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New pope, rise of Luke Littler and what that has happened since Tottenham last won four games in a row

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Tabuteau, S. (2026, November 3). New pope, rise of Luke Littler and what that has happened since Tottenham last won four games in a row. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/what-has-happened-since-tottenham-last-won-four-games-row-b1303272.html

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Evening Standard · collected 2026-11-03 · by Sam Tabuteau

Quick Summary

The article discusses significant events since Tottenham last won four consecutive games during Ange Postecoglou’s tenure between August and October 2023. It highlights Pope Leo XIV being elected as the new pope in May 2025, Donald Trump returning to the presidency of the United States in November 2024, and Sir Keir Starmer leading Labour back into power in the UK in July 2024. The piece also covers Tottenham’s recent struggles, including Daniel Levy stepping down as executive chairman in September 2025 and the club narrowly avoiding relegation to the Championship at the end of the previous season.
Written by AI on 2026-11-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Since Tottenham last won four games in a row during the early months of Ange Postecoglou’s tenure in 2023, significant events have transpired. In May 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. Despite being a Real Madrid fan, Pope Leo received a Sunderland shirt with "Pope Leo, 14" on it for their Europa League campaign, mirroring a similar gesture by Pope Francis in 2013 when Father Marc Lyden-Smith gifted him a Sunderland shirt ahead of their match against Newcastle.

Additionally, former US President Donald Trump was re-elected as president in November 2024, defeating Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Tottenham's success under Postecoglou saw them win eight out of their first ten fixtures and finish fifth in the league despite losing Harry Kane to Bayern Munich that summer.

Written for “Tottenham's Recent Success” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 125139 · logged 2026-11-03

Story

📰 Tottenham's Recent Success
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted
28
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
2 of 28 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-03 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8310 article(s) · 73 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 73 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Sam Tabuteau
109 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “West Ham United would like to thank Nuno, Rui and Rui for their hard work and commitment during their time at the Club, and wish them all the very best for the future.
🔮 A new pope is elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church in May 2025, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.
🔮 Sage is under increasing pressure to turn things around, with Palace mired in the relegation zone after winning one of their first nine league games, but he insists he will continue to fight for his future.
🔮 It may not have been pretty, but Tottenham are quickly relearning the art of winning again after their 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace made it three wins in a row for the first time since February 2025.
🔮 This was the sort of game where he would have been eager to add to his goal tally.
🔮 Head coach Roberto De Zerbi initially downplayed fears that Maddison had suffered another significant problem, and confirmed on Friday that he would be in contention to face Palace.
🔮 On Lucas Bergvall, who also picked up a knee injury against Manchester United, De Zerbi initially said he would be out for around two weeks.
🔮 Pep Chavarria is set to return to the matchday squad, but Jorrel Hato remains sidelined.
🔮 I wouldn't be where I am today without Tottenham, for sure," Kane said.
🔮 On a disappointing evening at Anfield, Lacroix left the pitch with a hamstring injury just before half time, and Alonso said afterwards he did not know how long the Frenchman would be out.
Also by Sam Tabuteau
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 109 articles by Sam Tabuteau →

Topics

Europa League Spurs Sunderland Tottenham north London

Subjects

Spurs ORG · 5× Tottenham ORG · 5× Leo PERSON · 3× West Ham ORG · 3× Championship ORG · 2× Daniel Levy PERSON · 2× Donald Trump PERSON · 2× Europa League ORG · 2× Postecoglou PERSON · 2× Sunderland ORG · 2×

Narrative

Donald Trump returns as US President Donald Trump was re-elected as President of the United States in November 2024, defeating Democratic candidate and former vice-president Kamala Harris. It came four years after Mr Trump had lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, ending his initial spell in the White House after victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Labour Party back in power The Labour Party came back into power after 14 years as Sir Keir Starmer was elected as UK Prime Minister in July 2024. Despite a landslide victory, Starmer resigned in July 2026 and was replaced by Andy Burnham.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-03
🔮 A new pope is elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church in May 2025, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.

Claims (28 extracted, 2 hedged)

