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Tottenham Hotspur are back in action in the Premier League this weekend as they prepare to welcome London rivals Fulham to North London on Saturday night.

Spurs are looking to bounce back from successive defeats to Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in their last two games, losing 5-3 to the French giants in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

The Lilywhites have not won in the Premier League since they beat Everton 3-0 at the end of October, with one win in six in all competitions since, which is why it is so important for Thomas Frank’s team to win this weekend.

They will have to get one over Fulham in order to do so, though, and it is a club that they have many connections to through players who have played for both.

Ranking Fulham players who have played for Spurs since 2010

Counting all players who played for Spurs since 2010, there have been ten players who either played for Fulham before or after their time in North London.

Perhaps most notably, given that Dimitar Berbatov left Tottenham in 2008, is central midfielder Mousa Dembele, who played 240 matches for Spurs between 2012 and 2018, after signing directly from the Cottagers.

1

Mousa Dembele

2

Scott Parker

3

Clint Dempsey

4

Joao Palhinha

5

Carlos Vinicius

6

Lewis Holtby

7

Paulo Gazzaniga

8

Manor Solomon

9

Josh Onomah

10

Ryan Fredericks

As you can see in the table above, academy players like Ryan Fredericks and Josh Onomah rank at the bottom, with several less notable Spurs players before the top four.

It is hard to say anyone other than Dembele should be at the top, given that the Belgian star, renowned for his ability on the ball, is the only player on the list to play more than 100 games for the club, with 240, per FBref.

He was once ‘irreplaceable’ for Spurs, as shown in the post above from 2018, and Frank can unearth his own version of the midfielder by playing Lucas Bergvall on Saturday night.

Why Lucas Bergvall could be Tottenham's next Mousa Dembele

One of Dembele’s most notable attributes during his time with Spurs was his dribbling. Speaking about his former international teammate, Youri Tielemans once said: “His dribbling was amazing, you just couldn’t take the ball off him.”

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

He was brilliant at carrying the ball up the pitch from the middle of the park, and Bergvall is a central midfielder who can offer similar qualities for Spurs in the present day.

Per FBref, the Sweden international ranks within the top 9% of his positional peers in the Big 5 Leagues and European competitions over the last 365 days for progressive carries per 90 (2.30) and the top 2% for successful take-ons per 90 (1.55).

This shows that he is one of the most productive dribblers among central midfielders in Europe, which is why he could develop into being Frank’s own version of Dembele in the middle of the park.

Bergvall, like the Belgian, does not carry a huge goal threat, having scored once in the Premier League this season, but he can get the team up the pitch with his ability to drive forward with the ball at his feet.

The Swedish star, who was dubbed a “generational talent” by the club’s head of scouting Rob Mackenzie, started as part of a box midfield against PSG earlier this week, but playing further up the pitch ahead of Archie Gray and Rodrigo Bentancur restricted how much he could drive from deep.

Therefore, unleashing him in a midfield three against Fulham on Saturday could allow him to provide supporters of both teams with a reminder of a player who once starred for them.

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Bergvall only attempted one dribble, which he completed, against PSG, and playing him further back on the pitch to use as a threat in transition could help Spurs to win their first Premier League game of the month this weekend.

Bangladesh coasted home in just 13.1 overs, achieving their third-quickest T20I chase

Abhimanyu Bose01-Sep-2025Bangladesh surged to a 2-0 lead in their three-match series against Netherlands with another comfortable win in the second T20I in Sylhet. Netherlands’ batting failed once again, failing to punish the hosts for some sloppy fielding, and seven of their batters were dismissed for single-digit scores as they slumped to 103 all out.Nasum Ahmed, who replaced Rishad Hossain for this game, finished with three wickets, while Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman continued their wicket-taking form with two apiece.Tanzid Hasan then hit an unbeaten half-century as Bangladesh romped to victory in 13.1 overs, making it their third-quickest chase in T20Is (where overs weren’t reduced).

Nasum deals early double-blow

Even though Max O’Dowd flicked the first ball for a boundary, it was a cagey start for Netherlands, including a missed run-out chance when Mahedi Hasan failed to collect a throw cleanly at the non-striker’s end in the first over with Vikramjit Singh short of his crease.Nasum’s introduction in the third over brought Bangladesh their first breakthrough, and then another.It was more poor execution of shots than the quality of bowling that brought about the wickets, as O’Dowd skied a half-tracker to mid-on and Teja Nidamanuru miscued a cut off another short ball to short third to give Nasum two in two.Vikramjit kept the boundaries coming, cover-driving Mahedi and sweeping Nasum fine before punching the left-arm spinner through point.But he tried to ramp a slower ball from Taskin in the sixth over, got cramped for room, and ended up spooning a catch to short third.

