Tottenham Hotspur begin domestic life under Thomas Frank against newly-promoted Burnley in their 2025-26 Premier League opener.
Frank’s arrival came in June after Ange Postecoglou was sacked following Spurs’ dismal 17th-placed league finish last season, despite having won the Europa League title to end a 17-year silverware drought.
Burnley were promoted as Championship runners-up on goal difference and will look to avoid going straight back down like they did in 2023-24 season.
Team News
Yves Bissouma is set to return for Tottenham after he was suspended for their UEFA Super Cup defeat to PSG in Udine, Italy, having been late on multiple occasions in pre-season.
Destiny Udogie won’t be risked in this game after he failed to recover sufficiently from a knee injury, which saw him miss out on a place on the bench in Udine.
Radu Dragusin, James Maddison (both ACL), Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Gil (both knee), Manor Solomon (calf) and Kota Takai (foot) are ruled out.
Burnley could be without Martin Dubravka (shoulder), Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja (both fitness), Axel Tuanzebe (muscle) and Conor Roberts (knock), although they will be handed late fitness checks.
Bashir Humphreys (quad), Jordan Beyer (knee), Zian Flemming (knock), Zeki Amdouni (ACL) and Manuel Benson (Achilles) are ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Tottenham host Burnley at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 16 August at 3pm BST, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Tottenham have lost just one of their last eight league meetings against Burnley (W6, D1, L1).
- Burnley are yet to win away at Tottenham in the Premier League after nine previous attempts (D1, L8).
- Spurs have kept four clean sheets in their last five league matches at home to Burnley.
- Tottenham kept three clean sheets in pre-season (W2, D3, L1) prior to their first competitive game of the season, which saw them lose to PSG in the UEFA Super Cup on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
- Three of Burnley’s six pre-season goals were scored by Marcus Edwards.
Prediction
Considering that many probably wouldn’t of given Spurs a chance against PSG, Frank certainly utilised his set-piece tactical expertise to extract performance from his squad, whilst the decision to go for a five-man defence looked a wise move until they switched off late on and were ultimately punished.
The players now need to take the positives from that display and bring that into this game because this is a great chance for them to lay down a marker in Frank’s first home game against divided home fans, especially with a trip to Manchester City next up.
Burnley meanwhile will certainly miss James Trafford’s presence in goal after his return to Man City – having helped the Clarets kept 30 clean sheets last season, but they face a tough test of their credentials as the top flight is a different beast to the Championship.
Josh Brownhill’s departure also adds a further headache for Scott Parker’s Burnley as he was not just their top goalscorer last season, but a huge presence in midfield last season so filling that void quickly at a competitive level will be a difficult ask.
I however do feel like this will be a routine win for Spurs even if they’re still adapting to Frank’s style.
Prediction: Tottenham 2-0 Burnley
Result: Tottenham 3-0 Burnley
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