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Jamie O'Hara has continued to fume after Tottenham were denied a last-gasp penalty against Leeds United on Monday night. Mathys Tel went from hero to zero when he scored a stunner only to give away a silly penalty after attempting to clear the ball from his own box with an overhead kick.

Spurs pushed for a winner that would have taken them four points above West Ham, but they failed to find one, and they are now just two points clear of the drop zone with two games remaining.

The Tottenham penalty that wasn't

Relegation is still a distinct possibility, though Spurs could have found themselves much closer to safety had they been given a penalty deep into stoppage time. James Maddison went to ground under a risky tackle from Lukas Nmecha, and on first glance, it looked like a stonewall spot kick.

But cameras on the VAR review showed a slight touch of the ball from Nmecha, and no penalty was awarded. The touch on the ball was crucial, especially given the contact with the ball was made on the initial challenge.

There was no second reach for the ball or delay in touching the ball, which makes it a legal tackle. Most agree that if the ball was touched, then it should not have been a penalty, but former Spurs man O'Hara has a very different view.

O’Hara said on Sky Sports: “It’s a penalty. I’m sorry, I don’t care what anyone says. You can show me a million angles of this, but where does the ball move? I don’t believe there is enough movement from the ball and the player. That ball does not move. That is a penalty."

“He bottled it, that ref. We saw a crazy decision the other day at West Ham, which was a foul. But they took an age over that decision. They looked at that for five minutes. They looked at the [Nmecha] challenge for 30 seconds and played on.”

Some Spurs fans may feel the same, but the review was quick because touching the ball on an initial lunge without coming through the player is legal, and once that had been established, there was no need to continue the review.

It was a tough break for Tottenham, and there is no doubting that Nmecha got a little lucky in reaching the ball, given the risky nature of the challenge, but he pulled it off, and he lived to tell the tale.

With double digit goals this season, Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison has been the club's leading man, and it isn't even close. But far from necessarily being a huge accomplishment, Richy's status as the team's top forward and best scorer has been more of a sign of the times than anything else with the Lilywhites still mired in a tense relegation battle with rivals West Ham United amidst their worst ever season.

To wit, Richarlison was dreadful against Leeds, missing easy chances with a first touch that often went so far askew, fans were left wondering if Richy even realized what sport he was playing. Now, he has been very important to Tottenham this season and works his socks off, and he'll always be a likable guy.

But Richarlison is hoping that he can make the Brazil national team squad this summer. He told reporters, via Chris Cowlin, "Anxious, right? {on the possible call-up] I think I gave up a lot for that shirt. I’m doing my work here at Tottenham, I’m playing, I’m scoring my goals. I think I’ll be watching with expectation on TV. I’m confident. I believe I can be there. And if I am, I’ll do my best for the national team shirt, like I always have. Regardless of whether I’m there or not, I have brothers and teammates there. I’m very patriotic. I’ll always support Brazil."

Richarlison is not good enough for Brazil these days

While any confidence and self belief from an athlete is always appreciated, realistically, Richarlison hasn't earned being called up by Carlo Ancelotti to Brazil. Now, he does have experience as a starter both at Copa America and the last World Cup, where he even scored a banger of a bicycle kick goal - and he has been good for a few bangers this season with Tottenham Hotspur, too.

But a few great goals isn't what makes someone a national team striker. Richarlison is missing the quality, progression, creation, and consistency. He does not have a the traits of a top striker and can't really play as a true 9 or on the wings.

He doesn't fit the profile Carlo Ancelotti is looking for at Brazil, and there are nine forwards who merit consideration more than he does. Vinicius Junior and Raphinha are locks. Antony, Matheus Cunha, Endrick, Joao Pedro, Rayan, and Igor Thiago have all been better players this season. And if Brazil want experience and an X-Factor, it wouldn't make sense to go for Richy over his good friend Neymar.

The optimism post-Villa Park was almost disconcerting, so it was comforting when the doom and gloom re-emerged after Monday night's draw with Leeds United.

We left rather ambivalent; not knowing how to feel. Sure, we'd been handed a massive opportunity by our fiercest rivals the day before, but Leeds are gritty, physical and tough to beat. It was never going to be a cake walk, even if our performance against Aston Villa convinced some that Roberto De Zerbi's side would secure the necessary result.

