The New York Times

When it comes to unpacking the issues at West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur, Calum Davenport feels it necessary to take a walk.

The 43-year-old made a combined total of 38 league appearances for both clubs, one of whom will be relegated from the Premier League this weekend.

Tottenham are 17th and thanks to their superior goal difference only need to draw against Everton on the final day to ensure top-flight safety. Nuno Espirito Santo’s 18th-placed side, however, need to beat Leeds United and hope Everton, led by ex-West Ham manager David Moyes, win in north London to avoid relegation to the Championship for the first time since 2011.

Spurs, who last played in the second tier in 1978, squandered the opportunity to relegate West Ham in midweek as they lost 2-1 away to Chelsea. They have two wins in their last 19 league games in 2026. They have not won at home since beating Brentford on December 6. West Ham have lost three consecutive league matches.

The plight of his former clubs is not sitting well with Davenport, so when The Athletic calls, he and his dog Ernie head outside.

“I knew you were going to call, so I’ve come for a walk — I get so worked up and frustrated thinking about the sorry state both clubs are in,” Davenport says.

“They both deserve to be where they are. I’m not surprised one bit, and it’s reached a point where I feel upset whenever I watch West Ham and Tottenham. They look unrecognisable from the clubs I played for. They’ve lost their identities.

“Both teams have had five managers (Tottenham: Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and De Zebri; West Ham: Graham Potter and Nuno) combined this season. Make it make sense. Just absolute madness.

“There’s a big disconnect happening at Tottenham and West Ham. Two big London rivals, both are in new stadiums but on the brink of relegation. The hierarchy of both teams has chased greed — and now look at them. It upsets me because the soul has been ripped out of them. Whoever goes down needs to completely reset.”

Davenport, who is one of 27 players to have played for West Ham and Tottenham since 1992, is well placed to discuss their struggles and the implications of relegation for either side. He played for the north London side between 2004-07, which included loans at West Ham, Southampton and Norwich City. After making a permanent switch to east London in 2007, Davenport had a three-year spell, which included an incident where he almost lost his life.

In the Premier League era, there have been many standout moments between the two rivals: Lasagne gate in 2006, where food poisoning played a part in Tottenham missing out on Champions League qualification, the 4-3 encounter at Upton Park in West Ham’s 2006-07 great escape season. Ravel Morrison’s superb solo goal at White Hart Lane in 2013 is still remembered fondly, as is Michail Antonio’s winner in 2019, which inflicted Tottenham’s first defeat at their new stadium. A memorable moment for Tottenham against West Ham was their quarter-final FA Cup victory in 2001, although they lost in the semi-final to Arsenal.

There have been controversial transfers to Tottenham, such as Mohammed Kudus’ £55million ($74m) switch last summer. Scott Parker, then captain, left for Spurs in the summer of 2011 following West Ham’s relegation to the second tier. That move left such a sour taste that even TV presenter and West Ham supporter James Corden shouted an expletive at Parker, who was in the audience of the TV show League of Their Own in December 2011, and joked he was dead to him.

Frederic Kanoute, Jermain Defoe and Michael Carrick are other names to have swapped east for north London, with Spurs fans mockingly referring to West Ham as their ‘feeder club’. Players who have moved in the opposite direction ended up becoming fan favourites in Bobby Zamora, Paul Konchesky, Teddy Sheringham and Matt Etherington.

“It wasn’t an easy move,” Etherington tells The Athletic. “I remember driving down Green Street before our first home game of the season (in 2003). A few West Ham fans saw me near my car and shouted abuse. I thought, ‘S***, what have I done here?’ I knew that rivalry was always there, but that’s when it hit home. It was intense so I had to win them over quickly and, thankfully, I won player of the year.

“I felt like I always had a point to prove whenever I faced Tottenham. I scored against them at White Hart Lane when I played for Stoke, so the extra motivation was always there. I never felt like I was given a fair chance at Tottenham and had to leave to further my career.

“Probably my best memory against them is lasagne gate and 20 years later it still makes me smile. They thought we intentionally gave them food poisoning, which was a load of nonsense. They just had a bad chef. It would mean a lot for West Ham fans to relegate Tottenham. I’m confident we’ll beat Leeds, we just need a big favour from our old manager Moyes.”

Of the two teams, West Ham are widely considered the smaller club. In an interview with TNT Sport in 2024, West Ham legend Mark Noble discussed why beating their rivals should be an expectation, not a special moment.

“I’ve come in and done the press (after the 1-0 win in April 2019), and the players wanted to take a photo together, and I’m like, ‘Not a chance are we having a photo here’, because I believed that we should expect to beat Spurs,” said Noble. “It was probably a little bit of ego because I didn’t want a photo to come out of us just because we beat Spurs 1-0. For me, that wasn’t good enough; I needed to go on and be better as a club than that.

“I loved playing in those games. I remember saying to the boys many times, ‘Listen, you don’t need a team talk for these games. It is what it is, we’ve got to try and win’. I was brought up as a West Ham fan, and being around loads of West Ham fans, they always ingrained in me that ‘We’ve always got to beat Spurs’.”

Davenport thinks a contributing factor to West Ham’s struggles is their lack of leaders. Jarrod Bowen has faced criticism for his role as club captain. In August, the 29-year-old England international almost clashed with a supporter after the Carabao Cup loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Davenport, who played alongside Noble, does not think Bowen has leadership qualities.

“Fans want to see a bit of themselves in you when you play,” says Davenport. “When I think about the players who start every week for Tottenham and West Ham, there is nothing there. No embodiment of north or east London. West Ham got away with it for so long because they had Noble steadying the ship. Declan Rice took over and they won a trophy (the UEFA Conference League in 2023) under Moyes.

“But all three are gone, and there’s no direction or leadership. Bowen is a good player but he doesn’t have those leadership characteristics to be pulling players to one side like Rice or Noble.

“I remember in training, Craig Bellamy would always be on someone. He always made sure we were aware of our duty and responsibility to perform. Players like Julian Dicks and Paolo Di Canio embodied commitment at West Ham.

“So when you have someone like (Jean-Clair) Todibo smirk when he came off against Newcastle (in the 25th minute), you think: ‘That’s not the West Ham I know’. No one would have dared to do that when I was there. When you smirk like that, it sends a message to fans — who, by the way, have travelled hundreds of miles — that you don’t care.

“Someone in the changing room, like Bellamy, would have grabbed you. You wouldn’t be around for long after. These characters are missing in that changing room.”

In the event of relegation, The Athletic reported that Nuno is undecided if he will remain as head coach. He signed a three-year deal when he succeeded Graham Potter in late September and last managed in the Championship in the 2017-18 season when he led Wolves to promotion.

In Friday’s press conference, the head coach was once more tight-lipped about his future. But should he step down, Davenport knows a suitable replacement.

“If West Ham get relegated and Nuno leaves, they need to appoint Parker,” says Davenport. “He knows the club, understands the fans, will blood in youngsters and is a former West Ham captain. If not him, then Bellamy — but Scott would be my pick. The fans would relate and connect with him.

