The Guardian

Hello world! And welcome to today’s episode of Who Wants to Win a League Game in 2026!

Spurs are very close to using all their lifelines and they’ve still had no lucky, but with the two teams immediately above them, West Ham and Nottingham Forest, playing on Monday and Sunday respectively today is an opportunity to turn up the heat in the relegation dogfight, or indeed to deflate the pressure in the relegation dogfight balloon, depending how it goes.

The bad news for Spurs is that, well, they’re rubbish. Since that last league win, a 1-0 success at Crystal Palace on 28 December, they have taken a shameful five points from 14 games, by a massive margin the worst record in the division, while in the same period and also playing 14 times Brighton have 22 points, the fifth-best record in the land (above Everton on goal difference).

The good news is that Brighton begins with the letter B. Even while letting Bournemouth do the double over them Spurs have overperformed against B-sides this season, averaging 1.29 points per game, the record of a solidly mid-table side. Against non-B-sides they’ve taken just 0.84 points per game. But Brighton have won their last three and five of their last six, and ride into this reunion with their former coach Roberto De Zerbi on a wave of form.

Here’s what De Zerbi had to say about this game:

double quotation markI’m positive. I’m ready to fight. I believe to keep the Premier League, I believe in my words, what I said the last week was the focus is to win one game. I don’t know if tomorrow we are able to win, I hope and I think we have the quality enough to win a game.

I think it’s crucial to win a game, not just for the table - OK, one part for the table for sure - but because we have to feel again what is nice to win a game and what they can do, because I have no doubt about the qualities of the players. OK, now is a tough moment, but to achieve the great target you have to pass through difficult times.

So here’s to a fun couple of hours, and an end to difficult times.

Dominic Booth

Where else to start than with Coventry..

Lampard delight as nervy draw at Blackburn seals promotion for Coventry

An emotional Frank Lampard basked in the historic achievement of leading Coventry City back to the Premier League after an absence of a quarter of a century. The Sky Blues have returned to the big time for the first time in a generation, after a turbulent period in which they changed stadiums, hit financial rock bottom and plummeted to the depths of League Two as recently as 2017-18.

Lampard was front and centre of celebrations after a 1-1 draw at Blackburn that put the seal on a famous promotion. It has been a long time coming. The former England midfielder lauded Bobby Thomas’s equalising goal as an “incredible moment” in the champagne-soaked celebrations on the Ewood Park turf. “Because of how the game had gone, you were worried,” said Lampard. “We knew we were very nearly there, but to get it over the line like this for this club after 25 years, wow.”

Coventry had struggled to battle past a stubborn home side across a tense 90 minutes, knowing just a point would send them up. Ryoya Morishita’s goal for Blackburn briefly silenced the 7,000 Sky Blue fans, before Thomas nodded in from Victor Torp’s free-kick late on. It was hardly a vintage Coventry display but the result was all that mattered to Lampard and his men.

Read Dominic Booth’s full report from Ewood Park:

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Preamble

Good morning, welcome to matchday live! We’ll be bringing you all the latest news and buildup to all of the weekend’s football, plus reaction to Coventry’s return to the Premier League after a 25-year wait. The end of the season is in sight and we’re finally getting some answers to the questions we’ve been asking since the beginning of the campaign. There’s plenty to discuss, so let’s get into it. As ever, you can get in touch with via the email at the top of the page.

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More importantly, why doesn’t Brobbey have a song to this?

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Brobbey struggles for the ball with Porro, eventually introducing elbow to coupon. So Porro goes down, as one might – now that you ask, obviously I’d have brushed it off myself – and the ref shows a yellow card. That’s the right call, just about; I can’t pretend I’m not suspicious as to Brobbey’s intentions, but it was more of a jab than a swing, so there’s just enough ambiguity to keep it 11 v 11.

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Sunderland win a thrown, hurled in by O’Nien, and when the ball is only half-cleared, it drops on to Xhaka’s laces, on the edge of the box, right of centre … and he connects beautifully, his shot zipping fractionally wide.

