Thomas Frank accepts the frustrations of supporters who have labelled his Tottenham team boring, but he remains confident they have better attacking displays in them ahead of hosting Sunderland on Sunday.

Frank initially enjoyed a strong start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after arriving from Brentford, but following a goalless draw against his former club on New Year's Day, Spurs sit 12th in the Premier League table.

Tottenham's display at the Gtech Community Stadium was greeted by jeers and chants of "boring" from the away end, as they only mustered nine shots and 0.86 expected goals (xG).  

Through 19 matchdays under Frank, Spurs rank fourth-last in the Premier League for total xG (18.1), above only Sunderland (16.3), Wolves (17.1) and Burnley (17.6). 

Those three teams are also the only sides to attempt fewer shots than Spurs' 185 in 2025-26, but Frank is sure things will improve in the second half of the season.

"It's not perfect, we want to be a free-flowing team," Frank told reporters on Friday. "We are working very hard on the offensive part of the game. 

"I understand the frustration and I share it too. There are a few things we need to improve on and one of those is losing the ball through unforced errors, which happened 25 times [against Brentford]. I showed those 25 clips to the players today.

"The next thing is getting the right patterns, structure and getting in the right positions. That is my responsibility with the coaches and I take that.

"The third thing is that we still lack some very important offensive players who have been out for a while, but I am getting sick and tired of naming them.

"That is where we are right now. Unfortunately, it's very boring but that is the fact; we need to do everything we can to put in an attacking, intense, front-footed performance against Sunderland in two days' time and I will do everything I can to make sure we do that."

Asked if he and his team needed to be more daring, Frank said: "I am daring; I am sitting here."

Sunderland sit seventh in the table following Thursday's 0-0 draw with Manchester City, which Regis Le Bris hopes can give his team even more confidence going forward.

"It is really positive for the club, the squad and all the lads, because we were playing against the best in Europe and it shows we can be confident," he said. 

"It is good for our confidence and good for the individuals, but we need to reset quickly because this is relentless."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Tottenham – Richarlison

Richarlison has been involved in 13 goals in his last 16 Premier League starts for Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (11 goals, two assists).

And against promoted clubs, the Brazilian averages a goal or an assist every 55 minutes since joining Spurs, scoring four goals and assisting another four in just 437 minutes of action. 

Sunderland – Brian Brobbey 

Brobbey found the back of the net when Sunderland drew 2-2 with Arsenal in November, as did centre-back Dan Ballard, though the latter is sidelined for Sunday's game.

The last Black Cats player to score against both Arsenal and Spurs in the same Premier League campaign was Darren Bent back in 2009-10.

MATCH PREDICTION – TOTTENHAM WIN

Sunderland enter this match three points clear of Tottenham in the Premier League table, but the Opta supercomputer is still siding with the hosts.

Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League games against Sunderland (W10 D4), since suffering a 3-1 away defeat in April 2010.

Away from home, the Black Cats have lost 14 of their 16 Premier League matches against Spurs, with the exceptions being a 2-1 win in August 2008 and a 1-1 draw in November 2010.

And for all their success this campaign, Sunderland have netted just four goals in their nine away Premier League games, failing to score on six occasions on the road. 

Indeed, the Black Cats have failed to score in 17 of their last 26 top-flight away games, either side of their eight-year exile from the Premier League.

This will be Le Bris' first Premier League meeting with Tottenham, and French managers have only won one of their last 15 away matches against Spurs in the competition (D3 L11), with Arsene Wenger's Arsenal triumphing 1-0 back in March 2014.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Tottenham – 56.1%

Sunderland – 21.2%

Draw – 22.7%