“I don’t see them forming that type of bond under Nuno. Scott has a proven record of getting teams promoted from the Championship. I know he’s struggled to keep clubs up, but worry about that when you get.

“The London Stadium already feels soulless to fans, so imagine how much worse it will be in the Championship. Upton Park was an intimate place to play and the fans would turn up regardless of how bad you played. West Ham’s board have constantly chased the next high and by moving to the London Stadium they’ve diluted the atmosphere.

“The loyal fans get left behind when you’re constantly chasing new customers. Parker is the right man to make the club feel like West Ham again.”

The Premier League has not seen much final-day drama at the bottom of the table in recent years, with the fates of the relegated clubs sealed well before the last game of the season.

But ‘Survival Sunday’ is back this weekend, with Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United fighting to stay in the top flight.

Tottenham, who had not won a league match in 2026 until Roberto De Zerbi took charge on March 31, are reinvigorated under the Italian, and only need a point against Everton on Sunday.

Spurs, however, have one of the worst home records in the Premier League, with just two wins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season. If David Moyes does his old side a favour by winning in north London, West Ham must beat Leeds United to end the day, and the season, on the right side of the relegation zone.

For whichever side drops down, the implications are massive. Relegation from the Premier League is not just a sporting penalty; its financial impact is arguably far more damaging to a club’s long-term health. Having qualified for the Champions League by winning the Europa League last term and thereby receiving a sizeable financial injection, Tottenham’s revenue next season is set to decrease by at least £200million should they suffer demotion. West Ham, who have been ever-present in the English top flight since 2012-13, will also suffer a serious financial impact.

With so much riding on the final day for both sides, contingency planning begins well before. Recruitment is one of the areas that will be seriously impacted by relegation. The Premier League is widely considered the best league in the world, and being part of it grants the opportunity to sign some of the world’s best players. Relegation to the Championship, however, often means a club’s most ambitious targets become unaffordable or more likely to sign elsewhere.

“You absolutely will already have blueprints of what your ideal squad is going to look like depending on either outcome on Sunday,” Paul Duffen, who was chairman of Hull City from 2007 to 2010, tells The Athletic. “A scouting list for the Championship and one for the Premier League. It’s highly irresponsible not to have that; having that as a contingency is important.”

The human impact should also not be understated. Clubs who have played in the Premier League for a long time build the infrastructure to meet operational demands, resulting in hundreds of staff on the payroll. In some cases, clubs may decide to cut costs and redundancies can be a terrible consequence.

“The size of the backroom staff, the ancillary support staff around the club; relegation is unthinkable for a club with the infrastructure built to play Champions League football,” says Duffen. “That brings a completely different set of sports science and training staff, consultants, big scouting teams — they are all very expensive. Logically working out how to justify that staff without Premier League money, given that now you’ve got to abide by financial restrictions and make the books balance, is not easy.

“Even if the shareholders wanted to, they couldn’t just jump in and fund it because you’re going to lose so much money and you’ve got to balance the books. It’s a totally different financial ecosystem and the reality of that is quite terrifying.”

With so much riding on a single game, tensions at the boardroom level in the build-up to Sunday’s game are elevated.

“The backrooms will be filled with trepidation, anxiety,” adds Duffen. “Trying to pretend it’s business as usual but knowing it isn’t.

“It’ll be fear at every level. Players will have their agents on speed dial based on what happens at the end of the game, if those players have all got to take 40 or 50 per cent pay cuts. It’s a question of how the club sets itself up to survive. How do you build for the future? How do you stop the club from going into a spiral? That’s what will be keeping the backroom staff up the few nights before the game.”

Naturally, fans often wonder whether players are as invested in the implications and consequences as they are, knowing many will seek moves away from their club if they are relegated, but for Michael Turner, who went into the final day at Hull City in 2008-09 with relegation on the line before moving to Sunderland that summer, the possibility of leaving didn’t enter his mind during the build-up.

“I was desperate to stay up and win that game to maintain being a Premier League player,” says Turner, who was eventually relegated from the top flight with Norwich City in 2013-14. “No players, especially top players, are ever going to want a relegation on their CV. I understand fans will see it as: ‘They’re going to leave at the end of the season anyway’ but the focus on the final day was to do everything we could to stay in the league. Relegation is the last thing you want.”

Hull went into the last day of the 2008-09 season with their future in their own hands. If they beat Manchester United at home, they would be safe, and Newcastle United would go down regardless of their result away at Aston Villa. They were dealt a bonus when Alex Ferguson heavily rotated his side, who had been crowned Premier League champions the week before, for the Champions League final a few days later.

“We knew that we were ahead of Newcastle and it was in our hands,” says Turner. “We knew if we beat United, then we were safe. United had the Champions League final on the Wednesday after, so we knew they’d make changes to the team, which would have helped us. I think they changed pretty much the whole XI.

“Going into the game knowing it’s in your own hands gives you a little bit of comfort. Knowing that you just need to concentrate on your own team’s performance — that a result keeps you safe. So, I think that helped a little bit, but we felt slightly under pressure because of the start we had. We definitely felt it would have been embarrassing, getting relegated after that start.”

Hull started their debut Premier League season on fire. They became the quickest promoted team to reach 20 points, doing so in just nine matches. They collapsed from then on, taking just 15 points from the following 28 games, leaving confidence low in the group — even with the boost from the rotated opposition on the final day. And, knowing Newcastle were playing a strong Villa side aiming to finish fifth in the Premier League, Duffen remembers Hull coach Phil Brown debating how he should approach the game.

“That morning before the last round of fixtures and a couple of days before, I remember the conversations with Phil Brown,” says Duffen. “I never had an opinion about how we should approach a game of football — it’s not my job — but he used to use me as a sounding board for his own benefit. It was always the question: do you try to get a point or do you try to win the game? There’s that danger of setting up any game of football to try and draw — it’s a ridiculously dangerous strategy.”

In the end, Hull survived despite losing 1-0 to a youthful United side, because Newcastle lost. De Zerbi will be quietly weighing up how to approach this Sunday’s game against Everton, knowing a point will secure Premier League status for next season. However, Nuno Espirito Santo knows that only a win will do for West Ham, who will still then have to hope Spurs lose.

It’s a situation Paul Robinson, who was part of West Bromwich Albion’s ‘Great Escape’ team in 2004-05, can relate to.

“We had togetherness and that was most important,” says Robinson. “If there’s a disconnect, you’re going into a game worrying that some of the players don’t feel the same way, but we had a lot of emotion in that group, and we had a lot of drive. We were going into the last game confident that we’d get our job done.”

West Brom went into the final day sitting at the bottom of the table and needing a minor miracle. Against Portsmouth, who were safe in 16th, West Brom could only survive if they won and Crystal Palace, Southampton and Norwich City didn’t.

