Thomas Frank says he really ‘respected’ one aspect of the way Arsenal played vs Tottenham in pre-season

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Arsenal faced Tottenham on Thursday in the first north London derby to ever take place outside of the UK.

Arsenal faced Spurs over in Hong Kong for a historic meeting between two arch rivals, and, on this occasion, Tottenham came out on top.

Arsenal weren’t at their best on the day, but a few players did impress, including Christian Norgaard.

Speaking to SpursPlay after the match, Thomas Frank has been discussing the game, and he says that he actually really respected one aspect of the way Arsenal played against Spurs.

Indeed, the Tottenham manager says he really respected the competitive nature of the game, despite the fact it was a pre-season match.

Thomas Frank respected how Arsenal played vs Tottenham

Frank discussed the game against Arsenal.

The Spurs boss was in good spirits after beating the Gunners 1-0, and he even reserved a bit of praise for his opponents.

Indeed, Frank says that he respected how competitive Arsenal were in this game, despite the fact it was only a friendly.

“Games against Arsenal are never friendly, it means everything, but I actually really respected both teams for their competitiveness during the game, it was really competitive. That first half was completely even in many ways. I love the way the team performed,” Frank said.

Arsenal’s last pre-season match vs Tottenham was a similar story

Arsenal faced Tottenham outside of Europe for the first time on Wednesday, but this isn’t the first time these two sides have met in pre-season.

Indeed, back in 2021, Arsenal played Spurs in the Mind Trophy, and, unfortunately for Arsenal, it was a similar story back then too.

Arsenal lost 1-0 to Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at that time, so it’s clear Arsenal don’t have the best luck against Spurs in pre-season.

Luckily, in competitive matches, Arsenal have had the edge in recent times, as the numbers show.

Tottenham may have beaten Arsenal in Hong Kong, but, make no mistake about it, north London is still red.