Bangladesh sloppy in the field

Taskin could have had his second off the next ball when Shariz Ahmad skied the ball attempting a swipe across the line but Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who had taken a good catch off the previous delivery, slipped at deep third and spilled the chance.Bangladesh’s sloppiness in the field continued next over, when they failed to capitalise on a mix-up: Towhid Hridoy first tried to run to the stumps from extra-cover, with the ball, and then sent an underarm throw off-target.But Netherlands couldn’t capitalize as Scott Edwards failed to clear mid-on in the ninth over, with Parvez Hossain Emon taking a good catch running back to give Mustafizur his first wicket.Where Bangladesh let simpler chances go, Saif Hassan produced a moment of brilliance to leave Netherlands five down in the tenth over. He dived to his right to stop a flick from Shariz, leaving non-striker Noah Croes, who had set off for a single before turning back, short of his ground with a direct hit.Taskin Ahmed was among the wickets again•BCB

Dutt resists, but bowlers have final say

Five became six next ball as a Tanzim bouncer cramped Shariz, who could only glove it behind down the leg side.Sikander Zulfiqar, brought into the XI to bolster Netherlands’ batting, made just two before Mustafizur hit the top of his off stump for his second wicket of the evening.Taskin and Nasum then added to their tallies before Aryan Dutt hauled Netherlands past 100, hitting the only six of the innings off Taskin in the process. But he bottom-edged Mahedi onto his stumps as he tried to go for another big shot, ending Netherlands’ innings on 103 with 2.3 overs left unused.Dutt top-scored with 30 and was one of only three Netherlands batters to record double-digit scores.

Emon navigates tricky powerplay

Bangladesh openers rode their luck in the first couple of overs, with Emon top-edging a reverse-sweep over the keeper and missing out on a conventional sweep.But they enjoyed pace on the ball, with both Emon and Tanzid launching medium-pacer Kyle Klein over mid-off for boundaries.Emon was given out lbw off Paul van Meekeren, but he survived upon reviewing and responded by whipping him behind square leg for four and launching him down the ground for Bangladesh’s first six.However, Klein struck in the final over of the powerplay as Emon lost shape trying to hit a length ball down the ground and ended up edging behind.

Tanzid, Litton finish the job

Emon’s wicket came during a spell of 15 balls without a boundary, and Litton broke it with a reverse-sweep behind point off Daniel Doram.When O’Dowd was introduced in the ninth over, Tanzid welcomed him with a six down the ground. In the next over, Tanzid tried to go down the ground again off Doram and was given a life with O’Dowd spilling the chance at long-on.Tanzid slogged O’Dowd over midwicket for a four and a six in his next over, the 12th of the innings, and brought up his half-century off 39 balls in the 13th. The rest of the chase was a formality, and Tanzid sealed the win with a slap down the ground.

Newcastle United have a tough run of fixtures to contend with for the rest of November, before the bumper Christmas schedule weighs heavily on the calendar.

Indeed, the up-and-down Magpies have a tricky home clash with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City up next, as Eddie Howe no doubt worries already as to how his porous defence will deal with a free-flowing Erling Haaland.

Then, it’s back-to-back away fixtures at Marseille and Everton in the Champions League and Premier League, with Howe, presumably, under even more intense pressure if he fails to pick up a win or two across this stretch of contests.

Far too many players Howe has relied on over the years have failed to deliver the goods across recent matches, with many of those underperformers also falling into the high earners bracket at St James’ Park.

Assessing Newcastle's current wage bill

Newcastle’s highest earner currently continues to lead by example for the most part in club captain Bruno Guimaraes.

Understandably, during losses on the road against West Ham United and Brentford, the Brazilian wasn’t at his liveliest.

But, the £160k-per-week “talisman” – as he has been recently labelled by Michael Carrick – does still have three goals next to his name this season, when bailing his topsy-turvy side out of some sticky situations, which included this wonderfully taken strike breaking the deadlock against Nottingham Forest last month in a much-needed 2-0 win.