“Every single individual player has got to turn up for that game knowing that they have got to win,” says Robinson. “Because if there’s a little bit of doubt or anxiety, the fans will pick up on that, and you’ll feel the nervousness. It filters down onto the pitch. You start to make silly mistakes: you might kick a simple pass out of play or you might turn it over when they’ve got a dangerous attack. Those little errors start to build when you feel the pressure.”

West Brom went 1-0 up through Geoff Horsfield, who scored with his first touch after coming off the bench as a second-half substitute. They then doubled their lead through Kieran Richardson, though the news of a goal for Crystal Palace against Charlton Athletic heard through radios on the terraces muted the celebrations.

“We scored and it turned into a party atmosphere, so we could work out that, at that point, we were safe,” says Horsfield. “And when AJ (Andy Johnson) scored for Palace (putting them 2-1 up), it all changed. We were waiting around at the end of the game.

“Thankfully, Charlton got the equaliser (the game ended in a 2-2 draw) and we could hear what had happened from the fans. The Portsmouth lads were absolutely brilliant. Linvoy Primus said to me: ‘Look, the game’s finished. We’re not going to do anything stupid’, so we knew that they weren’t really going to try and score. Don’t forget, it sent Southampton down.”

In modern times, where smartphones have replaced radios, fans are at the whim of the often patchy internet connection inside the ground. And when nobody can get a signal, it leaves fans open to the new final day “hoax celebration” phenomenon, when other people inside the ground pretend there has been a decisive goal elsewhere.

Leicester went into the final day of the 2022-23 season needing to beat West Ham United, while hoping Bournemouth could prevent Everton from winning at Goodison Park. Leicester did their bit, eventually winning 2-1, but Everton were also leading 1-0 — until a fake rumour circulated inside the stadium that Bournemouth had levelled the scores.

“There is zero signal at the King Power Stadium — you can’t ever receive anything on your phone,” says Leicester City fan Harry Gregory. “Everyone was checking the apps but you’re pretty much in the dark. The club used to update scores around the ground, but roughly a month before we were relegated, they stopped.

“There was a rumour that went round after we had gone 1-0 up that Bournemouth had equalised, and the crowd started jumping up and down. My phone didn’t work, there was nobody around me with a radio, and the only people you could rely on were the people sitting in the corporate boxes with live TV. You could see some of them waving their hands to say: ‘No, there’s not been a goal’.”

Whether it’s down to ghost goals or actual ones, this year’s Survival Sunday, featuring two close rivals desperate to secure safety, promises to be a thrilling one for everyone in the stadium and those watching around the world.

One way or another, the relegation fate of Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United will be decided on Sunday.

One club will secure Premier League survival, the other will suffer the financial and sporting fallout of dropping into the Championship. For two sides who began the season with far loftier ambitions, the stakes could hardly be higher.

With it being the final day of the Premier League season, Spurs and West Ham will kick off simultaneously on Sunday. Tottenham host Everton while West Ham welcome Leeds United to the London Stadium in a relegation battle that will unfold in real time across the capital.

Spurs hold the advantage in that a draw would be enough for Roberto De Zerbi’s side to confirm their place in the Premier League. West Ham, meanwhile, need Spurs to lose and a victory of their own to climb to safety.

Tottenham’s home record suggests there could be one last twist in the tail. Indeed, they are saddled with the joint-worst home record in the league, having won just twice in front of their own fans.

While Spurs have shown tentative signs of improvement under De Zerbi, they have not won a home game in the league since December. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been a toxic environment for much of this season, and it won’t take much for the home supporters to grow nervous on Sunday.

Everton, on the other hand, boast one of the strongest away records in the division. Only Arsenal and Manchester City have picked up more points on the road than David Moyes’ men, who could still finish in the top half of the table.

Beto has scored five goals in his last six games and will pose a threat to a Tottenham back line that looked vulnerable in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.

Iliman Ndiaye, who is averaging more successful dribbles per 90 minutes than any other Everton player this season, will be a threat down the left wing and could expose the space behind the Spurs full-backs in the way many opponents have this season.

The return of James Maddison from injury has certainly given Tottenham more creativity in possession. The 29-year-old registered four passes into the final third against Chelsea and missed one big chance of his own.

However, it’s doubtful Maddison will be ready to start against Everton, having missed the majority of the season. This might turn Sunday’s affair into a physical encounter, which could play into Everton’s hands.

West Ham’s situation is even more perilous, reflected by their price of 1/16 to suffer relegation to the Championship for the first time since the end of the 2010-11 season.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side enter the final weekend of the campaign on the back of three straight defeats to Brentford, Arsenal and Newcastle United. Their form has deserted them at the worst possible time.

Nonetheless, Leeds will arrive at the London Stadium this weekend already on the metaphorical beach. Daniel Farke’s side secured their safety two weeks ago and have nothing left to play for.

Leeds are unbeaten in their last eight league matches and will want to finish their Premier League campaign on a positive note. However, it might be difficult for them to match the Hammers’ motivation, considering what is on the line for them.

Nuno must find a way to instil some belief in a group of players that looked to have accepted their fate at St James’ Park last weekend. Not so long ago, West Ham were looking promising as they won matches against Wolves and Everton.

If West Ham can stay compact and organised at the back, and play in quick transition going forward to get Jarrod Bowen and Taty Castellanos into space, the hosts could give themselves a chance of survival.

Tottenham are 11/2 to finish 18th in the Premier League table and drop into the Championship. This reflects how many different things need to happen for the worst possible scenario to materialise for the north London outfit.

If De Zerbi can maintain the high energy levels demonstrated by Spurs in their last few matches under the former Brighton and Marseille manager, that could be the thing that gets Tottenham over the line, considering their lack of natural creativity.

Mathys Tel has a goal and an assist in his last three outings and looks to be one of the Spurs players who has embraced De Zerbi’s ideas and methods. The former Bayern Munich winger is 6/5 to score or assist at any time against Everton.

That Spurs and West Ham are even in this situation heading into the final game of the season is demonstrative of the gross mismanagement both clubs have suffered from in recent times. No matter what unfolds on Sunday, some reflection will be required over the summer.

Before then, though, there is only survival. Tottenham and West Ham will spend the final afternoon of the campaign fighting for their Premier League status, with judgment day now looming for both clubs.

It is time for Tottenham Hotspur supporters to accept something which they have known deep down for a long time.

Cristian Romero is often presented as a great footballer who has the occasional moment of madness. In reality, it is the other way around. The constant drama Romero causes outweighs his quality and Spurs should sell him this summer.

Romero was appointed as captain at the beginning of the season by then head coach Thomas Frank and signed a new long-term contract, which made him one of the club’s highest-paid players. Leaders need to push their egos to one side. They need to take accountability when things go wrong and are required to be selfless. Romero is the complete opposite.

The Argentina international’s decision to miss Spurs’ final game of the season against Everton is an insult to his team-mates and the supporters. Spurs need to beat Everton on Sunday to guarantee their top-flight status for next season, although a draw will likely be enough even if West Ham United, who are two points below them and occupy the final relegation spot, beat Leeds United, due to Tottenham’s superior goal difference (-10 vs -22).