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I’d not be surprised to see Chris Wood come on for Forest at half-time – currently, they lack a box presence, constantly moving the ball but with no one to aim at or play off.

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At Selhurst, it’s still Palace 0-0 Newcastle, but aggravatingly, I’m not currently allowed to watch the game. Hopefully, a half-time turn-off-and-on sorts things.

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Here come Villa again, again feeding a pass into Rogers, who turns around the corner and into the path of Watkins, through the middle. The first touch is heavy but works nicely, inciting Sels to come out … only for the finish to bobble just past the post.

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NO PENALTY TO SPURS!

This felt inevitable. Alderete won the ball, so there’s no foul, and you almost feel for the ref, sheepishly having to explain to the crowd that he totally misinterpreted what he saw.

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Updated at 15.35 CEST

GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Aston Villa (Murillo own goal)

Villa have been threatening this, and when they free Rogers down the left side of the box, he drills across and Murillo, running back towards his own goal, just can’t sort his feet out, instead inepting it into the net.

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Updated at 15.33 CEST

PENALTY TO SPURS!

A ball in behind and Alderete slides in on Kolo Muani, seems to win the ball, then O’Nien also challenges but he’s on the way down by then, and the ref points to the spot. I’m not sure this’ll be upheld by VAR.

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Updated at 15.32 CEST

Sunderland are coming. Again, Le Fee provides the impetus, picking his way to the by-line before standing up a cross … that Brobbey heads over the top. I’d like another look at it, not currently possible because my SkyGo has again forsaken me, but on first look, that seemed a very bad miss.

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Sunderland lock-on as Spurs play out and just when it looks like they’ve got them, Brobbey fouls Romero unnecessarily. Regis Le Bris won’t be chuffed with that ill discipline because, prior to it, his players were doing exactly what he wants them to. But, as I type, Le Fee feeds a pass into the box where, with typical measure, Romero seeks to backheel a clearance, instead megging himself; he’ll be relieved to see the ball run away from Brobbey.

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Villa are playing nicely at Forest, moving the ball quickly and dominating possession. This feels a lot like a first-goal match.

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Updated at 15.24 CEST

OK, we’re back with pictures from Sunderland – fuzzy ones, but nevertheless.

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At Falkirk, by the way, Rangers won 6-3, so now trail Hearts by a point.

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The corner comes to nothing and I’ve now lost coverage at Sunderland, apologies.

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At Forest, Anderson carries forwards and finds Hudson-Odoi, who sets back to Williams on the edge; the shot looks to be going wide of the near post, but Bizot decides he can’t chance it, tipping around the post … and the corner eventually yields another.

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Kolo Muani carries forward, moving from in to out before finding Richarlison, who opts to take on the shot first time, seeking to curl low from the edge, left of centre, only to shoot straight at Roefs.

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Nice from Villa around the edge of the box, short passes creating a shooting opportunity for McGinn, who digs out an effort from the edge, curling low and just wide of the far post.

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My SkyGo is currently misbehaving, so I’ve not got pictures from Palace, but rest assured I’m working on it.

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Sours are knocking the ball about from keeper to defender, on which point this is a huge day for Kinsky, who suffered so miserably in Spain. But in the meantime, Solanke hits the by-line, narrowly missing Bergvall with his cut-back, then Porro leathers wide.

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…and everywhere else.

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We’re away at the City Ground…

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Out come our various teams at our various grounds.

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It’s absolutely hosing down in Nottingham, where there’s a late change to the Villa XI: Emi Martinez has hurt himself in the warm-up, so Marco Bozxit comes in.

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“Why isn’t Xavi Simons starting for Spurs?” wonders Mike Nagle. “He’s their most creative midfielder. Why also leave out Palhinha, the most experienced defensive midfielder? It’s baffling. I hope the manager knows what he’s doing.”

