Tottenham Hotspur

The last time Arsenal won five Premier League games in a row against Tottenham was between January 1987 and January 1989. The recent history does not make promising reading for Spurs fans before the north London derby, but what else do the stats say...

• Spurs have lost their past three league home games against Arsenal, as many as they had in their previous 23 (W10 D10). They last lost four in a row against them between 1952 and 1955.

• Since their last league defeat against Spurs in May 2022, the Gunners have lost just one of their 21 away London derby matches in the Premier League (W14 D6), going down 2-1 at Fulham in December 2023.

• This will be Igor Tudor's first match as Spurs boss. The only manager whose first ever game in charge of Tottenham was in a match against Arsenal is Glenn Hoddle, who lost 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford in April 2001.

• Tudor, however, has won his first match in charge in each of his past five spells at a club, starting with his second spell at Hajduk Split in February 2020 (and with Verona, Marseille, Lazio and Juventus since).

• Gunners midfielder Eberechi Eze has scored six goals in his past four Premier League appearances against Spurs (including three in two at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium), netting a hat-trick in his first appearance against them for Arsenal in November's reverse fixture.

Tottenham's 27-year-old Argentina defender Cristian Romero and England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 26, are among those who would almost certainly leave Spurs this summer if they are relegated. (Athletic - subscription required), external

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Tottenham could spend big this summer with a potential move for Aston Villa's 23-year-old England attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers on the cards. (Football Insider), external

But Spurs striker Richarlison could leave the club, with Flamengo and Atletico Madrid showing interest in the 28-year-old. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

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As well as improving the team's form, interim boss Igor Tudor has been brought in to try and "correct" the side's disciplinary issues, says Serie A writer for The Athletic James Horncastle.

Former Juventus manager Tudor joined the club on an interim basis for the remainder of the season following the sacking of Thomas Frank.

With four red cards across all competitions already this term, including two in the Premier League for captain Cristian Romero, one of the first issues for the Croatian to address as they look to move away from the relegation positions is discipline.

"I think he has been brought in in part because, he hasn't got a reputation as being a strict disciplinarian, but he is not someone who is going to suffer fools gladly," Horncastle told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"He's been around big, big name players. I mean, that's normal for being a Juventus player. When he was a player the likes of [Zinedine] Zidane being around him. When Tudor was Andrea Pirlo's assistant Cristiano Ronaldo was in the Juventus dressing room. At that time there were big characters like Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini around.

"I think Spurs acknowledge, not only in this appointment, but in some of the business that they tried to do in the January transfer window, that there's a leadership deficit in that dressing room. That's why they brought in someone who they feel could be a good role model in Conor Gallagher. I think that's why they tried to sign Andy Robertson as well.

"There's a feeling that a lot of the South American players in that dressing room follow Cristian Romero and they need to maybe rebalance that a little bit. Ultimately a lot of this comes from the coach, a lot of this comes from the senior players in that dressing room and the tone that they set, so they've tried to correct that as much as they can in this January period and then with the change of coach."

Listen to the full discussion on BBC Sounds

Tottenham, Crystal Palace and West Ham are among the clubs keen on signing Real Madrid's 32-year-old Germany defender Antonio Rudiger this summer. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Everton are set to reject any approach for 27-year-old English midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall this summer amid interest from Tottenham. (Football Insider), external

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Ali Speechly
Fan writer

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Is hiring Igor Tudor a stroke of genius or a disastrous appointment by the board?

The fact that no-one seems able to answer this question with any great conviction has done nothing to either calm my nerves or excite me.

On the one hand, the Croat has a reasonably impressive track record of improving teams over a short-term period. Essentially, this is all we really need from him so we can avoid relegation, before we appoint a permanent head coach in the summer.

However, Tudor is also known for his high-intensity style of play, with training sessions and fitness work testing players to their limits.

Normally this would not concern me, but given our current injury crisis and ongoing issues within our medical department, I am not sure the ghost of Antonio Conte past is the wisest approach right now.