Instead of supporting the club that pays his salary and the squad he spends every day with, the 28-year-old will be in Argentina watching his boyhood club Belgrano take on River Plate in a championship decider.

Romero was ruled out for the rest of the season in April after suffering a medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury when Sunderland forward Brian Brobbey pushed him into Tottenham’s goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

On Friday, the Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi said that Romero had spoken with the club’s medical staff and they had decided that the defender would “go to Argentina to complete the rehab with the Argentinian medical staff” ahead of the World Cup.

“We spoke last week. He showed always he wanted to stay with us. He’s already injured. We have to accept. I’m not stupid. If I understand that there is any player who thinks of himself before the club, I can’t be the same Roberto. But with Cuti Romero, I can’t say anything — with me, in my time, he has been correct from the beginning until now.

“He can’t change anything, Romero, if he is at the stadium or not.”

De Zerbi did admit that he “100 per cent” understands fans’ anger over Romero’s decision to miss a match that is so critically important to the club he captains.

“Not all leaders are the same,” De Zerbi. “Ben Davies spoke with me and asked today to stay with us. Tomorrow, we sleep in the lodge in the hotel and he wanted to stay with his team-mates. But Romero is preparing for the World Cup (with) his injury.”

After initially suffering the injury, De Zerbi said he felt “sorry” for the centre-back.

“Romero, first of all, loves Tottenham and the people have to know he is suffering for this injury,” De Zerbi said before last month’s 2-2 draw with Brighton. “He is suffering because he can’t play anymore for us this season but he is a great captain for us, for Tottenham.” Those words ring hollow now.

De Zerbi has previously called Romero a “crucial player” and, in theory, is perfectly suited to his style of play. The Italian wants his team to dominate the ball and Romero’s quality in possession under pressure is exceptional. When Mathys Tel scored against Leeds United, Romero ran onto the pitch and wiped out set-piece coach Andreas Georgson in the process. Before this week’s defeat to Chelsea, De Zerbi revealed they talk regularly over the phone and Romero would visit his office every morning.

Prioritising Belgrano undermines all of this.

“Romero is a great player and the most important is the behaviour and how much the player wants to stay in this club,” De Zerbi said last week when asked about the defender’s future. “We are going to take all the decisions after this season and after the Everton game.”

Does missing your club’s biggest game in a generation qualify as good behaviour? De Zerbi has stressed that avoiding relegation is “more important” than winning a trophy. Romero has failed to understand this, or simply does not care.

Maybe we could just about forgive Romero’s actions if he wasn’t partially responsible for this mess. Romero has produced some great performances this season. He dragged Spurs over the line with dramatic equalisers against Newcastle United and Burnley. However, he has been a liability on multiple occasions.

Spurs were piling pressure on Liverpool in December when Romero won a free kick but was sent off for kicking Ibrahima Konate. Xavi Simons had already been shown a red card, so Spurs were left with nine men for the last few minutes of stoppage time.

Liverpool’s head coach Arne Slot admitted after the game that, following Xavi’s dismissal, “I thought it would mean that it was a bit easier but in reality it wasn’t”, “because it was attack after attack after attack.” Romero’s red card gutted Spurs’ momentum and ruined any hopes of an equaliser.

Spurs started positively at Old Trafford in February until Romero was sent off for a reckless challenge on Bruno Fernandes. Frank’s gameplan was ripped up and Manchester United comfortably won 2-0.

Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Romero has been sent off six times, more than any other Premier League player.

He has racked up 44 yellow cards across all competitions, which is behind Moises Caicedo (60), Joelinton (58), Bernardo Silva (49), Bruno Fernandes and his team-mate Rodrigo Bentancur (both 45).

Concerningly, Romero and Bentancur have played significantly fewer games and minutes than the others.

Then there are his off-field antics.

Following a 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth on January 7, Romero criticised senior figures at Tottenham. “At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t, as has been happening for several years now,” Romero wrote on Instagram. “They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies. We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around.”

He doubled down a few weeks later, following a 2-2 draw with Manchester City. Romero was substituted at half-time due to illness.

“I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn’t feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available — unbelievable but true and disgraceful,” the post, which was uploaded shortly after the winter transfer window closed, said.

Frank and sporting director Johan Lange refused to confirm in interviews whether Romero was internally punished for his outbursts. Whether you agree with him or not, the captain should not be publicly exposing any rifts behind the scenes. It risks creating more tension and, if we are being completely honest, comes across as self-serving when you consider his recent actions.

Frank’s decision to promote Romero from vice-captain will probably go down as one of the biggest mistakes of his reign. He has been a poor and inconsistent role model.

Romero’s decision to fly to South America to support Belgrano looks even worse when you compare him to James Maddison. If anyone had a free pass for checking out of this messy and miserable campaign, it was Maddison, after he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during a pre-season friendly in South Korea. Maddison has worked incredibly hard to return for the final three games. He travelled with the squad to away matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa, even though he was never going to play. He was spotted standing up behind the bench at Wolves, dishing out advice to his team-mates.

Maddison has made two appearances this season for a grand total of 26 minutes. Yet he has shown accountability by describing Tottenham’s predicament as “unacceptable” and “embarrassing” in an interview with Sky Sports after the defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The 29-year-old has demonstrated he would have been the perfect candidate to replace Son Heung-min as captain if he had been fully fit.

There have been a few highlights during Romero’s five-year spell in north London, including last season’s Europa League final, but Spurs need to reinvent themselves this summer after consecutive years of drastic underperformance domestically.

Romero will probably demonstrate his quality at this summer’s World Cup, but he has let Spurs down too many times. Regardless of what division they are in next season, an overhaul of the squad should start with their beleaguered captain.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi has defended Cristian Romero’s decision to return to Argentina ahead of his side’s crucial final-day Premier League match against Everton — but says he “100 per cent” understands fans’ anger over his decision to miss the game.

Romero’s boyhood club Belgrano posted a video on Thursday of the injured Spurs captain in kit carrying a bag of footballs at their training ground.

Belgrano president Luis Artime then told Argentine publication Deportes 24 that Romero would attend their final against River Plate on Sunday, May 24.

“He wrote to us and he congratulated us, he said that we need to make history,” Artime said. “Will he have tickets? Of course, he’ll watch it next to me.”

Belgrano’s match falls on the final day of the Premier League season, however, meaning Romero will miss Tottenham’s match against Everton, in which their potential relegation will be decided. After losing 2-1 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, De Zerbi’s side are only two points ahead of West Ham and the relegation zone and are at risk of being leapfrogged depending on the 18th-placed side’s result.

“He spoke with the medical staff,” De Zerbi said at a press conference on Friday. “Together, they decided to go to Argentina to complete the rehab with the Argentinian medical staff.

“We spoke last week. He showed always he wanted to stay with us. He’s already injured. We have to accept. I’m not stupid. If I understand that there is any player who thinks of himself before the club, I can’t be the same Roberto. But with Cuti Romero, I can’t say anything — with me, in my time, he has been correct from the beginning until now.