I think the answer is as we discuss below: against Sunderland, De Zerbi wants legs and physicality, with Simon likely to come on once things slow down. I’d have played him myself, perhaps instead of Kolo Muani, because, as you say, he has the class their starting XI lacks, but Palhinha is probably a bit one-dimensional and immobile for what the manager wants.

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Forest v Villa promises to be an absolute banger. I keep saying this in blogs of this ilk, but I struggle to believe a team with a midfield of Sangare, Anderson, Gibbs-White can possibly go down. The problem they have today is Villa are really strong in that area – Onana and Tielemans will be in front of the back four, but McGinn, Barkley and Rogers and all drop in.

For that reason, I wonder if Forest’s likeliest route to goal is a set-piece, but I also fancy them down the flanks, where Aina and Williams, backing up Hutchinson and Hudson-Odoi, have a really good chance of mithering Cash and Digne.

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So how do Spurs beat Sunderland? Well, that midfield offers a big clue: they must match their hosts for endeavour, running hard but also running smart. Otherwise, they’ve got to serve Solanke with crosses and cut-backs, while he must hit the front post and look for one-touch finishes. Otherwise, I quite like Richarlison in the air and, as Everton fans can testify, few are as adept as he at allaying relegation fears.

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And there looks to be a more solid look about the side he’s sent out, with players in their natural positions. In particular, I like the legs in midfield, though I’m still concerned about where the goals might come from – none of the front three can reliably create for themselves, and there’s a lack of wingers and invention around and behind them.

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All that said, I’m really looking forward to seeing how Spurs look, having had a couple of weeks to absorb new instructions. I very much doubt De Zerbi leaves things alone for fear of confusing them – I’d expect his instructions to be the pro forma, from now.

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Email! “I know little to nothing about football tactics,” writes Niall Mullen, “but I think I can solve your ‘bait the press’ blues and maybe, in the process, become the greatest coach ever. My idea is that a player passes to another player, and then, using their athletic ability and spatial awareness, they run into a position beyond their teammate, who, using their skill, passes the ball back to them. This will take the opposing player out of action and get the ball rapidly up the field. I call this move the to-me-to-you aka the Chuckle Brothers’ triangle.”

That sounds far too basic.

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Finally to Sunderland, where Robin Roefs is back in net, so Melker Ellborg drops out; otherwise, Nordi Mukiele, Reinildo and Enzo Le Fee replace Lutsharel Geetruida, Trai Hume and Chemsidine Talbi.

Otherwise, De Zerbi uses Antonin Kinsky in goal, with Guglielmo Vicario still out, while in front of him, Djed Spence and Kevin Danso are replaced by Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro, whose spot in midfield goes to Conor Gallagher; in midfield, Lucas Bergvall and Randal Kolo Muani replace Pape Matar Sarr and Mathys Tel.

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At the City Ground, Vitor Pereiera picks the same side that beat Spurs last time out in the league; Elliot Anderson, suspended in Europe, returns to the starting XI, while Chris Wood, who started in midweek after missing most of the season, is on the bench.

As for Villa, Youri Tielemans starts in the league for the first time since the end of January – he played the full 90 in midweek – while Ezri Konsa is rested, Victor Lindelof coming in, and Ross Barkley taking the place of Emi Buendia.

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Oliver Glasner makes five changes to the side which won so well against Fiorentina, and understandably so, with the return coming up in midweek. Out go Adam Wharton, Daichi Kamada, Evann Guessand Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr; in come Jefferson Lerma, Will Hughes, Brennan Johnson, Yeremy Pino and Jorgen Strand-Larsen.

And Eddie Howe also makes changes, but his are more punitive than precautionary. Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Harvey Barnes, Anthony Elanga, Nick Woltemade and Jacob Ramsey are benched, with Sandro Tonali, Lewis Miley. Malick Thiaw, Will Osula, Tino Livramento and Jacob Murphy promoted.

