A double from Son Heung-Min, as well as strikes from Lucas Moura, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane completed the win for the hosts.

After the game, Howe reflected on the following topics.

The performance

It was a strange game and we had some really good moments at the start. We had a couple of very presentable opportunities, which we didn’t take.

The first goal, it was a big deflection from distance and the goalkeeper could do nothing about it. We never truly recovered and we conceded a couple of poor goals from there.

It was a bizarre game, I’m sure we’ll look back at it and find some good things to take away but ultimately we’re disappointed to lose.  

Francis’ injury  

It doesn’t look good. He’s gone for a scan so we’ll know when we get the results. I don’t know what to say on it; it’s hugely disappointing for someone who has been so crucial for the football club.

We hope it’s not as bad as it looks but fear that it could be the case. All our thoughts are with him and his family.

It’s a time where we’re going to be stretched, and it’s unusual that you get so many injuries which are serious. We were stretched to the limit before this, but we’re even more so now.

Tottenham Hotspur

They have forward players that can really create problems. We had equally good opportunities during the game, but we didn’t take them. They were very clinical.

We tried to change things ahead of the game and we prepared differently. We then had to change things up with the injury during the game.

I thought we were competitive between the boxes, and around their box we were ok as well. They didn’t created loads of chances but when they did, it was clinical and that’s the difference.

The busy period

It’s difficult because we have games so quickly. We’re disappointed, we all expect better and the players feel the same.

We can’t dwell on this, but we have to learn our lessons. We can’t go too deep, the next one will come quickly, so let’s focus on that. It’s a key stage of the season.