Ultimately, as long as Tudor can do enough to keep us in the Premier League, I am not particularly fussed.

However, therein lies the problem.

As a fan, I was excited to see who the board would call upon to rescue our season.

I appreciate the options were limited, given we needed someone who was available on a short-term basis mid-season, but this was also a priceless opportunity to unite an increasingly apathetic fanbase.

If we are to play our part in redeeming this season, we need to feel invested in our team.

Hopefully Tudor can win us over by inspiring – or scaring – the players into delivering something we have been missing so far in this campaign: football that is worth watching.

Get us scoring some goals, winning some games, and keep us in the league.

Then we can bring home everyone's favourite Argentine in the summer and forget this sorry season ever happened.

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Tottenham, Leeds, Everton and Manchester United will continue to monitor Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney, 23, before the summer transfer window. (Teamtalk), external

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Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

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Recently appointed Tottenham assistant coach John Heitinga is leaving the club, with interim boss Igor Tudor bringing in three new backroom staff.

Former Ajax manager Heitinga, who had also previously been part of Arne Slot's title-winning Liverpool coaching staff, only joined Spurs and Thomas Frank's backroom team in mid-January.

The 42-year-old had been a consideration for the interim role following Frank's sacking last week but sources told BBC Sport that his appointment was unlikely.

First-team coaches Justin Cochrane and Chris Haslam, who had followed Frank from Brentford, will also depart.

Tudor, who has signed a contract until the end of the campaign, will bring in his own coaching team, subject to work permits.

Ivan Javorcic is set to join as his assistant, while Riccardo Raganacci and Tomislav Rogic will arrive as a physical and goalkeeping coach respectively. They were all part of Tudor's team at Juventus.

Tottenham and Chelsea are interested in signing Bayern Munich's South Korean centre-back Kim Min-jae, 29. (CFBayernInsider) , external

Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal are all interested in bringing AC Milan and United States forward Christian Pulisic, 27, back to the Premier League. The former Chelsea man would be available for 70m-80m euros (£61m-£70m). (Caught Offside), external

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Speaking on his appointment as Spurs' interim head coach, Igor Tudor said: "It is an honour to join this club at an important moment.

"I understand the responsibility I have been handed and my focus is clear. To bring greater consistency to our performances and compete with conviction in every match.

"There is strong quality in this playing squad, and my job is to organise it, energise it and improve our results quickly."

Tottenham sporting director Johan Lange added: "Igor brings clarity, intensity and experience of stepping into challenging moments and producing impact.

"Our objective is straightforward – to stabilise performances, maximise the quality within the squad and compete strongly in the Premier League and Champions League."

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

First of all, Spurs wanted an interim head coach until the end of the season. And that immediately narrows the field down.

Within that, the Spurs hierarchy were looking for someone with top level managerial experience who plays attacking football.

After reviewing their options, it is understood Spurs felt Tudor fit the bill for a few key reasons.

He has experience of working at some top European clubs – and managing big name players.

Tudor's reputation is for aggressive football with an attacking intent. This element was particularly important to Spurs after criticism of their style of play under Frank.

Tottenham are also said to have admired his work improving teams on a short-term basis.

For example, his Lazio team were unbeaten in the league for his first two months after he joined.

At Juventus, he lost only one of his first nine games. In his first full season, he was unbeaten for his first eight matches. His downfall came quickly, however, following that run after losing three away games in a week – to Real Madrid, Lazio and Como.

Tudor will be an interim manager and it is thought that they will be looking to secure a different, long-term option in the summer.

However, like with Michael Carrick at Manchester United, it may well be an intriguing conundrum if he hits the ground running and sustains a good run of form through what is left of the season.

Read more on Spurs' new interim head coach here

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We asked for your views on Tottenham appointing Igor Tudor as interim manager until the end of the 2025-26 season.

Here are some of your comments:

Mark: Was his name pulled out of hat from the job centre? Oh dear, hardly the lift needed!