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But before we do, news from Scotland: after Celtic and Hearts won yesterday, Rangers were in trouble, trailing Falkirt 2-0 after 26 minutes. But they’ve since hit a seam, scoring four times between 42 and 58, and now look certain to close the gap at the top.

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Updated at 14.36 CEST

Right, let’s dig into those teams…

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Teams

Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Canvot; Muñoz, Lerma, Hughes, Mitchell,; Johnson, Pino; Strand-Larsen. Subs: Matthews, Benitez, Clyne, Sosa, Riad, Kamada, Wharton, Devenny, Sarr, Mateta.

Newcastle (4-3-3-): Ramsdale; Livramento, Botman, Thiaw, Hall; Miley, Joelinton, Tonali; Gordon, Osula, Murphy. Subs: Pope, Trippier, Wissa, Barnes, Elanga, Woltemade, Willock, Burn, Ramsey

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Nottingham Forest (4-3-3): Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, William;, Sangare, Anderson, Gibbs-White; Hutchinson, Jesus, Hudson-Odoi. Subs: Bakwa, Dominguez, McAtee, Ndoye, Netz, Ortega, Morato, Wood, Yates.

Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Barkley,Rogers; Watkins. Subs: Bailey, Abraham, Bizot, Bogarde, Buendia, Andres Garcia, Konsa, Maatsen, Douglas Luiz.

**

Sunderland (4-3-3): Roefs; Mukiele, O’Nien, Alderete, Reinildo; Xhaka, Sadiki, Diarra; Rigg, Brobbey, Le Fee. Subs: Ellborg, Hume, Geertruida, Cirkin, J. Jones, H. Jones, Talbi, Mayenda, Isidor.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3): Kinsky; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Gray, Gallagher, Bergvall; Kolo Muani, Solanke, Richarlison. Subs: Austin, Dragusin, Danso, Palhinha, Xavi, Bissouma, Tel, Spence, Sarr.

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Updated at 14.27 CEST

Preamble

Generally speaking, I quite enjoy having ADHD, which I appreciate is a peculiar place to begin a Clockwatch. But one time I absolutely hate it is when I’m watching a Roberto De Zerbi team, knocking the ball about at the back backwards, forwards and side to side until the opposition lose the will to live and do exactly what they know he wants them to do, pressing his defenders just to get things moving. For those who struggle with impulsivity and sensation, frustration and concentration, this turns an antidote – football – into a poison – also football. Such is the beauty of the game.

And we can be certain that even the most inattentive, antsy and compulsive Spurs fan will be delighted to suffer such behaviour if it keeps them in the Premier League – a situation looking less likely by the day. If it’s not Mohammed Kudus suffering a setback it’s West Ham slapping Wolves, the cosmos seeming rounding on the club and with good reason; years of parsimony, arrogance and mismanagement have brought us to here, here being 13 in 2026 of which they’ve lost eight and drawn five, scoring 13 and conceding 27. Rarely, if ever, has a plight been so comprehensively earned.

Sunderland, on the other hand, have been a revelation, intelligent research allowing them to pick their perfect manager, then furnish him with the players he needs – the exact opposite of their visitors today. Safety secure, they dropped off a little towards the end of winter, but after completing their first league double over Newcastle in over a decade, they arrive at today’s match in carefree disposition.

If that was all we had this afternoon, it’d be plenty – dayenu, one might say – but it’s not even the half of things. At the City Ground, Nottingham Forest, two points and two places above Tottenham, entertain Aston Villa, in the hunt for a Champions League spot, with both sides coming off decent Europa results and a potential semi-final between the two on the horizon. It’s going to be a helluva ruckus.

Meantime, at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace, also pursuing European glory in the Conference, meet Newcastle, with Eddie Howe’s position under serious threat. Another defeat to follow that derby embarrassment, and he’s ten to gone – so somewhere else to focus for those less than thrilled by De Zerbi’s tipping and tapping.