“He can’t change anything, Romero, if he is at the stadium or not. Finally, I have no time to lose energy thinking about other things, we have to be focused just on the game. We have the players good enough to achieve our target.

“Not all leaders are the same. Ben Davies spoke with me and asked today to stay with us. Tomorrow, we sleep in the lodge in the hotel and he wanted to stay with his team-mates. But Romero is preparing for the World Cup with his injury.”

Romero, 28, sustained a season-ending injury in April, tearing his medial collateral ligament in his right knee during the 1-0 defeat by Sunderland. It came only three games after missing five matches with a red-card suspension and concussion protocol. The defender has not publicly commented on his reasons for being in Argentina.

Romero has made 32 appearances for Spurs this term, registering six goals and four assists, in his fourth season in north London. In a disrupted campaign of three head coaches and only 38 points, the defender has been outspoken and appeared to criticise the club’s hierarchy.

After Tottenham’s 3-2 loss at Bournemouth in January, he apologised to Spurs fans before saying: “At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t as has been happening for several years now. They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.”

Romero has been named in Argentina’s provisional 55-man squad for the World Cup. The defending champions start their tournament against Algeria on June 17.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Djed Spence has sustained a broken jaw after colliding with Liam Delap during Chelsea’s win on Tuesday.

The full-back was struck in the face by the Chelsea striker’s elbow while the pair challenged for the ball in the 87th minute, with referee Stuart Attwell showing the Delap a yellow card.

Spence went down holding his face and following the diagnosis of a fracture is expected to now be forced to play with a protective mask. He has not been included in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup, which will be officially announced on Friday.

The 25-year-old posted about the incident on social media following the game.

Tottenham needed a win at Stamford Bridge to secure their Premier League safety but fell to a 2-1 defeat, meaning they enter the final round of fixtures only two points above West Ham in the final relegation spot.

Spence has made 43 appearances for Spurs this season but has started only one of their past five games, a 1-0 win over bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He made his last of four England appearances against Uruguay in March, after making his senior debut in September.

Tottenham head into Sunday’s game against Everton knowing a win will guarantee survival. A draw would also likely be enough given Spurs’ far superior goal difference over West Ham.

Every Tottenham fan will remember where they were one year ago today. Maybe they were in the lucky thousands inside the San Mames stadium in Bilbao. Maybe they went to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, or the surrounding pubs, to be part of a communal experience there. Maybe they watched it in a Spurs bar somewhere else in the world, or at home with the people they love to share Tottenham with.

But wherever you were on May 21 2025, some things will be the same. The desperation for it to be different from the Champions League final in Madrid six years before. The pride in seeing how well-represented Tottenham were in the stadium. The momentary disbelief at how the ball diverted off Luke Shaw and Brennan Johnson and into the net. The nerves in the second half as Spurs defended their lead. The ecstasy at the final whistle. The pride. And above all, more than anything else, the sense that a great cosmic weight had been lifted from the whole Tottenham community.

To call it a ‘historic’ occasion barely comes close to conveying its significance. For a whole generation of Spurs fans, it was the greatest night, not just the win itself but the trophy parade on the Friday, when hundreds of thousands of fans came back to Tottenham to celebrate and commune. It felt like it could be a transformative moment for the club, a dividing line between before and after.

It certainly felt as if it was the climactic point of so many long stories with Spurs. The perfect end to Son Heung-min’s 10 years at the club. The conclusion of six years of drift following the 2019 Champions League final and the move to the new stadium. The vindication of the appointment of Ange Postecoglou, the return to progressive football, and perhaps the launch pad to greater things.

Now we can argue all day about why this has not proven to be the case, about how Tottenham Hotspur as an institution has squandered the legacy of Bilbao over the last year. It is hard to imagine how things could have gone any worse in the last 12 months. That is a conversation for another day.

But the really remarkable thing, the thing that no one would have expected, is that this Sunday, Spurs have a game which is in fact bigger than Bilbao. One year and three days on from their greatest modern night, they now have a game with even higher stakes. The only difference is that this time they are not playing to win. But playing not to lose.

It was a comparison that Roberto De Zerbi offered when he gave his press conference in the Stamford Bridge media room just before 11pm on Tuesday night. He had been asked about the penalty claim when Micky van de Ven was wrestled to the ground in the area, when Spurs were desperately chasing a goal. But De Zerbi wanted to talk about something very different.

“Sunday is the final for Tottenham,” De Zerbi said. “Not Bilbao, against Manchester United. The most important game is Sunday. Last season, they played for the trophy. Now we play for something more important than the trophy. Because the pride, the history of the club, the dignity are more important than the trophy. The trophy you can win, you can lose, nothing changes in your life. You can have one trophy more, but the most important is to keep the dignity, to keep pride. To go on holiday like this (De Zerbi lifted his head up high), and not like this (De Zerbi pointed his head down).”

It was the most interesting thing De Zerbi has said since taking over. Ever since he arrived, the tone has been upbeat. He has focused on building his players up, talking about how good they are, how often he tried to sign them in previous jobs. He has tried to expel all negative talk. After the painful Brighton game, when many fans concluded Spurs were down after a 95th-minute equaliser, De Zerbi insisted that he would countenance no sad faces at training on Monday. Everything that he has said has been positive, optimistic, and designed to lift the players up.

But on Tuesday night, the tone changed. It felt as if, for the first time, De Zerbi was telling his players how important this is, and that the responsibility is theirs to fix it. That he was reminding them of the huge cost of failure, if they lose to Everton on Sunday and West Ham United beat Leeds.

He did not even need to use the word ‘relegation’. His framing was more emotional, more personal. Perhaps more designed to appeal to the egos and consciences of the players on the pitch. It was not just the dignity of the club and the fans that is at stake. But the dignity and reputations of the players as well. If they are the players who take Spurs down, then they will bear the mark of shame for years, and not just for their summer holiday.

It felt like a brave move. But maybe that is the way to appeal to the players ahead of Sunday. Maybe that fear is what will truly move them. “For me, all drama is about dignity,” said playwright Jez Butterworth, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in 2019. “I don’t think we really care whether people live or die; we care about their dignity as such. As soon as that’s the case, then you really look through your fingers.”

Tottenham have been at risk of losing their dignity all season. That is what they have been scrambling to try to save all year, and what De Zerbi was brought in at great cost to secure. But they are not there yet, and after Tuesday night, they will have to go out and fight for it again against Everton. Maintaining it, maintaining their pride, avoiding shame, being able to look yourself in the mirror; these are things with a weightier value than just trophies, medals and Premier League status. They are not things that go on players’ Wikipedia pages. But maybe they will extract an extra commitment from the players on Sunday. While the crowd looks through their fingers.

Welcome to the final edition of The Alternative Premier League Table in 2025-26, where each week, The Athletic has analysed the entire division through a specific lens.

This edition will compare Opta’s projected points table from before the season and our pre-season predictions to the actual table.

