OFFICIAL VERDICT: THOMAS FRANK SLAMS "TERRIBLE" VAR CALLS AFTER SPURS' RECORD HOME DEFEAT
Thomas Frank attacks VAR decisions after Xavi Simons and Cristian Romero see red in Tottenham’s record 11th home loss of 2025.
Thomas Frank was not happy at all with the calls made, as Cristian Romero and Xavi Simons both got red cards, leading to Tottenham's defeat at home against Liverpool.
Arne Slot's team snagged three points from a messy game in London, getting them closer to the top four.
Still, the win wasn't without cost. Alexander Isak got hurt when he scored the first goal, and Conor Bradley was injured too. Spurs, though, have even bigger worries.
This loss marks their 11th home defeat in the Premier League this year, which is a new club record. Frank was mad, especially about the two red cards and what he thought was a push on Romero by Hugo Ekitike when Liverpool scored their second goal.
About Simons' red card, which he got for a foul on Virgil Van Dijk, Frank said, I've seen refs give those, but I hate it as a red card. It wasn't reckless.
Simons was just chasing Van Dijk and changed direction, and his foot caught Van Dijk's Achilles. We must not have any physical play anymore, and now he's suspended for three games. That's just wrong, and there's nothing we can do about it.
Simons apologised on social media, saying, Mistakes happen. Virg is my captain. I'd never try to hurt him or anyone. I take the blame. I'm really sorry to my Spurs teammates, my manager, and the fans.
Spurs said the second goal should've been called a foul, and Romero got his first yellow card for arguing about it. His second yellow was for retaliating after a foul by Ibrahima Kontae near the end of the game.
The ref messed up on the second goal, Frank said. Two hands were pushing from behind. It's clear. I don't get it. You see it all the time—if someone's going for a header and gets pushed from behind, it's a foul.
But not in the penalty box, it seems. I think that was the biggest mistake, and VAR didn't catch it.
About Romero's second yellow, Frank said, Those two were fighting for the ball. Konate went right through Cuti, which was a foul. I'm not saying anything anymore. His foot landed on Cuti's head. I'm not saying it was yellow, but Cuti reacted. I guess they could give it, but they could also not give it.
Slot said he'd wait to see about Isak's injury. "I don't know anything yet, but when a player scores, gets hurt, and can't come back, it's usually not good," said the Liverpool boss.
I can't say more than that. It's just a feeling. I haven't talked to him. Let's stay positive and hope he's back soon.
Liverpool is unbeaten in six games and moved up to fifth place. Slot added. The players are getting better, and the team is getting better. It wasn't perfect, but we're getting points and getting to see the team improve.
It was never as bad as people said, but it wasn't perfect. I knew we'd need time after making a bunch of changes this summer. Maybe people thought it would all be easy after those first few wins.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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