Kick-offs: 2pm BST

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Arne Slot: 'I feel the support from the fans'

Liverpool: The postponement of their Ligue1 match against Lens means Paris Saint-Germain have been given the weekend off ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg at Anfield on Tuesday, but Liverpool have a crucial match against Fulham to play at Anfield tomorrow evening.

Arne Slot’s side go into it on the back of two chastening defeats and are fifth in the Premier League table. Should either Everton or Brentford win their Champions League qualification six-pointer at the Gtech Community Stadium tomorrow afternoon, they will go level on points with Liverpool.

“I’m repeating myself a lot but I feel a lot of support,” said Arne Slot this morning, upon being asked if he feels he has the backing of the Liverpool club hierarchy. “Not only from the owners but from Richard [Hughes] and Michael [Edwards], a lot of support from them as well. As weird as it might sound I also feel the support from the fans.

“We were going out in Paris when the players went out for the warm-up and after the 4-0 loss [against Manchester City] the fans immediately started singing ‘we love Liverpool’. I think it’s fair to say we were outplayed for 90 minutes and they were still singing and clapping for us. I’ve said many times, the club knows the period of time we’re in and in the mean time I feel complete support.”

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Updated at 10.34 CEST

Column: While his “big team who win things” (well, the odd thing) are hovering above the Premier League relegation zone, his small team who never win anything have just dropped out of the League Two automatic promotion places. It’s small wonder the Guardian’s Football Weekly presenter Max Rushden is a bag of nerves …

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Tottenham Hotspur: While he has already been interviewed by the club media team, Roberto De Zerbi’s maiden press conference as Spurs head coach is likely to be today’s hottest ticket in town. The Italian is scheduled to speak to the media at 1.30pm (GMT), ahead of his side’s match against Sunderland on Sunday afternoon. If West Ham beat the Premier League’s bottom side, Wolves, at the London Stadium tonight, Spurs will be in the relegation zone when their game kicks off at the Stadium of Light.

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Andy Robertson to leave Liverpool after nine years

Liverpool: The Scottish left-back is to bring his illustrious career with the club to a close when his contract expires at the end of the season, with no shortage of big name European heavyweights believed to be interested in securing the 32-year-old’s services. Andy Hunter reports …

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Crystal Palace 3-0 Fiorentina

Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg: A sensational performance blew away Fiorentina as Jean-Philippe Mateta scored on his first start since the end of January. Ed Aarons reports from Selhurst Park …

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Bologna 1-3 Aston Villa

Europea League quarter-final first leg: Aston Villa were second best for large parts of the game in Bologna but a brace from Ollie Watkins put them in the box-seat. Paul MacInnes reports from Stadio Renata Dall’Ara …

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FC Porto 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Europa League quarter-final first leg: A freakish own goal by the Porto defender Martim Fernandes earned Nottingham Forest a draw and fostered optimism of advancing to the Europa League semi-finals. Ben Fisher reports from Estádio do Dragão …

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Friday football blog ...

Following a hiatus so long some Tottenham fans may have forgotten their team is in grave danger of relegation, the Premier League is back. In the build-up to a weekend schedule that kicks off when West Ham host fellow basement-dwellers Wolves at the London Stadium tonight, we’ll bring you all the news that’s fit to print from today’s round of managerial press conferences. In the time honoured tradition, we’ll also be keeping a beady eye on any tidbits of note from the EFL, Scotland and beyond. You know the drill …

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Daniel Harris

When the time comes for our most joyous expression – one for which many of us are still waiting – we can only take out the Tardelli, its acme, epitome, zenith, pinnacle, quintessence, apex, apogee and apotheosis. No one has experienced or communicated the feeling at greater intensity, the ecstasy of 56.7 million Italians and centuries of history channelled through one man, and to conclude this piece in any other way would be improper, for it is joy incarnate.

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Half time: Portsmouth 1-0 Oxford

Loud boos at half-time, presumably because of the decision to give Connor Ogilvie a straight red card. Portsmouth are a man down but a goal up thanks to a fine goal from Keshi Anderson.

