher and Dominic Solanke – with the stats reading five efforts each when the game turned in United’s favour following Cuti Romero’s straight red for a challenge on Casemiro on 29 minutes.

Speaking to SPURSPLAY at Old Trafford, Thomas reflected: “I think the first 30 minutes was a good away performance against a United team in full flow and playing with confidence. I liked what I saw. Then, of course, the red card changed the momentum of the game.

“I’m very proud of the players in general, but of course the last 60 plus injury time, they showed so much resilience, stayed in the game. We still had moments that maybe could have given us the 1-1. Then, of course, when we then made the three offensive subs, they scored straight after when we had 15, 20 minutes to make a really important goal.

“So, proud of the players there, proud of the fans, travelling in numbers, we could hear them loud and clear throughout the game, pushing, helping us. The players were fighting, did everything they could to stay in there, also, pose a threat when we could going forward. So, I'm happy with that.”

Playing for over an hour with 10 men proved too much of an uphill task at Old Trafford as we suffered a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime.

Having started well, we found ourselves on the back foot after captain Cristian Romero was shown a straight red card for his 29th-minute challenge on Casemiro and the Red Devils duly took advantage to register their first win against us in nine attempts.

Bryan Mbeumo slid home following a short corner routine seven minutes before half-time, but we stayed very much in the game – thanks in part to a string of fine saves from Guglielmo Vicario – and it was only a late goal from Bruno Fernandes that finally killed us off.

The second period also saw the debut of Souza, signed last month from Brazilian side Santos, following an injury to Destiny Udogie at left-back.

We made three changes from the home draw with United’s rivals Manchester City last weekend and after the first of many good stops from Vicario to deny Casemiro from distance, we almost found the lead when Xavi Simons clipped the ball into the right channel for Conor Gallagher, but his well-worked first-time shot was easy for Senne Lammens.

Udogie’s dangerous cut-back a few moments later went through the legs of Micky van de Ven – back in the side after a minor injury – and almost fell for Dominic Solanke in the box, but he couldn’t get his shot away under pressure from Lisandro Martinez.

Matheus Cunha and Bernandes fired wide for United, who were willingly taking shots from distance, but the game changed just before the half-hour mark when Romero caught Casemiro after trying to drive out from the back with the ball at his feet and was given his marching orders.

Another Fernandes strike from distance looped wide off van de Ven and from the United skipper’s resulting short corner, Kobbie Mainoo teed up the unmarked Mbeumo to slide a left-footed shot through a crowded box and inside the far post to give the hosts the advantage. Vicario subsequently tipped Casemiro’s header onto the crossbar and dived bravely at the feet of Amad Diallo to keep us within touching distance going in at the break.

Diallo had a goal ruled out for offside early in the second period before a further blow for us with the loss of Udogie, who limped off less than 10 minutes after the restart. Xavi went close with a good strike from distance on his left foot that whistled just past the post, but in truth it was at the other end where most of the action was happening, Vicario denying Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot within a minute of each other before Shaw’s shot was blocked in the box by van de Ven in the wake of a half-cleared set-piece.

The offside flag was already up by the time Cunha had the ball in the net for United mid-way through the second period, while Vicario blocked Diallo’s angled drive at the near post before the killer second goal arrived nine minutes from time, Fernandes arriving onto Dalot’s sweeping delivery at the back post and guiding the ball home off his shin. Mbeumo went close again for United as we struggled to muster a response, our four-game unbeaten run in all competitions coming to an end.

Martin Ho has spoken about stepping on the sidelines at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time on Sunday, declaring: “I feel it’s the best stadium in world football.”

Not only will it be our Head Coach’s first experience in the dugout in N17, but it’s also a highly anticipated London derby in front of thousands of our Lilywhite fanbase, where we take on six-time Women’s Super League champions Chelsea.

Facing the Blues in north London on Sunday for a 2.25pm kick-off - tickets still available to buy online and on the day at the Paxton Ticket Office, subject to availability - Martin can’t wait for his first match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but is keen to remind players that’s just another game in the WSL.

“But you have to remove all the emotion attached to the game and just focus on the performance, which is easy for me to say because I'm not one of those players that steps out onto the pitch and plays.

“I'll do my best to remove that pressure as much as possible and just give them really key focus points on what they've delivered so far and what we've done so far and, then if we can really put a performance in where it's just focused on us, we give ourselves a good chance.”

On whether he sees opportunities to threaten Chelsea after their recent run of form, suffering back-to-back defeats in the WSL…

“They're a wonderful team. If anyone thinks that losing two games turns them into a bad team, then you're very, very, very mistaken. They're a wonderful team, they have wonderful players, they have a wonderful manager. When a team has played Arsenal and Manchester City, two top teams, in those games, it's kind of nip and tuck, who takes the chances at that level. Unfortunately, Chelsea have been on the back end of that. [They have] very dynamic players in the front line, very good players in central areas, and they've got some of the most decorated central midfielders in world football, so we need to be aware. We will be, but we have to show no fear in that. We have to apply ourselves correctly and focus on ourselves and what we want to do.”

On competing in a London derby at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…

“I think when you play a London derby, there's maybe your form and those sorts of aspects out the window because it's more bragging rights in a battle. But, we just need to focus on what we've been doing. The players now are relishing the opportunity to play against Chelsea at the stadium, that will bring an edge to us, it brings excitement definitely because you're playing in front of your own fans at the stadium and we just want to make sure that the performance backs up in terms of what we've been doing.”

We can now confirm the starting XI and substitutes for our Premier League trip to Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime.

Thomas Frank has made three changes to the side which started our 2-2 draw with Manchester City last weekend.

Micky van de Ven returns at centre-back after missing the last two games with a minor injury in place of Radu Dragusin who is amongst our substitutes.

The other changes see Pape Matar Sarr replace Yves Bissouma in midfield and Wilson Odobert come in for Randal Kolo Muani in attack.

January signing Souza features in his first matchday squad with a place amongst our substitutes.

Starting XI: Vicario, Palhinha, Xavi, Udogie, Gray, Romero (c), Gallagher, Odobert, Sarr, Solanke, van de Ven.

Substitutes: Kinsky, Dragusin, Bissouma, Tel, Souza, Kolo Muani, Olusesi, Byfield, Williams-Barnett.