Paul: No Premier League experience, middling success. Struggling to see how this will "unite the fanbase", which is essential in keeping us up. Hope I'm wrong.

Ian: Igor who?? Good luck! he'll need it. It will take an enormous change in mood and tactics to advance up the league and a miracle to get players fit.

Andy: What? Well, let's hope this unknown manager with no big reputation, no Premier League experience or any Spurs DNA has a few amazing magic coaching tricks and tactical manoeuvres up his sleeve, otherwise we are doomed.

Jasmine: How low can this management team keep destroying a once GREAT club? Never heard of the man but looking at the last sacking he got, he should fit in well seeing he was sacked for losing eight games on the trot. Tottenham needs relegation to get rid of the owners!

David: Hardly an inspiring choice given his winless record in his last eight games before he was sacked - clearly buying time till end of season. Pochettino in the summer a must but if we're relegated... would he come?

Peter: Was not expecting his name but if the players want an interim they have an interim. Igor Tudor is a well-known manager, but his recent interim and then permanent spell at Juventus ended with an extensive winless run. I do think, however, he will walk into that dressing room with a class suit and just get going. If we can salvage yet another shocking season, then maybe we put his name on our Wall of Fame because this has been horrible if you like it or not.

Simon: It's an extraordinary appointment. I'd love to think that our fans will give the new manager time, but I suspect they'll start booing as soon as we are put under pressure in his first game - the NLD - and this will only get louder if we concede. How is someone with no connection with the club and no fit players meant to build some positivity with fans with the run of games we face? However good Tudor may be, the club have given him an impossible challenge.

Chris Adams
BBC Sport journalist

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Igor Tudor's seventh-month reign at Juventus came to an end last October after an eight-match winless run in all competitions left The Old Lady eighth in Serie A and 25th in the league phase of the Champions League.

Eight wins in 17 league games across two seasons meant he left Turin with a win percentage of 47.1%, a dip from his previous records at Lazio – a brief spell that lasted just nine games – and Marseille of Ligue 1.

Image source, Opta

Just one defeat in nine after being appointed by Juve in March 2025 saw them secure Champions League football, but three successive defeats without scoring a goal led to his dismissal in October.

Tudor's sole season in France saw Marseille finish third behind Paris St-Germain and Lens, although they did actually win more points than they had done when they finished second the previous season.

The former defender's only silverware as a manager came when he lifted the Croatian Cup with Hajduk Split in May 2013, taking charge of the two-legged final less than a month after being appointed.

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Igor Tudor has agreed a deal to become Tottenham interim head coach until the end of the season.

The 47-year-old has held 10 previous management jobs - including two spells at Udinese - and last managed Juventus before being sacked in October.

Tudor's career has consisted of largely short-term roles, with his 78 games at Hadjuk Split between 2013 to 2015 proving his most significant in terms of matches overseen.

In an interview before taking the Marseille job in 2022, he described his style, stating: "I want courageous and intensive football, not only uniquely based on the defence. I want people who come to the stadium to be entertained and not disappointed."

Does that sound good for Tottenham fans?

Get in touch with your views here

Ali Speechly
Fan writer

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Who is going to turn the Tottenham super tanker before it sinks once and for all?

Following the sacking of Thomas Frank, our team is now completely rudderless.

What the board has got planned is anyone's guess, but personally I would like to see a caretaker manager appointed on an interim basis, before a head coach is secured on a permanent contract in the summer.

Right now, the priority has to be salvaging the wreckage of our domestic season and avoiding relegation to the Championship.

Our European escapade has offered some light relief in an otherwise desperately bleak season, and I am all for keeping that dream alive, but not at the expense of Premier League football.

So, who can ensure we escape the drop by getting the best out of an injury-ravaged squad?

John Heitinga seems an obvious choice, and it would not surprise me if he was brought in with this exact scenario in mind.