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The new Football Weekly has dropped. Get your headphones out.

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Red card: Portsmouth 1-0 Oxford (Ogilvie) Portsmouth are a goal up and a man down: Connor Ogilvie has received a straight red card for a tackle on Stanley Mills.

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Women's FA Cup: Chelsea v Tottenham team news

Chelsea (4-3-3) Hampton, Carpenter, Buchanan, Girma, Charles; Nusken, Cuthbert, Walsh; Thomson, Kerr, James.

Subs: Spencer, Peng, Buurman, Baltimore, Kaptein, Bronze, Potter, Sarwie

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2) Kop; Wijk, Bartrip, A Nilden, Koga; Vinberg, Summanen, Spence, Gaupset; Tandberg, England.

Subs: Heeps, Grant, Morris, Bartrip, Holdt, Rybrink, M. Nilden, Gunning-Williams, Ahtinen.

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Updated at 13.53 CEST

GOAL! Portsmouth 1-0 Oxford (Anderson 9) Keshi Anderson, 31 today and starting his first game for Pompey, has given them an early lead in the big relegation battle at Fratton Park. It was a neatly taken goal: a dummy to lose the defender and an early shot through the hand of the diving Jamie Cumming.

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Updated at 14.18 CEST

Rice trains ahead of Sporting quarter-final

A bit of good news for Arsenal: Declan Rice is back in training ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg in Lisbon tomorrow night.

Rice trained this morning, as did Leandro Trossard, but Bukayo Saka remained absent. Gabriel Magalhães, who came off injured during Saturday’s shock FA Cup defeat at Southampton, also trained.

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Updated at 13.58 CEST

Nicky Bandini

Italy were too afraid to play a World Cup qualifying playoff at San Siro, hosting their semi-final against Northern Ireland in Bergamo instead. Gennaro Gattuso explained it as a choice to protect his players, noting that the nation’s biggest football stadium was home to two rival clubs – Milan and Internazionale – and suggesting this dynamic might lead fans there to turn more quickly on players who struggled.

Instead, on Sunday, it was San Siro that offered comfort to one who has become the scapegoat for yet another collective failure. Italy made it past Northern Ireland only to lose to Bosnia on penalties in Zenica. Alessandro Bastoni’s first-half red card, at a time when his country were winning 1-0, was a pivotal moment in the game and perhaps his entire career.

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Updated at 14.18 CEST

Arsenal come into this game in spectacular form: they’ve won their last eight games in all competitions, including two victories over Chelsea and another against Manchester City.

Spurs’ form has been more topsy-turvy. They won 7-3 at Villa in mid-February, beat London City Lionesses in an epic FA Cup penalty shootout but then lost to Everton and City.

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Tom Garry

Derby weekend has arrived in the Women’s Super League and WSL2. Not one, not two, but six local rivalries will be reignited as the divisions try to capitalise on the men’s international break.

Is it clever to schedule so many of these clashes on the same weekend though, and especially staging three top-flight ones on the same afternoon? Everton host Liverpool, Manchester United welcome Manchester City and Arsenal entertain Tottenham on Saturday, all within the space of six hours. The answer will probably lie in the attendances.

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Preamble

Arsenal and Spurs are separated by only one place in the WSL, but they remain worlds apart. Arsenal are European champions; Spurs, as their impressive young manager Martin Ho said yesterday, are a “bit of a sleeping giant in women’s football”.

At least they are starting to stir: they have made great strides under Ho and, after finishing 11th last season, have become the best team below the glass ceiling. At the moment they are in a league of their own – six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, having played two games more, nine ahead of sixth-placed Everton.

Arsenal start the game in fourth, outside the Champions League places, but they are well placed to qualify for next year’s competition, either by finishing in the top three of the WSL or retaining the Champions League. They will take a 3-1 lead to Stamford Bridge for the quarter-final second leg on Wednesday.