The same adoration isn’t being extended to Joelinton and Anthony Gordon – who both take home a hefty £150k-per-week pay packet – with the pair notably struggling in league action this season. Neither player has scored a single goal or registered an assist from a combined 16 Premier League outings.

Thankfully, Nick Woltemade has lived up to his club-record £69m price tag, and his high £132.5k-per-week wage, on the contrary, with four league goals already next to his name.

There will be some grumbles about Anthony Elanga’s £55m fee and £100k-per-week wage, though, with the ex-Manchester United attacker dubbed a “massive overpay” by analyst Raj Chohan, with the Swede yet to show off his exhilarating best on the wings. He remains goalless so far on Tyneside.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

The likes of Elanga and Gordon are not the only players being hounded.

A "legendary" star must be ditched by Newcastle

Elanga will also surely have the benefit of patience on his side, with the 23-year-old only 17 games down for his new employers. In time, the hope will be that the expensive £55m purchase does come good.

Whereas, in the case of Joe Willock, the peak of his Newcastle career looks to be very firmly behind him now, with his drop-off in form on Tyneside a very concerning tale.

Towards the start of his Newcastle playing days, Willock perform the role of a bright spark in front of goal from the midfield ranks expertly, much like Guimaraes now provides Howe and Co.

Staggeringly, he scored in seven straight Premier League matches during his initial loan spell from Arsenal during the 2020/21 season, as Willock lived up to Mikel Arteta’s words of being a “special” talent.

Ex-Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell even went as far as to state that Willock had achieved “legendary stats” at St James’ Park with this unbelievable goalscoring run, further hailing the number 28 as “god-like” to the Tyneside masses.

Willock after his permanent move
Stat	Willock
Games played	133
Goals scored	10
Assists	9
Transfer fee	£25m
Wage per week	£80k-per-week

Willock has, arguably, become a victim of his own successes at Newcastle, with the former Arsenal midfielder only managing to cough up two more goals across 133 games, away from exploding onto the scene with a breakneck eight goals during his first 14 outings.

The Athletic’s Chris Waugh has simply labelled the 26-year-old as a major “disappointment” over the past couple of seasons, with only 100 minutes of Premier League action handed his way this campaign, really bringing into view his lavish £80k-per-week wage.

Wildly, that means summer arrival Malick Thiaw earns less than Willock, despite being an ever-present part of Howe’s defensive unit in the Premier League so far this season, with the German only banking a £70k-per-week salary.

It’s far from the most uplifting story seeing the decline of Willock in real time, but if Howe is to turn around his side’s fortunes right now, he will have to consider shelving the EFL Cup-winning midfielder for good very soon, alongside other previous regulars who have now fallen off the horse.

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1

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Shohei Ohtani might not be performing up to his lofty standards at the dish thus far for the Dodgers this postseason, but there was a welcome—and rare—sight at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.

For the first time since March, Ohtani was out on the field taking batting practice, and the Dodgers star not only got some extra hacks in, but put on a show in the process.

Ohtani's batting practice session got off to a slow start, to the amusement of his Dodgers teammates.

But it's not how you start, it's how you finish. And on one of Ohtani's last BP swings, he crushed a ball out of Dodger Stadium. The home run caromed off the top of the roof in the pavilion section en route to traveling all the way out of the park.

Even though it came in a practice session, the homer had to be a good sight for the Dodgers, given that Ohtani hasn't gone yard since Game 1 of the wild-card round against the Reds, when he belted two homers. The presumptive 2025 National League MVP has struck out 12 times in his last 25 at-bats, collecting just a pair of hits in that span as the likes of the Phillies and Brewers have been determined to either attack Ohtani with a steady diet of breaking balls or not let him beat them by intentionally walking the slugger.

Perhaps a return to Dodger Stadium, as evidenced by one batting practice swing, will be good for Ohtani. Game 3 of the NLDS is set for Thursday at 6:08 p.m. ET.

Alan Gardner, Andrew Miller and Vithushan Ehantharajah chat about the first Test of the summer as England face Zimbabwe after a gap of two decades

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2025The arrival of Zimbabwe for their first Test against England since 2003 kickstarts a concentrated eight-month period for Brendon McCullum’s team, encompassing a five-match India series and the Ashes in Australia. On this week’s podcast, Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Vithushan Ehantharajah to preview the game. Topics for discussion include Sam Cook’s Test debut, Bazball’s need to reconnect, and the challenge for Zimbabwe, as well as the announcement of England’s white-ball squads to face West Indies.