The dreaded 'R word' cropped up once again on Sunday afternoon as Tottenham fell to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at home to Leicester City. Leading at the break courtesy of Richarlison's header, a mad five-minute spell at the beginning of the second half saw Ruud van Nistelrooy's struggling team prevail.
Equalising through Jamie Vardy seconds after half-time, Bilal El Khannouss was then afforded all the time and space in the world to run towards the Tottenham box and find the bottom corner of Antonin Kinsky's net. The result leaves Spurs 15th in the Premier League table, eight points away from the drop zone and nine points adrift of the top half.
Due to their position in the standings after 23 games, Tottenham have been brought into the relegation debate and the odds on them dropping down to the Championship have tumbled as a result. Without a win in the Premier League since the middle of December when they demolished Southampton at St Mary's, Spurs' league form is a real concern right now and losing is becoming a worrying habit.
However, the return of key players such as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven very soon could prove vital to their form, as could the addition of one or two new players prior to next Monday's transfer deadline. In terms of new signings, Spurs shouldn't be in this position so late in the window where they require players as it has been evident since early December that new additions needed to be in through the door come the start of the winter market.
Returning to action on Thursday night with their final Europa League league phase game against Elfsborg on the calendar, Spurs' next match in the Premier League comes away at Brentford on Sunday afternoon. The Lilywhites have yet to win at the Gtech Community Stadium since Brentford's promotion to the Premier League in 2020, with the sides playing out three consecutive draws in west London.
At a time when Ange Postecoglou's Spurs have been rather poor on the road this season with seven defeats from 14 games, Brentford, on the other hand, sit fourth in the table for home form this term. The Bees have won seven of their 12 home games, with their three defeats coming against Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Liverpool.
What is rather worrying for Tottenham heading into this weekend's game is that they could potentially be 16th in the Premier League table prior to making the trip across the capital, which in turn would give Daniel Levy and the club a brutal reality check. That is because Everton, who are currently one place and one point behind Tottenham, have the chance to leapfrog them providing that they beat Leicester at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The gap between Spurs and the relegation zone could also narrow ahead of their game at Brentford when you take a look at this weekend's games. Aside from Everton's home encounter against Leicester, Wolves, who are 18th and one point away from safety right now, host Aston Villa at Molineux and then 19th-place Ipswich Town face off against 20th-place Southampton at Portman Road.
Wins for Wolves and Ipswich Town would certainly leave Tottenham in a precarious position as they would only be five points away from the drop zone if the results were to pan out that way. Facing Manchester United and Manchester City at home either side of a trip to Ipswich in late February, Spurs have to start getting the points on the board sooner rather than later, starting away at Brentford this weekend.
If not, the 'R word' may unfortunately become part of people's vocabulary when it comes to discussing Tottenham over the coming weeks.
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