The WSL leaders Manchester City are over the horizon, but if Arsenal win today they will move into second, above Manchester United and Chelsea, and they have games in hand on both.

Kick off 5.30pm.

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It promises to be a long three weeks for Tottenham Hotspur and Igor Tudor. That is if Tudor gets the time, after Nottingham Forest plunged Spurs deeper into the relegation fight, recording a humiliating 3-0 victory at this vast arena.

When Spurs, now a point above the relegation zone, do re-emerge after the international break, their trip to Sunderland will be the first of seven games to save their Premier League status. Perhaps appropriately, here Tudor was dressed all in black and there was a funereal feeling to things when the final whistle blew and the jeers rang out from the stands.

For Forest, this was a dreamy afternoon in the capital, a second victory in four days and, crucially, Vítor Pereira’s first league win since taking charge last month. Igor Jesus rocked Spurs by heading in from a corner at the end of the first half and Morgan Gibbs-White, a Tottenham target last summer, doubled Forest’s lead, capping a move he started when totally unmarked close just beyond the penalty spot. Evangelos Marinakis, the Forest owner present here, dug his heels in to keep hold of Gibbs-White amid that interest.

The substitute Taiwo Awoniyi compounded things for the hosts, adding the third after side-footing in the impressive Neco Williams’s brilliant cross from the left.

The atmosphere at full-time was in sharp contrast to the one on the bustling High Road before kick-off, when thousands of Spurs supporters welcomed the arrival of their team coach. This result may not define the season but it could certainly go a long way to doing so, Forest swapping places with Spurs to move two points clear of them and three above the drop zone.

Spurs remain the only Premier League team without a win this calendar year and, ominously, across those 13 matches they have taken five points – all draws – from a possible 39. All of the goodwill Tudor built up from an encouraging display in a draw against Liverpool at Anfield and in the win over Atlético Madrid in midweek slowly frittered away here, this a fifth straight league game without victory.

Spurs began with intent, after kick-off every outfield player moved into the Forest half as Gugliemo Vicario kicked the ball upfield. Richarlison was back from suspension so partnered Dominic Solanke, another one of Spurs’s three changes, in attack. Micky van de Ven began at left-back, Djed Spence the full-back on the opposite flank and Pedro Porro in midfield, but Van de Ven was withdrawn at the interval, having injured himself midway through the first half.

Desperation accompanied Spurs’s almost every move, supporters praying that, this time, things would be different. They cried for a penalty when Ola Aina caught Pape Matar Sarr inside the box, instantly waved away by Michael Oliver, and Tudor extended his right leg on the touchline as Richarlison attempted to reach a Mathys Tel cross at the back post.

There was the restlessness that rained down from the giant South Stand slope as Cristian Romero dithered to pick his pass. Pedro Perro fumed as the referee halted him from taking a quick free-kick approaching the hour.

Worryingly, all of that was before Forest added their second on 62 minutes. Gibbs-White started and finished the attack, spreading the ball wide to Callum Hudson-Odoi before driving into the box. Hudson-Odoi cut the ball back into the box where, about eight yards from goal, Gibbs-White had the freedom of Tottenham to hammer in, his strike cannoning in off an exposed Vicario, who will undergo hernia surgery next week.

“Merely a relegation six-pointer?” wonders Gary Naylor. “On this one, I think Spartacus Mills speaks for us all.”

Gary, I love you, but iT CAN’T BE A SIX-POINTER IF THERE ARE MORE THAN TWO PARTIES INVOLVED! Or am I just being a joyless, philosophically confused pedant?

For the avoidance of doubt, that was a rhetorical question.

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Team news

Xavi Simons is omitted from the Spurs side despite scoring twice against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. He’s replaced by Richarlison, who was suspended for that game, while Kevin Danso and the fit-again Dominic Solanke come in for Radu Dragusin and Randal Kolo Muani.

