7M - Tudor: Arsenal Showed Tottenham 'Where They Need to Be'

Igor Tudor believes Arsenal demonstrated to Tottenham "where we need to be" following another heavy 4-1 north London derby defeat to their rivals.

Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres each scored twice as Arsenal established a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League, though Spurs had pulled level after Randal Kolo Muani responded to the former's opener.

The Frenchman later had a second potential equalizer disallowed due to a foul on Gabriel Magalhães before he neatly finished on a separate occasion.

Tudor became the first Tottenham manager to suffer defeat in their Premier League debut since André Villas-Boas in August 2012, with each of the previous nine (including interim and caretaker bosses) remaining unbeaten (W6 D3).

Spurs were second best to Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, managing just six shots with an expected goals (xG) total of 0.8 compared to the Gunners' 1.9 from 20 attempts. Tudor acknowledged there is work to be done to reverse their fortunes.

"I'm disappointed because we didn't do enough. Arsenal were significantly better," he told Sky Sports.

"The gap between the two teams was too large. Even with the physical difficulties we had just to field 11 players plus three substitutes.

"It's valuable to see a team like that, to show us the level we need to reach because we're struggling in many areas. Mentally, we need to find a way out of this moment; the only path forward is hard work. Stay calm, stay humble. And focus on the future day by day, improving gradually with each passing day and week. At this moment, they're too strong for us.

"We need to put in the work. There have been too many poor habits established in the past. Every one of us, every part of this team, needs to examine ourselves, improve, and remain humble. It all comes down to effort. We need to cover more ground, work harder, win individual battles and second balls. We prepared for this over four or five days, but they were quicker to everything.

"The players showed their commitment, they wanted to run, they wanted to compete. But when we pressed high, we couldn't get there in time to win the ball—they're stronger, they have greater power and energy. They believe more, and that's ultimately what makes the difference. That's the reality. We need to learn from this."

Only Wolverhampton Wanderers (10) have lost more home games across Europe's top five leagues this season than Spurs (eight), who remain the only winless team in the Premier League during 2026 (P9 D4 L5).

Across their two encounters with Arsenal this season, Spurs have managed just nine shots total (including three in the away fixture) as they struggled to trouble Mikel Arteta's side.

But even with a genuine relegation threat looming over Spurs, who sit just four points above the drop zone, Tudor believes his squad has enough quality to escape danger.

"Of course, I have confidence [they will avoid relegation]," he added. "These are players who form a good group but have developed poor habits.

"No one can tell me we lack quality. But we need to make a change, a mental shift, and develop that mental sharpness to be fully engaged in the match from the very first and second minutes. And we need the physicality to match.

"One or two players had off moments, but that can happen on any given day. Too many players experienced difficulties today. That's what led to this result."