Key takeaways include:

After their summer spending spree, Liverpool were viewed as favourites to repeat, but they are well off the pace. Instead Arsenal finally finished first, something predicted by nine of our writers.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were both expected to finish in the bottom half by Opta’s model, while our writers thought they would end up eighth and sixth respectively. They have bucked that in different ways, with United securing third place and Spurs down in 17th, with relegation still possible.

Opta’s model put Brentford in 10th, while our writers expected them to finish 16th, with 13 picking them to be relegated. They are in the fight for European qualification on the final day.

Opta predicted Sunderland to finish last, and our writers had them 18th, with 19 writers picking them to be relegated. They currently look set for a top-half finish.

Arsenal

After three consecutive second-place finishes, Arsenal have finally broken their 22-year league title drought. Mikel Arteta’s side are worthy champions, particularly for the way they have held their nerve under pressure since the 2-1 defeat at Manchester City, eking out 1-0 wins over Newcastle United, West Ham United and Burnley.

Set pieces have been the defining feature, but their defence deserves credit, with 19 clean sheets. Their new signings have each delivered at different stretches, too.

Martin Zubimendi was crucial to their early-season form. Eberechi Eze has chipped in with important goals, while Viktor Gyokeres has scored nine times in 2026.

Arsenal have built a core to continue competing at the top for years to come.

Liverpool

While Arsenal’s signings have thrived, Liverpool’s have not.

Hugo Ekitike delivered 11 league goals before his Achilles injury, but Florian Wirtz has scored just five times in 32 outings, while Alexander Isak has struck three times in just 703 league minutes.

Jeremie Frimpong, brought in to cover for Trent Alexander-Arnold, has often played at right wing, showing some spark but struggling with injuries. Milos Kerkez, after a tough start, has been more consistent of late.

All of that has played a part in Liverpool just about hanging onto the extra Champions League slot, having been backed by Opta and 13 of our writers to win the league. Arne Slot’s side have lost the identity that drove them to the 2024-25 title, with their pace of play dropping in a season where the league has gone in the opposite direction. Another busy summer awaits…

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola will leave City without adding a seventh Premier League title in nine years. This has been a second season of transition after they finished third in 2024-25, but the seeds have been sown for his reported successor Enzo Maresca.

City remodeled their tactical identity to adjust to the Premier League’s directness, playing faster, vertical football while keeping the long-passing sequences that have defined the Guardiola era.

In Gianluigi Donnarumma, Nico O’Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov, Marc Guehi, and Matheus Nunes, they have a defensive core with physicality and the athleticism to defend large spaces. Cover will be required for the departing Bernardo Silva and ageing Rodri, but Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo form a frontline that offers plenty in attack and is capable without the ball.

Manchester United

The disappointment of 2024-25 was somewhat rectified by a summer spent remodelling a misfiring attack. Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo have all hit double figures and contributed to 31 of United’s 66 Premier League goals.

Opta’s projections placed them in the bottom half, while their highest predicted finish according to our staff was sixth (picked by five writers). When Ruben Amorim was sacked on January 5, they were sixth, 11 points off third-placed Aston Villa.

Michael Carrick’s arrival has galvanised the team, especially Bruno Fernandes, who has unleashed his creative arsenal with a chance at breaking the league’s assist record. United have won 11 of their last 16 matches and lost just twice.

The unprecedented climb needs to be built on by another summer of shrewd transfer activity.

Tottenham Hotspur

In the maiden Alternative Table, we said Spurs’ aim should be to finish somewhere between sixth, as predicted on average by our staff, and 14th, Opta’s projection for them.

Well… Thomas Frank lasted 26 league games, leaving Spurs after an eight-match winless run to kick off 2026 that left them 16th. Igor Tudor’s forgettable spell followed before Roberto De Zerbi was tasked with staving off relegation.

His side needs a point on the final day to do that, and another rebuild will surely be required in the summer if Spurs are to challenge for even a Conference League spot.

Brentford

Keith Andrews would be a deserving manager of the year winner. Taking over from Frank and without Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Christian Norgaard and Mark Flekken, there was pessimism around Brentford maintaining their mid-table and, in some cases, even top-flight status.

Shrewd recruitment, one of their hallmarks, has proved pivotal again. Igor Thiago, a 2024 signing who missed nearly all of 2024-25 with injury, has delivered a 22-goal season. Caoimhin Kelleher has had some big moments in goal, and Dango Ouattara has won five penalties, the second-most in a single season since 2018-19 (behind six by Wilfried Zaha in 2018-19 and Anthony Gordon in 2024-25), and scored seven goals to boot. Mikkel Damsgaard, Michael Kayode, and Mathias Jensen have all delivered when called upon.

Brentford took points off Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa (twice) and Liverpool, and who can rule them out causing the big sides problems again in 2026-27.

Sunderland

Two consecutive seasons of promoted teams going straight back down may have coloured our opinions on Sunderland. We compared their summer spree to 2018-19 Fulham and said relegation was a very real possibility — we could not have been more wrong.

Virtually all of Sunderland's transfers were hits. Omar Alderete and Nordi Mukiele have been excellent at the back ahead of the impressive Robin Roefs. Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki have been excellent in midfield alongside Enzo Le Fee, while Habib Diarra has chipped in too. Brian Brobbey’s seven goals have been vital, as have Chemsdine Talbi’s four.

Dan Ballard, Wilson Isidor, Luke O’Nien and Trai Hume have all had their moments, too, with Regis Le Bris’ squad management an underrated contributor to their success.

Leeds United

As with Sunderland, we were not high on Leeds, even though 11 of our staff had them securing safety, with two predicting a 14th-place finish, which is where they find themselves with one game remaining.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anton Stach and Gabriel Gudmundsson have been excellent, while Felix Nmecha, Jaka Bijol and Sean Longstaff have proved reliable.

Daniel Farke’s decision to shift from a possession-based to a direct style in December prompted a crucial run of just two losses in 14 matches (four wins, eight draws). He had just six wins in his 49 Premier League matches entering the season but could make it 12 wins in 2025-26 alone on the final day against West Ham, a result which would relegate the Londoners.

Bournemouth

Only one out of our 30 staff predicted a top-seven finish for Bournemouth, who have absolutely soared in 2026.

They have picked up 33 points from 18 matches this calendar year, only bettered by both Manchester sides (38 points each from 19 games) and champions Arsenal (37 from 18), while losing just once.

Under Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth’s form has often oscillated between streaks of positive and negative results. In 2025-26, they won five and drew three games after losing to Liverpool on Matchday 1, then went winless between November 2 and January 3 before entering their current hot streak that has seen more composed in-possession play and improved game management.

A sixth-place finish despite losing Milos Kerkez, Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi in the summer and Antoine Semenyo in January deserves immense credit. Eli Junior Kroupi, with 13 league goals, summer arrival Adrien Truffert and January signing Rayan have been excellent, while the stocks of Alex Scott and James Hill have risen further.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton will enter their season-ender against Manchester United possibly needing a win to secure Europe, having been predicted to finish eighth by Opta and ninth by our writers. Only two of our staff predicted a top-seven finish for Fabian Hurzeler’s side.