Vitor Pereira used a number of his first-choice players from the bench in Denmark on Thursday, so there are eight changes to the XI that started against Midtjylland. Nikola Milenkovic and Omari Hutchinson are the survivors.

Tottenham Hotspur (3-4-2-1) Vicario; Danso, Romero, Van de Ven; Porro, Gray, Sarr, Spence; Richarlison, Tel; Solanke.

Subs: Kinsky, Dragusin, Joao Palhinha, Simons, Udogie, Bergvall, Gallagher,

Souza, Muani.

Nottm Forest (4-2-3-1) Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Igor Jesus.

Subs: Ortega, Morato, Awoniyi, Ndoye, Dominguez, Yates, McAtee, Netz, Bakwa.

Referee Michael Oliver (Northumberland)

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Preamble

Cor, it’s a bit snug down there. Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham are separated by only one point, with Leeds United also involved in game of relegation Snakes and Ladders. Barring something unforseeable, one of those four big clubs will be playing Championship football next season. Forest, West Ham and Leeds are reasonably familiar with life in the second tier; Spurs haven’t experienced it since the 1970s.

There’s a fair way to go – seven games after today – but when the dust settles, the result of this afternoon’s match between Spurs and Forest may prove decisive. There’s not much else to say really: it’s a mustn’t-lose game for two teams who are waist-deep in the malodorous stuff.

Spurs will hope they turned a corner when Richarlison equalised in injury-time at Anfield, a result they followed with a losing victory over Atletico Madrid in midweek. Forest could have done without extra-time in Belgium on Thursday but they’ve won their last three matches against Spurs, including a 3-0 evisceration at the City Ground in December, and have probably played better than recent league results suggest.

Spurs and Forest would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for their pesky ex. But Nuno Espirito Santo, sacked by both clubs, has revived an apparently doomed West Ham. Their win at Spurs in January was the start of an excellent run of 15 points in nine games, and another victory at Aston Villa today would move them out of the relegation places for the first time in 2026.

We’ll have goal updates from that match as well, but our main focus is on events in north London.

Kick off 2.15pm

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Updated at 13.54 CET

Over in Australia, Japan have just won the Women’s Asian Cup with a 1-0 victory over the hosts thanks to an early goal from Maika Hamano.

Click below to read the match report:

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Preamble

Hello, good morning and welcome to another WSL clockwatch! We have four games to look forward to this afternoon as league leaders Manchester City host Tottenham, Manchester United take on Everton, Chelsea travel to London City Lionesses and Arsenal face West Ham.

It could be a huge day in the title race, with City looking to bounce back after dropping points against Aston Villa last week. Although they remain seven points clear, another slip-up today could allow the likes of Chelsea, United and Arsenal to pile on the pressure in the final weeks of the season.

I’ll be guiding you through it all – join me!

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Preamble

Powerless patsies – among them cynics and sceptics, jokers and losers – acting with naivety and arrogance, making dreadful decisions as if on purpose, immense but obviously misplaced confidence gradually dwindling as threats and warnings are blithely ignored, peripheral characters departing the scene never to be seen again with those who remain reduced to meat puppets of gibbering jelly. Yes, Spurs’ season has more than a little in common with a horror movie.

But the tweak that makes their rendition uniquely compelling is the innovation of its meta aspect: the characters know they’re in a film, unable to escape a world they can’t control and fully aware there’s a worldwide audience wincing, laughing and cheering on the monster, their lives co-opted for kicks. There is no one anyone wants to be less.

In such circumstance, there is no staging post less inviting than Anfield. Just last season, many of the same players delivered one of the least vertebrate performances of all time, turning up in the second leg of the League Cup semi holding a one-goal lead before subsiding to a 4-0 defeat, terrified of even believing there was another way.

Of course, win today and suddenly life seems much less intense … except an unlikely triumph which suggests all will be well is yet another horror-movie trope. A horror-movie trope which precedes the most entertainingly gruesome carnage of all.