Not since the opening months of Ange Postecoglou’s reign have Spurs won more than three times in succession - a feat they quickly achieved twice either side of a north London derby draw under the Australian between August and October 2023 - and a lot has happened in the intervening three years. asserted
lot → open → years
That season, fast-starting Tottenham won eight of their first 10 fixtures and went five points clear at the summit despite the high-profile summer loss of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, eventually finishing in fifth place. asserted
Tottenham → start → place
Here, Standard Sport looks at some of the biggest stories to have happened since Spurs last won four on the bounce. asserted
Spurs → look → bounce
A new pope is elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church in May 2025, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. uncertain
Prevost → elect → name
While Pope Leo is said to be a Real Madrid fan, he was gifted a Sunderland shirt with the name "Pope Leo, 14" emblazoned on the back ahead of the club’s Europa League campaign. asserted
he → say → campaign
Pope Leo was gifted the shirt after Sunderland’s chaplain, Father Marc Lyden-Smith, gave one to Pope Francis ahead of the Black Cats’ victory over Newcastle in 2013. asserted
chaplain → gift → 2013
Donald Trump returns as US President Donald Trump was re-elected as President of the United States in November 2024, defeating Democratic candidate and former vice-president Kamala Harris. It came four years after Mr Trump had lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, ending his initial spell in the White House after victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Labour Party back in power The Labour Party came back into power after 14 years as Sir Keir Starmer was elected as UK Prime Minister in July 2024. Despite a landslide victory, Starmer resigned in July 2026 and was replaced by Andy Burnham. asserted
Starmer → return → Burnham
The UK has now had five Prime Ministers in the last five years. asserted
UK → have → years
Tottenham headlines Daniel Levy exits as executive chairman Daniel Levy stepped down as executive chairman of Tottenham in September 2025, bringing to an end his 25-year reign at the club. Following Levy’s departure, non-executive chairman Peter Charrington declared “a new era of leadership for the club” before Spurs went on to endure their worst season in Premier League history as they only narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship on the final day. asserted
they → exit → day
Trophy drought ended amid relegation battles Tottenham would have been relegated had they not mustered up a nervy 1-0 win at home to Everton on the final day of last season. asserted
they → end → season
Read More 12 months after lifting the Europa League, their first major trophy for 17 years, Spurs would remarkably become mired in a relegation battle with rivals West Ham, staying up by the skin of their teeth thanks to a goal from loanee Joao Palhinha. asserted
Spurs → read → Palhinha
Spurs’ decision to get rid of Postecoglou just 16 days after he guided them to Europa League success over Manchester United in Bilbao was always going to prove controversial. asserted
he → rid → Bilbao
No one, though, could have foreseen the disaster that would unfurl over the next season as Tottenham went through three managerial changes in 10 months. uncertain
Tottenham → foresee → months
Thomas Frank was brought in as Postecoglou’s successor, but was eventually sacked in February 2026 with the club hovering over the relegation zone. asserted
club → bring → zone
His replacement, Igor Tudor, lasted just 44 days before the club hit the panic button again to bring in Roberto De Zerbi to steer them to safety. asserted
club → last → safety
Elsewhere in sport West Ham fall from European glory to relegation In the space of three years, West Ham went from Conference League winners to being relegated to the Championship. asserted
Ham → fall → Championship
A series of poor recruitment decisions, managerial changes and ownership uncertainty ensured the Hammers failed to build on their first piece of major silverware in 43 years before eventually dropping back to the second tier after 14 seasons. asserted
Hammers → ensure → seasons
Luke Littler becomes a household name Darts sensation Luke Littler announced himself on the biggest stage at just 16 years old as he made a historic run to the World Championship final on his debut at Alexandra Palace in January 2024. asserted
he → become → January
Since then, Littler has become a back-to-back world champion and underlined his place as the best player on the planet while still a teenager. asserted
Littler → become → planet
Kimi Antonelli becomes youngest-ever F1 champion Another sporting prodigy, Kimi Antonelli has risen from obscurity to the top of his sport in the last three years. asserted
prodigy → become → years
At just 20 years and 68 days old, Kimi Antonelli became the youngest Formula One world champion in history on Sunday after clinching the 2026 title with a third-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix. asserted
Antonelli → become → Prix
A record-breaking campaign has also seen Antonelli become the youngest winner of the Monaco Grand Prix, the youngest driver to achieve a Grand Slam, and the first Italian in more than 60 years to be crowned world champion. asserted
Antonelli → break → years
End of an era as Murray and Nadal bow out Sir Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal retired within a few months of each other to leave Novak Djokovic as the last man standing from the ‘Big Four’ era of 21st century tennis. asserted
Murray → bow → tennis
Two-time Wimbledon winner Murray retired in August 2024 and was swiftly followed by 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal in October. asserted
Murray → retire → October
It followed Roger Federer’s retirement in September 2022. asserted
It → follow → September
Fury comes out of retirement again Boxing fans have long since grown weary of Tyson Fury’s retirement U-turns, so his fourth announcement last year that he was hanging up his gloves convinced few. asserted
he → come → few
Just a handful of months later, he made the decision to step back into the ring for a fifth, and surely, final time in April 2026. asserted
he → make → April
The former world heavyweight champion beat Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov by unanimous decision in his first fight back and is now gearing up for a hotly-anticipated bout with Anthony Joshua in Cardiff in December, having also defeated Mariusz Wach in Thailand. asserted
champion → beat → Thailand
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