Antonín Kinsky's late heroics meant a point was earned, although James Maddison certainly felt as if we should've had the chance to take all three when he was tripped in the box by Lukas Nmecha.

The result leaves the door ajar for West Ham, who continue to perform well despite sustaining back-to-back defeats. As a result, Spurs supporters remain firmly on edge, practising their Geordie accents and hoping that next Tuesday night never comes around. It's Chelsea away, where Lilywhite dreams die.

Draw at Stamford Bridge could be enough to keep Tottenham up

It generally doesn't matter how bad Chelsea have been as of late. We've seen Spurs teams superior to their west London hosts waltz into Stamford Bridge and depart having evolved into the sorriest of units for 90 minutes. There's a reason we've claimed just one Premier League victory there since the competition's inception.

Winning next Tuesday, though, might not be a necessity.

Newcastle United host West Ham on Saturday evening with little to play for. European football is surely beyond them after they were pegged back late on by Nottingham Forest last week, but it is their last home game of the season, and Eddie Howe will want to head into 2026/27, having received backing from above, with some momentum behind them.

They're not going to wilt so everyone can laugh at Spurs, put it that way. Should they claim victory over the Hammers this weekend, doing us another late-season favour, De Zerbi's men would need just a point, barring a massive goal difference swing, from their remaining two games to stay in the Premier League.

Of course, we'd be in a much better position had we triumphed on Monday, but the situation isn't disastrous. You could argue that De Zerbi's team, given the absence of high-quality attackers, are better suited to facing a Chelsea, who'll aim to retain the possession and build up through the thirds, than they are a Leeds, who went direct and tried to win second balls.

A point at the Bridge could be enough to keep us up, and despite our wretched record there, combined with how "up for it" Chelsea supporters will be, means that's hardly a given, it shouldn't be deemed an inevitability that the Lilywhites will once again crumble in west London.

With Tottenham Hotspur locked in a tense Premier League relegation fight with West Ham United, any advantage makes the difference as the margin for error is so slim. And lately, young goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky has been the hero for Spurs, producing a monsterclass on Monday night to salvage a point against Leeds United with seemingly everything else working against Spurs.

Kinsky has been a massive upgrade over Guglielmo Vicario these past few weeks, but the surprise is that Kinsky was only named the starter because of Vicario's hernia surgery. Throughout the 2025/26 season, Vic has been a huge disappointmnet for Tottenham, costing the team many points with unforced errors and poor mistakes on the ball. Kinsky, on the other hand, has been tremendous on the ball and has avoided mistakes, far from his struggles against Atletico Madrid on one doomed night on the road.

The wild thing is Tottenham Hotspur were actually considering loaning Antonin Kinsky in the winter transfer window, and, well, it's a good thing Johan Lange didn't commit yet another blunder in charge of Spurs operations by making that move. Because, worst of all, he was about to give Spurs current relegation rivals West Ham United a new goalkeeper.

Antonin Kinsky almost went to West Ham

Tottenham were reportedly interested in swapping goalkeepers with West Ham, sending them the promising Kinsky in exchange for the Hammers 25 year old backup goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who is less promising than the Spurs No. 2.

Now, Kinsky might be the No. 1 for Tottenham even going into next season; that's how well he has been playing in the relegation fight. So you can only imagine the alternate timeline where Tottenham and West Ham swapped backup goalkeepers and Kinsky ended up starting for the Hammers, giving them crucial points against the likes of Arsenal to even the odds against Spurs. And imagine Hermansen in goal - or worse yet Guglielmo Vicario still making the same mistakes.

No disrespect to Mads Hermansen, but with save percentages well under 70 these last two seasons, he would be even worse than Vicario, let alone Kinsky. Tottenham avoided disaster here, and while it is hard to say exactly how close Johan Lange was to making this move, the fact that it was even being tossed around was enough to give Spurs fans a fright at the time. And now with Kinsky playing as well as he is, it's a reminder of how things can change - nor not change - in football and how slim the margin for error is in relegation.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have not heard from Daniel Levy much since his mutually agreed dismissal as the Chairman of the club, ending an era of almosts and a priority on profit rather than winning. The goals have not changed at all since Levy's departure, and, if anything, with Spurs mired in the heat of a Premier League relegation battle, things are even worse without Levy due to the sheer incompetence of Vinai Venkatesham - and those above him.

Levy made plenty of mistakes, though, too, and Spurs fans are not about to have any revisionist history on him, as bad as things have gotten since his exit at the beginning of the 2025/26 Premier League season.

One of those huge mistakes was firing Ange Postecoglou and replacing him with Thomas Frank last summer. Although Postecoglou had his problems and proved them by quickly getting fired at his next job with Nottingham Forest, he was still a lot better than Frank, who was both a poor manager in terms of results and had the team playing like cowards while giving some of the worst press conferences Spurs supporters have ever seen.

Daniel Levy did Ange Postecoglou dirty

Maybe Daniel Levy would not have kept Frank around as long as Venkatesham did, but he was still part of the crew that hired Frank. So hearing him tell Sky Sports News about how grateful he is to Ange Postecoglou for winning the Europa League feels like a massive slap in the face at the fans and at Big Ange.

Levy said, “He’ll be in the history of Tottenham for allowing us to win a European trophy, and it was an amazing night.”

Nothing he said is wrong, and it is the bare minimum Levy could have said about the beloved Postecoglou. But Tottenham Hotspur fans will be mad no matter what, both because actions speak louder than words and because those words themselves were insufficient.

Levy didn't just fire Big Ange. He treated him like rubbish on the way out, keeping him in a holding pattern for weeks before firing him unceremoniously while he was on holiday with his family. Yeah, that is some way to treat someone you are indebted to as a club who brought the first major European trophy to Spurs in 41 years.

Maybe Postecoglou needed to be fired, but not only did Levy sack him for the wrong guy, but he also sacked him like a bag of flour, booting him out the door without a care. There is no love lost for Levy from Spurs fans, regardless of how terrible his successors have been.

Tottenham Hotspur missed out on a great opportunity to place some distance between themselves and West Ham United in the Premier League relegation battle, as squandered chances and rash decisions marred a game they should have won against Leeds United on Monday Night Football.

Instead, Spurs drew 1-1 behind a grand performance in goal from breakout star Antonin Kinsky, so now they are only two points above West Ham for survival. And their final two games of the 2025/26 season are going to be very difficult, as Spurs must battle a Chelsea team with a lot to play for on Tuesday night next week before closing out the Premier League campaign on Sunday, May 24 with a battle against Richarlison's former employers Everton.

Meanwhile, the team Spurs are stuck against, West Ham, have an easier path. Newcastle on Sunday is not necessarily an easy game for the Hammers, but they are a worse team than Chelsea. The real worry for Tottenham Hotspur, though, is the May 24 fixture to close the season when the Hammers, at the same hour, take on that very same Leeds United.

Leeds may not do Tottenham any favors vs. West Ham

Leeds have already, like Nottingham Forest, secured their safety in the Premier League for the 2026/27 season, which has left it entirely between Tottenham and West Ham in the fight for survival. They may talk about how they are playing for pride and want to get every point possible, but it is only natural for the Peacocks to have less motivation on Matchday 38 against West Ham than they did on Monday against Tottenham.

Spurs fans are then looking towards the season's last day with real trepidation. Whereas Everton, like Chelsea, still have an outside shot at qualifying for European football if they pitch two perfect three point results to end the campaign, Newcastle are further behind and Leeds have literally nothing but pride to play for - and pride counts for very little as an extra motivator, since it is the baseline for all footballers to play for pride anyway.

Tottenham have seen teams roll over and die when it comes time for them to give the Lilywhites a result that benefits them, and Leeds smell like a team that is going to get its neck torn off at the jugular point by West Ham.

Spurs have done so well lately under Roberto De Zerbi, but Spurs fans just wonder if those mistakes against Leeds will come back to haunt them on May 24 if the Peacocks get smacked down by the Hammers.

Dermot Gallagher thinks Leeds United were 'lucky' during a key moment during Monday night's clash with Tottenham in North London.

Spurs could only take a point from their clash with already safe Leeds United, failing to take a big opportunity after West Ham lost to Arsenal on Sunday. Tottenham could have gone more than a game clear of the Hammers with two remaining, but they remain within two points after allowing what could have been a big win to slip.

