Leeds get the second half started. They've replaced Gudmundsson with Bard.

Half-time postbag. "Both feet are off the ground. That's Bogle's entire weight on Tel's Achilles. That can lead to a serious injury. Bizarre decision" – Martin Perring

"Why do red cards exist if not precisely to protect players?" – John from Norway

"The most thing about VAR, and there are so many insane things about it, is that we have to watch replays of a player OBVIOUSLY doing a red-card challenge one thousand times in slow-motion, and it ends with not even a yellow. The chicken-shit nature of it all, the incompetence, all elevated because of technology. I hate it so, so much" – Øivind Idsø

"There's overthinking it, as you say, but this is like they've been given a task to find a reason for not giving that as a red, rocking and rolling desperately, frame-by-frame. The explanation they release for not giving a red should be a corker. Meanwhile, whatever happened to 'clear and obvious'? VAR is almost single-handedly turning me into a grumpy old man. I'll be off out now to shout at some pigeons" – Rob Knap

"I've supported VAR from the start. It was always going to have teething issues as it was implemented, and it was never going to 100% eliminate mistakes. Subjectivity is still a thing. But, my word, they don't half make it hard to defend at times. It should be established now, a mature technology with most of the errors ironed out. If anything, though, It's getting worse. I'm not in the 'Bin it' camp yet, but I'm a lot closer than I was at the start of the season" – Matt Dony

"Committees are an extremely useful method for decision making, especially when people have time to deliberate. But perhaps football refereeing isn't suited to committees" – Kári Tulinius

"That would have been a red card at Elland Road in the 70s" – Gary Naylor

Leeds should have had a penalty; they should also have had a man sent off. The players walk down the tunnel. The referee was planning to drive away in his car, but the doors and square wheels have fallen off and there's all smoke coming out of the radiator.

45 min +5: Ampadu throws long from the left. Van Hecke powers a header miles clear. Ampadu has another go. Van Hecke batters clear again. The xG does not change.

45 min +4: The xG, for what that's worth, is 0.19 to 0.22. Meanwhile Roberto De Zerbi continues to give the fourth official the what-for. His post-match interview could make for good entertainment.

45 min +2: Fernandes slices a low drive miles off target. After nearly boiling over, this half is now fizzling out, which is probably for the best all round.

45 min: There will be six minutes of additional first-half time, most of which a result of the on-field referee and VAR spending ages failing to make a decision.

44 min: Kudus fizzes a tempting low cross through the Leeds six-yard box from the right. What a ball. But neither Gray nor Solanke respond. Any touch and it was the opening goal.

43 min: Tel limps off. A heavy trudge, he's in some difficulty. He's replaced by Solanke.

42 min: Marmoush clips Muharemovic from behind. That should be a booking as well, but the referee has lost control of this with his unwillingness to make any sort of decision whatsoever. Meanwhile Tel goes down, he looks really unhappy.

40 min: Tel is getting dog's abuse now. He's also moving very gingerly, having recently had someone stand on his ankle.

39 min: Roberto De Zerbi isn't happy about that. You can't blame him. Meanwhile the game restarts, with Bogle, who shouldn't be on the pitch, crossing for Nmencha, who plants a header straight at Kinsky. Had that gone in, there would have been some wild scenes all right.

38 min: No red card, no serious foul play. That is preposterous enough in itself; that there's not even a yellow is beyond a joke. The on-field referee should have seen that, at the very least.

37 min: VAR is flapping taking a long time over this. You can overthink these things, you know.

36 min: It's a really poor challenge, studs landing on Tel's achilles, the Spurs player's leg bending. It should be a red card.

35 min: VAR is in fact checking for a red card. The on-field referee, it should be noted, has completely abdicated responsibility.

34 min: Bogle leaves one on Tel, who was in the process of spinning him. It's a really poor challenge, studs on ankle. A red card wouldn't be out of the question here; there's not even a yellow shown.

33 min: A long pass down the left confuses Elvedi into conceding a corner with a misjudged backwards header. One corner leads to another, then Marmoush heads harmlessly wide. To be fair, Trafford has had next to nothing to do as well, if you ignore a couple of long-range shots scuffed straight at him.

31 min: Some pinball just outside the Spurs box. Fernandes tries to walk the ball away from danger but loses it, and Nmecha nearly releases Calvert-Lewin down the inside-left channel. Kinsky comes out to block, then the flag goes up for offside anyway. Kinsky still officially unworked.

29 min: Gudmundsson floats a poor cross in from the left. Easy for Kinsky, who has had absolutely nothing to do so far.

28 min: Spurs have enjoyed 77 percent of possession in the last five minutes.

27 min: Kudus gets the chance to shoot now, though. He drifts infield from the right and shoots. Another one straight at Trafford. Spurs are beginning to create things.

26 min: That was a great run by Tel, who appears to have finally blossomed after that wonder goal against Chelsea.

25 min: Tel advances down the left at speed, one-twoing with Gray before laying off to Marmoush, who scuffs a shot straight at Trafford. A disappointing end to a slick move, especially as Kudus was free to Marmoush's right, waiting for the killer pass.

24 min: Kudus diddles his way down the right in style, cuts back, then swings a dangerous ball into the mixer, forcing Trafford to punch clear under purple pressure. He does so with authority.

22 min: Longstaff steps across Fernandes and earns the second yellow card of the afternoon.

21 min: The pace drops, as does the volume in Elland Road. Spurs will be more than happy with all of that.

19 min: A long ball down the middle is contested by Marmoush, who looks to have been dragged down by Elvedi, but gets nothing from the referee. Justin was nearby, so Elvedi wasn't the last man, but it should have been a free kick in a dangerous position. If nothing else, the officials are equal-opportunity inept.