Longer term, there is only one man for a romantic like me: Mauricio Pochettino.

The board should bring the magic one back home in the summer, and this time they have to give him whatever he needs for what we all know will be a painful rebuild.

Whoever ends up with the job, be it temporarily or as permanently as these things can be in modern football, the board must address two crucial factors.

The first is the physical care of our players, because the current rate and severity of injuries is catastrophic.

The second is the wage structure, so that we can attract and retain higher quality players.

We have been told repeatedly that the board's focus is sporting success.

Success in sport often comes down to fine margins, and the next move by the Tottenham board has to be inch-perfect.

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On the latest episode of BBC Sounds' Euro Leagues, the idea of Roberto de Zerbi - sacked this week by Marseille - coming to manage Tottenham was discussed.

The Athletic's James Horncastle said: "I do think there are some similarities in his approach to Ange Postecoglou, certainly in how they want their teams to play and believing it's the best way against the judgement of journalists, when we say, 'why are you playing this high line?'

"De Zerbi has been of interest to Tottenham in the past. It's no secret that their former managing director of football, or co-sporting director Fabio Paratici was an admirer of De Zerbi. Paratici is now at Fiorentina, not at Tottenham. Those recommendations he will have made will presumably still be in the memory bank at Tottenham.

"For the trend we have seen in the Premier League with the decisions Manchester United and Chelsea have made - they were challenged by coaches in press conferences - De Zerbi is vocal about what he wants and what he thinks should be done.

"This is a coach that expects an input in recruitment and a voice to be heard. We have seen over the last few decisions that big clubs have made in this country is they want a coach to coach. Recruitment is left with a sporting director. That's an interesting tension in the Premier League going forward. It seems they are moving away from these managers with big personalities."

Listen to Euro Leagues in full

Tottenham have registered their interest in USA and former Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic, 27, who is open to a return to England from AC Milan this summer. (Teamtalk), external

Spurs are attempting to find a short-term managerial appointment before seeking to reappoint USA boss Mauricio Pochettino following this summer's World Cup. (Sun), external

Paris St-Germain are prepared to rival Premier League clubs Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham with a £100m bid for Brighton's 22-year-old Cameroon midfielder Carlos Baleba. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are among the Premier League clubs keeping a close eye on Club Brugge and Serbia midfielder Aleksandar Stankovic, 20. (Teamtalk), external

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Recently, Liverpool and the Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk said former players-turned-pundits have a responsibility when discussing the performances of the current generation of footballers.

He believes they can stray into "clickbait" and have a possible impact on players' mental health.

On Thursday's episode of the More than the Score podcast, former Scotland international Pat Nevin and chief sports editor for Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf Marcel van der Kraan join John Bennett to discuss and analyse the modern world of punditry and the impact it can have on players and managers alike.

"As a player you do tend to take it to heart, especially when it feels a little personal," said Nevin.

"Generally, it isn't personal and the pundit is just having their opinion and we all kind of know where the lines are. But, the lines have been jumped over more often in recent years and I think Van Dijk is right about that.

"Because of the clickbait, it is so much easier to get more likes, views and work if you're a little bit more extreme. Ex-players aren't stupid and they know that. If you are too sensible and sit on the fence you won't get the big gigs.

"You have a dichotomy. Most ex-players would like to be balanced but they know if they are too balanced and sensible they won't be there next week.

"My criticism would always be constructive criticism which is explained. One-dimensional labeling of players should never happen. Sometimes if a big name says something enough it becomes accepted wisdom."

Van der Kraan added: "There are two different kinds of pundits; those who need to be on every week and those who are genuinely focused on what is right and what players should do.

"For Van Dijk, after so many years enough is enough.

"It all started after he came into the Netherlands team and became a big player at Liverpool. The first ex-player to really criticise him was Marco van Basten, saying he was not a leader. Van Dijk was biting his lip after every match because it became a bit of a stigma.

"Eventually it filtered to England and every time he had a bad game it became an open nerve."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds