Thomas Frank sent double Tottenham reminder at perfect time ahead of Arsenal clash

Tottenham face Arsenal in the first North London Derby of the season on Sunday and Thomas Frank has been given somewhat of a double boost going into the clash

The end of the international break is fast approaching and Thomas Frank will have his attention firmly on the North London Derby.

Tottenham make the short trip to Emirates Stadium to face arch rivals Arsenal on Sunday, with the Gunners currently four points clear at the top of the Premier League. Frank, though, will only be focusing on his own side and as he only has one win against a team managed by Arteta throughout his career, the Dane will want to make that two come the weekend.

Spurs are experiencing somewhat of an injury crisis at the minute, however. James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin have not played a single minute this campaign due to injury, while Dominic Solanke, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray, Ben Davies, Kota Takai, Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus, Randal Kolo Muani and Pape Matar Sarr are all sidelined.

While a few of the aforementioned players may well return for the North London Derby, Frank will want the players he does have fit to be ready when called upon. The former Brentford boss would have been impressed by what Xavi Simons and Mathys Tel did on Monday night then.

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Playing for France U21s against Faroe Islands U21s in a European Under-21 Championship 2027 qualifier, Tel scored the only goal of the game as he captained the side to a 1-0 win. The Frenchman’s 37th minute penalty proved to be the decisive moment in the match as his country went top of Group C.

Simons, meanwhile, scored Netherlands’ third goal of the night against Lithuania in a 4-0 victory. The result secured the Netherlands’ place at World Cup 2026 with Simons playing well in the 78 minutes he was on the pitch.

The fact Tel and Simons both scored while on international duty will be music to Frank’s ears as we approach the vital clash against Arsenal on Sunday. Both could feasibly start against the Gunners given Frank’s lack of options at present and the duo should go into the match with plenty of confidence.

Tottenham have struggled with inconsistency in the forward areas so far this season and Frank is still trying different things in an attempt to get the best out of his players. Speaking after the 2-2 draw with Manchester United before the international break, Frank said: “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.

“We constantly work on the relationship 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. (Against United) we wanted two strikers, Kolo Muani and Richarlison, for the crosses, which we thought was an area where we potentially could hurt United.

“I think it worked perfectly with the first one (by Brennan Johnson), where Richarlison got a big chance, so that could have been an unbelievable, fantastic game plan from us. So that was part of it and we need different personalities and types for different games.”