Mathys Tel went from hero to zero, scoring a superb goal to put his side only to attempt a silly overhead kick inside his own box and catching Ethan Ampadu, leading to a penalty that was dispatched.

Dermot Gallagher thinks Lukas Nmecha was lucky

Spurs could have had the chance to win it late on when James Maddison went down in the box, leading to a VAR review, but cameras spotted Lukas Nmecha just tipping the ball as he reached his leg around Maddison in what was an extremely risky tackle.

And former Premier League referee Gallagher believes it was luck more than judgement for Nmecha, whose touch of the ball meant he got away with what could have been a crushing late defeat.

“My first thought when I saw it was ‘blimey, they’ve got a penalty’,” former referee Gallagher told talkSPORT. “You were 13 minutes into stoppage time. When you see the replay, he does just catch the ball, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s one of them, he gets a bit lucky, because if he doesn’t get the ball it’s clearly a penalty.”

With Nmecha touching the ball, that did not prove to be a controversial moment, but the actual penalty was debated by some, with Ampadu appearing to lean into the contact, be that clever play or gaming the rules.

But Gallagher does think it was a legitimate spot kick. “I was surprised [Gillett needed VAR to intervene]. I often talk about clues, and the clue for me was the fact that the Leeds player, Ampadu, was actually jumping."

“That will show you how high the player’s foot was. It hasn’t just caught him on the face. He caught him on the face from a jump. That’s a really high boot.”

Ultimately, it was a silly thing for Tel to do in trying to blindly overhead kick the ball away in his own box. In many ways, it was a typical attacking player move, with a defender likely to have assessed his surroundings and attempted to clear the ball with his head.

But Spurs may not have scored had it not been for Tel's classy strike, and so it can only go down as a lesson learned for the young winger.

For years, Daniel Levy was Enemy No. 1 for Tottenham Hotspur supporters. The Chairman of the club under the direction of ENIC, Levy was honestly probably doing what he was told based on their edict to the best of his abilities, but he became a symbol of the sort of greed and emphasis on the profit over the sporting that has now pretty much gripped most of the clubs in European football.

Year after year, Levy would avoid getting into scrambles for the sort of transfer targets, like Desire Doue, that could help take Spurs to another level. Instead, Spurs would settle for complacency and remain complacent, hovering around fourth in the table and only once every truly competing for titles under Mauricio Pochettino - the manager he and ENIC unceremoniously deposed and have never recovered from in the six years since.

Since officially leaving the club before the 2025/26 Premier League season started, the jubilation from Tottenham fans has turned into something else entirely, and there's a realization that Vinai Venkatesham has taken the club even further back as a CEO. And since he came from Arsenal, some Spurs fans are even worried he is really just an Arsenal fan sabotaging the club; that's how poor of a job he has done, including holding onto Thomas Frank for way, way too long.

Daniel Levy comments publicly

Sky Sports recently caught up with Daniel Levy and interviewed him about his thoughts in this Premier League relegation fight, and his comments have made Tottenham Hotspur supporters even angrier at Venkatesham for being so silent and for showing no real love for the club amidst all of this.

Levy said, "I could never have envisaged this at the beginning of the season," in reference to Spurs facing relegation, though Spurs supporters may point out that he at least did have the foresight to include contractual clauses reducing salaries in the case of relegation.

But the quote that really got Tottenham fans feeling, almost in spite of themselves, a bit wistful at Levy and perhaps even angrier at the current club leadership was this one about the chances of Spurs staying up, "It's been very, very difficult. But Spurs is in my blood and I'm hopeful we will be ok in the end."

Daniel Levy was a part of the problem, but the way Tottenham are run as a club intent on maximizing profits was the biggest issue of them all. Levy was probably just the one executing the orders. And at least he was competent at that job. Spurs are now still maximizing profit over the sporting, but they are now run by incompetent leadership who care even less about the club and are far less competent at reaching their end goal.

Tottenham may avoid Premier League relegation, but they're not going to do it the easy way. Monday night's 1-1 draw with Leeds United means Roberto De Zerbi's team are only two points above the drop zone with just two matches still to play. If West Ham manage to beat Newcastle on Tyneside on Sunday evening, the Lilywhites will be back in the bottom three by the time they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday.