17 min: Tonali plays a cute ball round the corner, hoping to release Porro down the right. Not quite. Goal kick. Porro is looking lively, though, and soon after he comes again, his long cross miscontrolled by Tel, just inside the Leeds box on the left. Had Tel killed that, it would have been a big one-on-one chance.

15 min: Bogle spins Van de Ven, who was too tight to his man. The Spurs captain grabs at Bogle, and goes into the book as a result.

14 min: Porro makes ground down the right and he's got options in the Leeds box. He floats a poor cross straight into the hands of Trafford. Uncharacteristically from the world champion.

12 min: Roberto De Zerbi is already at the edge of his technical area, frowning quite a lot. Spurs haven't put anything together yet.

10 min: The xG is currently 0.01 to 0. Something quite pleasing about that. Not sure what.

9 min: Gudmundsson knocks the ball past Porro on the left, wins the footrace with ease, then cuts back for Ampadu, who skies a shot from long distance. This is an impressive start by Leeds.

8 min: Tanaka drags a shot wide right. Then Gudmundsson wins a corner down the left. Longstaff takes; Kinsky claims. Leeds only turned up after the three-minute mark, but they're here now, and they're pushing Spurs back.

6 min: VAR waves away the penalty appeal. They're making it up as they go along, kids, as anyone who watched last night's Everton-Coventry fiasco will attest. Fernandes was leaning into that, unnecessarily so, and the ball hit his arm. The VAR has done Spurs a solid there.

4 min: A cross into the Spurs box from the left. The ball pings off Fernandes's outstretched right arm. VAR will want a look at this. Why did Fernandes hang his arm out like that?!

2 min: Spurs keep hold of the ball for the first minute and 45 seconds. Eventually Trafford claims it. A calm, confident start by the visitors.

A different fanfare for the common man – the Last Post – sounds poignantly. Silent, solemn remembrance of the fallen. After which Tottenham Hotspur get the ball rolling.

The teams emerge from the tunnel, so …

Leeds are in their Revie-approved white, so Spurs are forced into third-choice purple. It won't be long now.

Pre-match postbag. "Hands up who had Tottenham challenging for Europe and Manchester United challenging for the, er, Championship on their 25%-of-the-season-gone bingo card? No, me neither" – Dave Estherby

"Let's just nip this talk of Tottenham rounding into form in the bud, shall we? Three wins on the bounce is nice until you take a closer look at them. Coventry: 'nuff said. Chelsea: missing Joao Pedro, and with a dreadful tactical setup in response. Crystal Palace: down a man before the match before the match was a quarter-hour old. You need a fair glob of polish to put a proper gloss on that run" – Eric Peterson

Roberto De Zerbi's turn to chat with TNT. "We keep going … keep pushing … a tough game for us … a tough game for them because we are in a good moment … every game starts nil-nil … we have to work hard if we want to win … [Pedro Porro] can bring everything … he is a fantastic guy, a fantastic player … [Archie Gray, who moves from right-back to midfield] deserves to play because he's playing very well … I am sorry for [substitute] Conor Gallagher because he deserves to play as well."

Daniel Farke speaks to TNT Sports. "Spurs are normally dominant in possession so you need to find some solutions in order to be competitive … Sean [Longstaff] is smart … a bit like a third midfield player to control their processes … today is a chance for [Lukas Nmecha] to shine … we want to be dangerous today and score."

Leeds can leap to eighth place with a win today. Technically they can make seventh, but they'd need to win this game by seven goals, so come off it and come on. Meanwhile should Spurs win a fourth consecutive Premier League game for the first time in over three years, they can make their way up to sixth, but they'd need a two-goal winning margin to ensure that.

Tottenham make one change from last weekend's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. Pedro Porro replaces the benched Dominic Solanke.

Leeds have made two changes in the wake of their 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth. Sean Longstaff, starting for the first time this calendar year, and Lukas Nmecha come in for Harry Wilson and Daniel James, who both drop to the bench.

Trafford, Justin, Elvedi, Muharemovic, Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson, Longstaff, Nmecha, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Zetterer, Rodon, James, Wilson, Aaronson, Bijol, Okafor, Bard, Gruev.

Kinsky, Porro, van Hecke, van de Ven, Robertson, Gray, Tonali, Kudus, Fernandes, Tel, Marmoush.
Subs: Gunter, Senesi, Gallagher, Maddison, Solanke, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Davies, Williams-Barnet.

So after all that time, Roberto De Zerbi's team can finally feel some wind rippling their sail. They've just reeled off three consecutive Premier League wins, against Coventry, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, though it's mainly the one against Chelsea that's really got them going. Throw in a draw at Old Trafford which really should have been a comfortable win, and it feels a long time ago now when they were three goals down at home to Aston Villa, and folk were beginning to wonder when De Zerbi was going to blow. Everyone happy in N17!

Leeds meanwhile are hardly in a bad spot, comfortable in 12th, with only two defeats suffered so far. But both of those losses have come in the last four games, a run that's yielded just two points, and the early-season excitement of unexpectedly strong progress under Daniel Farke has dissipated a wee bit. They could do with a momentum-recovering result this lunchtime.

All of which means Spurs go into this game with higher expectation … and that's before you fold in the recent record between these teams. Spurs have won five of their last six meetings, drawing the other, to the cumulative tune of 17-7; they've won on all of their last three visits to Elland Road, the running score of those, 10-2, even more impressive. But winning runs are there to be snapped, which is what Leeds did by drawing in north London back in May, so everyone has hope. Kick-off is at 12.30pm GMT. It's on!