Can Spurs go down?
The Game
The Times
3.2 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 57 minutes
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Summary
If there were any questions ahead of the North London derby Arsenal answered them, emphatically.
Spurs by contrast looked like relegation candidates. could they really go down? The panel think with West Ham, Forest, Leeds and even Wolves looking like more cohesive teams Spurs are in searious trouble. Is Tudor the man to save them?
Where does Viktor Gyokeres rank alongside the other big summer strikers - Pedro, Ekitike and Sesko?
Liverpool got away with it at Forest but Mo salah looks a shadow of his former self, will he be at Anfield next season?
Why can't Chelsea beat the lower placed teams and hats off to Jiminez and Milner.
tom clarke joins Gregor Robertson, Pete Rutzler and Alyson Rudd
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the game football podcast from The Times and Sunday Times. |
| 0:09.0 | Arsenal's lead at the top of the Premier League is back to five after they hit four against Tottenham in the North London Derby. |
| 0:15.0 | Liverpool picked up crucial three points with a late winner at Nottingham Forest, but it was two points dropped for Chelsea against Burnley as Nico O'Reilly's double stole the show for Manchester City. |
| 0:25.6 | And it was a weekend when we were reminded that there is only one, James Milner, as the |
| 0:29.4 | Brighton midfielder set a new record for Premier League appearances. |
| 0:33.3 | Joining me, Tom Clark, to discuss all that and much more, we have the senior sports writer |
| 0:36.7 | and Sunday Times columnist Alison Rudd, the football reporter who covers clubs in the south of England with a particular focus on Chelsea. It's Peter Rutler and the former footballer, turn journalist Gregor Robertson. It's here, as usual. Do you see what I did with that intro there? 5,4, 3, 2,1? Didn't notice it. No one noticed it. Just sat there waiting for them and speak about their big game. |
| 1:09.7 | Go on. No, no, that was it. That was all I did. I just thought you might be like, oh, that was quite clever, Tom. But anyway, never mind. Let's talk about North London Derby. Alison, you were there. Arsenal, responding after that draw against Wolves in the week. did they play like champions here? |
| 1:11.9 | They did what... It's very easy to sound wise in the week. Did they play like champions here? |
| 1:12.0 | They did what... It's very easy to sound wise after the event. |
| 1:15.0 | I did right before the game. |
| 1:16.7 | This was a really good chance for Arsenal to get back their mojo and look like champions, |
| 1:22.5 | not elect, because mathematically they're not. |
| 1:25.3 | But they did not look like a team that were worried about the run-in or about their |
| 1:30.5 | own form or their own personality. |
| 1:32.9 | They played proper football. |
| 1:35.2 | So there's been a restraint to them in the games where they've dropped points and you |
| 1:39.1 | sort of feel, you know, no, it's going to hand you a game in this division, mate. |
| 1:42.5 | You've got to really work for it. |
| 1:44.7 | So although Spurs were abject, Arsenal did work for it. |
| 1:49.4 | And it could have easily been a bigger margin of victory. |
| 1:52.1 | They weren't relying on set pieces. |
... |
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