Failing to beat Leeds this week continues Tottenham's horrendous form at home. Spurs have won only four of their last 32 Premier League fixtures in N17, only managing to beat Manchester United, Southampton, Burnley and Brentford in front of their own supporters since 3 November 2024. Just looking at this season, they have the joint-worst home record in the entire division.

Premier League's bottom 6 home table

Note: Statistics are courtesy of Transfermarkt.

Only goal difference is keeping Tottenham from being sat rock-bottom of the Premier League's home table this season. Both they and Burnley have collected just 12 points at home, out of a possible 54, and the Clarets could overtake them, considering they host Wolves on the final day. Spurs' tally of 31 goals conceded at home is also second only to Wolves' 33.

Of course, in 2026, they are still yet to win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, drawing four times and losing on five occasions since New Year's Day. So, how many other teams across Europe are still yet to claim a victory in front of their own supporters this calendar year? It is not many.

Clubs from Europe's top-15 ranks leagues winless at home in 2026

Note: Statistics partly courtesy of Statmuse.

Not including Norway's Eliteserien, because the season has only just started, there are 238 clubs who compete in UEFA's top-15 ranked leagues. Of these, only seven have failed to win a single home league match in 2026. Metz, Burnley, Hellas Verona and Livingston have all had their respective relegations confirmed, while Nice occupy the Ligue 1 relegation play-off place. Espanyol meantime were fifth in La Liga at Christmas but, currently winless in 18, are hovering just above the drop zone.

Thus, only the Blanquiazules, les Grenats in France and the Gialloblù in Italy have collected more points in front of their own supporters in 2026 than Spurs. By the end of May, all seven teams on this list could be relegated.

Tottenham Hotspur supporters learned some more grim news about Dejan Kulusevski, as just days after Roberto De Zerbi stated that he would be very surprised if Kulu made the Swedish squad for the 2026 World Cup in North America, the Swedish national team did indeed leave him off their official preliminary squad for the tournament this summer.

Kuluseveski has not played since a year ago when he suffered a knee injury that initially seemed innocuous enough to only be an absence of a few weeks, with Kulu then expected to be ready for the 2025/26 season. But Kulu never was ready, and he never became ready during the season either. The months have rolled by with only a few smattering of updates, no real diagnosis on the extent of the injury, and fears from Tottenham supporters that Kulu may never play for them again.

After the announcement of Kulusevski missing the official World Cup squad, Swedish national team manager Graham Potter spoke about the star right winger and midfielder's injury, mentioning that the new goal is for the player to return to Tottenham Hotspur by the time the 2026/27 Premier League season begins.

Dejan Kulusevski has been missed

The former Chelsea and Brighton manager said, via Chris Cowlin, "With Dejan, again just a very difficult decision. We have to think about what is right for the team, that’s important but also Dejan is in a place where he has had a long fight and he is making progress. It’s important now that this time he can really focus on getting himself ready for the start of the season. Dejan is at a stage where his rehab is so important and he has made some progress. The aim for him would be to start the next season with Tottenham, hit the ground running and to get back on the pitch and do the thing he loves. We have to be careful about that and ultimately that is the priority for him. Once those games start [World Cup], you’re not in an area where you can do big 11 v 11 work, so it would be very difficult for him to get up to where we need him to be. Sometimes you have to take a decision of what does this look like. What is the impact for the player? What is the impact for the team? And it just felt in my stomach it was the right thing for us and for him, but of course now it’s tough to see that, because he wants to be there and he wants to play, I understand. He is a professional person and he accepts it, of course but it is also very difficult as it is with all the guys. These things don’t come along very often, it’s a dream and you’re ending a dream which is not a nice thing believe me.”

It has been quite bitter to see Dejan Kulusevski not in the World Cup squad, but it is, as Roberto De Zerbi said, impossible for someone who has never played to be fit enough and sharp enough for matches to be in the squad for a tournament as prestigious as a World Cup. And again, there is no physical indication that Kulusvski is ready to play games at all.

Tottenham fans just have to hope that Kulu can meet this next milestone of playing for them when the next season starts, because as this nightmare of a campaign has revealed, the Lilywhites really do need Kulu back in tow.