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Igor Tudor says his Tottenham players are not fit enough and has questioned their desire to put in the hard yards without the ball.
The interim head coach has a clearer idea of the problems he faces after two weeks – and there are many of them, including low levels of confidence and the capacity of the younger players to handle the pressure of a relegation battle.
“Physically, we are not in an amazing situation,” Tudor said. “They have played lots of games in the last period without lots of players available and it made the physical condition of the team drop down. So we need to use this period where we don’t play the games to put some petrol in the engine so the engine starts to work better.
“They are fatigued. To do the pressing high you need to be fit. But [it is] all of them because if someone is not in the right shape there is a problem because someone is coming late [to the press].
“The second thing is that there is the other goal to protect. It is easy to run there but you need to run back. If you run up and don’t run back it’s a problem. For sure, we will improve and do these things better over time but in this moment it’s a big question what we can do and what we cannot do.”
Spurs could finish the day as low as 17th in the Premier League table if they lose to Fulham and Nottingham Forest beat Brighton. They will also remain just four points above the relegation zone…
Spurs fans, are you nervous for today’s game?
The Spurs game is massive for them today. Recent history has seen Fulham come out on top in this fixture - but if Tudor is to set a marker at Spurs (and yes, he needs one) - a positive result is really needed today, especially with West Ham losing yesterday.
Yes, the injury list has eased off slightly. We can still argue that some of Spurs best players are missing, but Tudor has enough players availble to play everyone in their right position. Spurs have been so bad for so long it's almost hard to remember the last 90 minute performance that was great. They'll need one today.
David Hytner
“Goaded by Tottenham and lampooned by Wolves, Mikel Arteta’s side face Chelsea this weekend with rivals hoping to prey on their sensitivities…”
Arsenal fan Balaji has messaged in to say:
“Should Spurs lose to Fulham or later, Arsenal beat Chelsea, today will mark the St. Totteringham’s Day!
“Had Arsenal beaten Wolves, we could have celebrated it at the White Hart Lane last week.”
Could this be the earliest St. Totteringham’s Day in Premier League history?
Right, now let’s look ahead to this afternoon’s Premier League fixtures…
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Brighton v Nottingham Forest
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Fulham v Tottenham
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Manchester United v Crystal Palace
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Arsenal v Chelsea
Here’s how the Premier League table currently looks…
In the Saturday evening match, Antoine Semenyo’s goal on the stroke of half-time was enough to see Manchester City take the points against Leeds United. Pep Guardiola’s side moved within two points of league leaders Arsenal as a result.
And over at St James’ Park, Everton stunned Newcastle to earn all three points in a 3-2 win.
Liverpool scored five against West Ham yesterday, improving their prospects of Champions League qualification.
Scott Parker was left sad and disappointed by more video assistant referee controversy after Burnley’s spirited comeback came to nothing.
Parker said: “Maybe a little bit of injustice. I’ve not watched it back. I saw it on the big screen and I was thinking it looks like his hand is beside his side. It looks so, so harsh.
“We’ve gone and scored five goals in the space of 60 minutes, which is quite incredible. The world we’re in, we’re all looking for perfection. The game is looking for perfection.”
The game of the weekend so far took place at Turf Moor yesterday, where Brentford clinched a dramatic 4-3 win against Burnley. The visitors went 3-0 up in the first half but Scott Parker’s side brought it back to 3-3 in the 60th minute.
Burnley then had a potential winner disallowed for an offside before Mikkel Damsgaard scored Brentford’s fourth. The Clarets equalised late through Ashley Barnes but that goal was also ruled out due to a handball.
Yesterday’s Premier League results
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Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland
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Liverpool 5-2 West Ham
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Newcastle 2-3 Everton
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Burnley 3-4 Brentford
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Leeds United 0-1 Manchester City
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! We have got some huge games to look forward to this afternoon, including a London derby which sees Arsenal host Chelsea and the Old Firm game between Rangers and Celtic.
Tottenham and Manchester United are among the other Premier League sides in action – they take on Fulham and Crystal Palace respectively, with Brighton facing Nottingham Forest in the other early fixture.
We’ll be looking ahead to all of those and recapping yesterday’s action, which saw 19 (yes, nineteen) goals scored in the 3pm games alone.
Join us!