Winning just seven of their first 26 matches set Brighton back quite a bit, even leading to speculation about Hurzeler’s future at the club. But they have won seven of their last 11 games, with their 22 points ranking fourth behind Manchester City (25), Arsenal (24) and Manchester United (23) in that stretch.

Danny Welbeck has scored a career-high 13 goals, but Brighton have made up the goals lost with Joao Pedro’s departure to Chelsea in the aggregate. Their 19 different goal scorers lead the league, with seven players managing three or more goals behind Welbeck.

Chelsea

All but one of our 30 staff had Chelsea in the top four (with one even predicting them to win the title), in line with Opta’s projections. The one writer who was less optimistic still had them seventh.

Chelsea currently sit eighth and cannot finish higher than sixth. Their season began with seven wins in 11 matches under Enzo Maresca. He left by mutual consent in January, and their season has since spiralled with six defeats in a row between March 14 and May 4 costing Liam Rosenior his job.

A lack of fight on the pitch and fan protests against pretty much everything off it have characterised a turbulent 2025-26. Xabi Alonso has been tasked with reversing that in 2026-27 and beyond.

Newcastle United

Like Chelsea, expectations were high for Newcastle after a 2024-25 campaign that brought Champions League football. Opta’s projections and our staff had them finishing fifth, with their lowest predicted finish from our writers being eighth.

A slow start to the season immediately put that at risk, but a muddled middle of the table and a run of six wins and three draws in 11 matches brought some optimism. Errors and an inability to hold onto or build on leads have inevitably led to Newcastle dropping a league-high 27 points after going ahead in games, preventing a sustained rise up the table.

The expenditure on Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa has brought nine goals in a combined 50 appearances, while Anthony Elanga is goalless in the Premier League across 1,289 minutes. Will Osula’s emergence to score seven times in just 745 league minutes has been a major positive in attack, while Malick Thiaw, despite the occasional error, has been a solid addition.

The possible funds raised from selling Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali this summer might prove crucial for Newcastle to bolster their squad depth.

They are 11th but can still get to eighth (which may be enough for a Conference League spot) if they beat Fulham and several results go their way on the final day.

Crystal Palace

The added weight of Conference League football and a subdued summer that saw Eberechi Eze leave led us to suggest Palace would not finish seventh, which was Opta’s projection for them. Our staff felt they would end up in 11th.

The lack of depth snowballed into Oliver Glasner’s frustrations with the hierarchy amid a nine-game winless streak from December 14 to February 1. The January arrivals of Jorgen Strand Larsen and Brennan Johnson were supplanted by Marc Guehi’s departure to Manchester City and Glasner’s decision to leave at the end of the season. They are 15th and cannot rise more than a spot on the final day.

But this season will be a resounding success if Palace beat Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final on May 27 to cap off an excellent maiden continental run and secure another year of European football, this time in the Europa League.

Everton

Everton were firmly in the fight for European qualification before a six-match winless streak since April 11, which has left them 12th heading into their final game at Tottenham.

That is still one spot higher than where Opta’s projections had them and two higher than our staff’s projections. Two runs of excellent form — four wins and a draw in six matches in November-December and four draws and three wins in eight games in December-February — have proven crucial.

Bolstering their front six with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jack Grealish — before his injury — and Thierno Barry has paid dividends, adding unpredictability and goals. James Garner has been excellent, while Jordan Pickford, James Tarkowski and Idrissa Gueye have been reliable once again.

Fulham

Since returning to the Premier League in 2022, Fulham have finished 10th, 13th and 11th. Our writers predicted another 13th-place finish, while Opta’s model placed them 15th. Heading into their final match against Newcastle, Fulham can finish anywhere between ninth or 14th.

This has been yet another season where Marco Silva’s side have threatened to break into the European places at times with impressive individual campaigns — with Harry Wilson taking over from the 2024-25 editions of Raul Jimenez and Antonee Robinson — before eventually fading away. They won just two of their first nine games, eight of the next 14 and four of the last 14.

Silva’s contract expires this summer, so big changes could be on the way at Craven Cottage.

West Ham United

Our writers predicted a 15th-place finish for West Ham, with only two out of 30 suggesting they’d go down. Opta’s projections had them finishing 16th.

Safety looked possible between January 17 and March 14 when they won four and drew three of nine matches. But their torrid start to the season, which saw them win just three of their first 21 matches, along with Leeds and Nottingham Forest picking up form, has rendered that run nearly inconsequential.

Spurs’ implosion had them interested, but West Ham have lost three in a row right as Roberto De Zerbi’s side won two and drew two to nearly claw themselves to safety. Their defeat against Chelsea leaves West Ham needing a final-day win and a Spurs defeat to stay in the top flight. Not impossible, but unlikely.

Nottingham Forest

A fantastic 2024-25 that ended in Europa League qualification and a busy summer window led Opta to predict an 11th-place finish for Forest. Our staff placed them 12th on average, with seven backing them to finish in the top half.

Their domestic campaign has been one of turmoil instead, with Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche getting and losing the job after Nuno Espirito Santo departed following a fallout with Edu. Vitor Pereira has kept them up, though, losing just three of his 11 matches in charge (four wins and four draws).

Plenty of credit for that should go to Morgan Gibbs-White — who has scored 14 goals with 2024-25 top-scorer Chris Wood sidelined for long stretches — and Elliot Anderson.

Forest will finish in the bottom six, but expect the Europa League semi-finalists to be busy in the summer yet again, particularly with Anderson attracting plenty of suitors.

Aston Villa

Unai Emery has turned Villa into European performers. Like Palace, they endured a quiet summer and did not bolster much of their squad, which factored into Opta’s sixth-place projection. Our staff, on average, picked them to finish seventh, with seven of 30 writers placing them in their top five.

A five-game winless streak to start the season, scoring just one goal, might have made a few nervous. But Villa won 12 of their next 13 and in a table with a muddled-up middle, it was enough to separate them from the rest and secure Champions League football for 2026-27, even if their form since has been middling.

Much of it has to do with Emery extracting even more out of large parts of the squad he acquired from Steven Gerrard in October 2022. Six of the 11 players who started the Spaniard’s debut match, a 3-1 win over Manchester United in 2022,started their 3-0 win in the Europa League final against Freiburg last night, which ended a 30-year wait for a major trophy.

Burnley

Twenty-eight of our 30 writers predicted Burnley would get relegated. Opta’s projections were more optimistic, placing them ahead of Leeds and Sunderland.

A torrid fixture list to start the season did not help. But Scott Parker’s side beat Sunderland, Leeds and Wolves, drew with Forest and acquitted themselves well against Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa and, for a half, Manchester City.

The issue was that all four games ended in defeat and a defining 16-match winless run with 11 defeats followed.

Wolves

Losing 2024-25 stars Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri, along with captain Nelson Semedo and Pablo Sarabia, meant Wolves were always going to be up against it. Our staff predicted a 19th-place finish, while Opta’s model had them just above the relegation zone.

The Vitor Pereira bounce that carried them to 16th last May fell flat as Wolves lost eight of their first 10 games, resulting in his departure. None of their summer signings, barring Tolu Arokodare to an extent, have delivered, with some not playing many minutes and Jhon Arias lasting only until January.

The planning for the Championship began in January with Adam Armstrong’s arrival, and the funds raised from the prospective sales of Andre and Joao Gomes, among others, will be crucial if they are to bounce straight back.

There was an easy way and a hard way for Tottenham this week. All the easy way required was to get a point at Stamford Bridge and then they could finally relax, take a deep breath and start to think about the future. Sunday would have been a box-ticking exercise and who knows, shorn of the pressure of the league table, they might even have enjoyed it.

But the door that led to the easy way out of this remains firmly shut. Tottenham were simply not good enough to open it on Tuesday evening.

It should not have taken a lot to get a point here. Chelsea had not won a home league game since January. They played and lost the FA Cup final on Saturday. Calum McFarlane is coming to the end of his second interim spell in charge. If Spurs could just produce a basic level of competence and efficiency then they could get what they needed. Nottingham Forest’s B team found it easy enough here only a few weeks ago.

The simple story of Tuesday night, however, is that Tottenham were not good enough. Not good enough to turn situations into chances and chances into goals. Not good enough to stay focused and deny Chelsea the opportunity to hurt them. Not good enough to keep the game tight, turn the crowd and put Chelsea under pressure. And not good enough, ultimately, to open that door and stride confidently through it to guaranteed safety.

There is always the temptation to explain things through the prism of character and confidence. Tottenham have a terrible record at Stamford Bridge, a ground where they have won just once — in 2018 — since 1990. For months fans have feared that it was their destiny to get relegated here. It felt like Roberto De Zerbi’s job, the thing that would define this game, was to break the psychological grip Chelsea enjoy over Spurs.

Or maybe all that is just nonsense. And maybe these things just come down to simple matters of technique and execution. Because there were certainly moments here when Spurs tried to do the right things, tried to get the ball forward into dangerous positions. But almost every single time they did so, and worked the ball well, the final pass was not good enough.

Whether it was Randal Kolo Muani on the right or Mathys Tel on the left, the outcomes were largely the same. Sometimes the ball would hit the first man. Sometimes it would be easily gathered by Robert Sanchez. Sometimes it would fade away into the stands, like a balloon caught in a gust of wind. But it was never what Spurs needed. And the home crowd crowed with even more conviction every time it happened.

It did not help that Spurs did not have a genuinely creative player on the pitch until James Maddison came on in the second half. Everything that Conor Gallagher and Joao Palhinha did in possession was so telegraphed that Chelsea could start planning what they would do with the ball before they even won it. And when Spurs lost conviction and started to pass backwards, De Zerbi would often spin away in disgust.

But this was a night when Tottenham needed to be efficient, needed to be ruthless in the final third. And they were not. It was the same story against Leeds United last Monday. Spurs dominated long spells but never killed the game. Richarlison skied a golden chance to make it 2-0, but he missed it, and Spurs were clinging onto the draw by the end.

There is not much point criticising Tel, Richarlison and Kolo Muani right now. This was the third game in a row they have started together. All three of them are working as hard as they can. Some of their movements are exactly what De Zerbi would want. Ultimately they are Spurs’ only fit available senior forwards. De Zerbi has no option but to keep picking them.

But there is no avoiding the simple fact that they are not delivering when it matters. Tel has four league goals this season. Kolo Muani has just one, and looks further away from justifying his reputation with every appearance. Yes, Tel is a talented young player with a good attitude and a lot of upside. But Spurs do not need potential right now. They need production. Just ask Archie Gray or Lucas Bergvall, who have not started since Sunderland on April 12.

De Zerbi has fiercely defended his players ever since he took over. He has tried to build them up, to repair their shattered confidence, and remind them how good they can be. It has worked, in the sense that Spurs are still favourites to stay up on Sunday. But late on Tuesday night at Stamford Bridge he revealed something of his frustrations about Spurs’ misfiring attack. “In the last third of the pitch we made too many mistakes,” he said. “In the assist, in the last pass, the cross, in the finishing. I think we can show these values also in the last pass.”

The problem is that there is no reason to imagine that Sunday will be any different. De Zerbi does not have many other options. His three substitutions here were Pape Matar Sarr, Maddison and Djed Spence. Tottenham do not have reserves of goalscorers, or even of pace.

Maybe Dominic Solanke will recover enough to play a part but he has been out since April 25. Maddison could be an impact sub again but De Zerbi said he “cannot play more than 20 or 25” minutes. There is no cavalry coming to save the day.

Now Spurs have to do it the hard way. Having failed to open this door, they must now open a different one. It will be difficult, painful, and there is a genuine chance that it could end in disaster. And they must do it, under more pressure than they have ever experienced before, with these same players who have just failed to beat Chelsea and Leeds, who have been unable to make it count when it matters most. The future of this football club rests on the outcome next time being different.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi has said that avoiding relegation is “more important” than winning a trophy.

Spurs faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday and a win would have secured their top-flight status for another season. Even a draw would have been a positive result due to their superior goal difference over West Ham United in 18th.

However, Spurs lost 2-1 and are only two points above West Ham going into the final day of the 2025-26 campaign. Spurs face 12th-placed Everton at home on Sunday while West Ham host Leeds United, 14th, at the same time.

After the game, De Zerbi was asked about an incident in the second half when Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella brought down Micky Van de Ven in the box from a corner. Cucurella was booked but Spurs were not awarded a penalty as the ball was not deemed to have been in play.

De Zerbi said discussing the incident is “not my business now” because of the high stakes of Sunday’s game against Everton.

“Sunday is the final for Tottenham, not Bilbao against Manchester United (in their triumphant 2025 Europa League final),” De Zerbi told reporters in his post-match press conference. “The most important game is Sunday, because last season they played for the trophy, now we play for something more important than the trophy.

“Because the pride, the history of the club, the dignity are more important than the trophy. The trophy you can win, you can lose, nothing changes in your life. You can have one trophy more, but the most important is to keep the dignity, to keep the pride, not to go on holiday like this (head up), and not like this (head down).”

The Italian was then asked if the players understood the importance of maintaining the club’s dignity.

“Very well, because I’m living just for Tottenham,” De Zerbi said. “I have lived the last 45 days just for one thing. Tottenham and for my players and I know them very well.

“Then we can make differences because not everyone is like their team-mate because the character, the level of passion, the level of personality is different because the people are different. But every one of them they are focused on the target. They are working hard during the week and every one of us wants to achieve the goal.”

In a post-match interview with Sky Sports, midfielder James Maddison — who was making only his second appearance since coming back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury — described Tottenham’s predicament as “unacceptable and a little bit embarrassing”.

Spurs head into their final game of the season on Sunday two points above the relegation zone but winless in their last two games.