The New York Times

From Morgan Gibbs-White staying at Nottingham Forest and scoring 15 league goals, to Tottenham Hotspur appointing Roberto De Zerbi in the nick of time to save them from relegation, there have been plenty of twists and turns at the bottom of the Premier League this season.

On the final day, West Ham’s emphatic 3-0 win against Leeds United was in vain as they joined Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley in dropping down to the Championship. In north London, Spurs beat Everton 1-0 thanks to an incredibly scrappy goal from loanee Joao Palhinha.

The Athletic’s Jay Harris, Roshane Thomas, Paul Taylor, Elias Burke and Beren Cross look at all the pivotal moments in the relegation scrap over the course of the season…

Morgan Gibbs-White’s transfer U-turn

Weeks before the season had even begun, there were two seismic moments at Nottingham Forest.

In July, Evangelos Marinakis, the Forest owner, flew out to the club’s training camp in Portugal to personally persuade Morgan Gibbs-White to sign a new contract — against the backdrop of interest from Tottenham Hotspur, who believed they had activated a £60million ($80m) release clause in his contract.

The talismanic attacking midfielder proved to be a key figure in Forest’s push for survival, scoring 15 vital Premier League goals and generally dragging them over the finishing line as their regular captain.

But, at the same time in Portugal, Nuno Espirito Santo disclosed his sense of unrest for the first time, briefing the media about his concerns over the speed of recruitment and over the influence of the newly appointed Edu as global head of football.

Within a few months, it was a situation that proved to be a significant catalyst in Nuno’s departure. What was not clear at the time was that another three men would take charge at the City Ground before the season was over. But that was the start of the chaos.

Paul Taylor

West Ham let it slip at Bournemouth

After back-to-back wins against Newcastle United and Burnley — the first victories of Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign — West Ham arrived at the Vitality Stadium on November 22 with new-found confidence. The integration of Callum Wilson, the 34-year-old former England striker who joined on a free transfer last summer after his Newcastle contract expired, into the starting XI helped solve a shortage of attacking efficiency.

Wilson was initially behind Niclas Fullkrug in the pecking order, but had dislodged the German to make his fifth league start against Bournemouth, one of his former clubs. The forward scored twice in the opening 35 minutes and was on course for his first hat-trick since November 2017 (for Bournemouth against Huddersfield Town).

But Nuno substituted him in the 52nd minute, with West Ham then capitulating to let a two-goal lead slip. The decision to take Wilson off cost his side the game. The 2-2 draw began a barren run of form, with West Ham also failing to win any of their next nine league matches.

Roshane Thomas

Leeds’ miserable November

The night is darkest just before the dawn. What remains the low point of Daniel Farke’s Leeds tenure came just six days before the moment it all turned around (more on that later).

Aston Villa won 2-1 at Elland Road in what was the fifth defeat in six outings for Leeds. As Farke walked around the pitch after full time, pockets of the crowd were heard telling him he did not know what he was doing. During the second half, exasperated supporters were chanting for earlier substitutions.

Faith in Farke was waning. The performance against Villa was better than what had come before, but not good enough to keep the wolf from the door. Consecutive away losses to Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest, 3-0 and 3-1, were the first real signs of concerns this Leeds team may not be able to compete.

Crucially, the players were clearly still trying and playing for their manager. There was no sense that tools had been downed on the field. The ownership took heart from that and, eventually, things improved.

Beren Cross

Angeball doesn’t take at Forest

The former Tottenham manager arrived at the City Ground seemingly with his head and, potentially, his heart still camped somewhere in North London.

Marinakis had forged a bond with the Greek-born Australian at a football awards ceremony in Athens and believed his brand of attacking football — which had helped Tottenham win the Europa League in 2025 — could take Forest to the next level.

But in interviews, Postecoglou often seemed to have more enthusiasm for reflecting on his time at Tottenham than he did for building a bond with Forest fans — who had held both Nuno and his predecessor, Steve Cooper, in hugely high regard.

Postecoglou was never the right fit. A radical change in tactical approach, with a squad that had been built to play in a different way, was never a viable formula, especially without a transfer window or pre-season for him to work on the squad.

Without the eight winless games of Postecoglou’s tenure — which saw them take only one point from five top-flight games — Forest may not have been in the relegation fight for as long. Or even at all.

His replacement, Sean Dyche, was ultimately sacked for being a little too, well, Sean Dyche-y. But the former Burnley and Everton boss at least got Forest moving in the right direction, even if it was far from pretty.

Paul Taylor

A deterioration of relationships at Spurs

Spurs have the third-worst home record in the Premier League this season, above only Wolves and Burnley. They have only taken 15 points and suffered some humiliating losses, which caused a fracture in the relationship with their fans.

September’s limp defeat to Bournemouth was a warning sign but everything truly unravelled under then head coach Thomas Frank in November. Spurs lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea and recorded an xG of just 0.05, to the audible frustration of the fans in the stadium. At the end of the game, vice-captain Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence ignored Frank when he asked them to applaud the fans. A week later, Richarlison put Spurs 2-1 up in second-half stoppage to put them within touching distance of a mood-changing win over Manchester United, only for them to concede a gut-punch of an equaliser with virtually the last touch of the game.

An awful month was completed when they were losing 2-0 to Fulham after only five minutes. Guglielmo Vicario’s mistake for Harry Wilson’s goal prompted the fans to ironically cheer him for the rest of the game when he touched the ball, something both Frank and Pedro Porro spoke out against after the game. The relationship between the squad and the supporters had completely deteriorated just months after that famous Europa League win in Bilbao. And other flashpoints, including in an away game at Bournemouth in January, made the mood even worse.

Jay Harris

A season-changing formation switch

United went into that match on the back of five losses in six games, which included some particularly insipid losses at Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest. They had to face City, Chelsea and Liverpool across seven decisive days.

Farke would have lost his job with a heavy defeat in any one of those three games, but that switch at City transformed their on-pitch performance. Their marauding full-backs were unleashed, they were able to get all three key centre-backs on the pitch and their strikers were no longer isolated.

They never looked back. There was one wobble through February and March, when goals became a problem, but the defence bailed out the attack across several key draws. Holding out for a 0-0 at Crystal Palace, despite playing more than half the game with 10 men, was another key moment of inspiration for this side.

Beren Cross

Nuno gets some much-needed help

Paco Jemez’s appointment on January 15 as first-team coach came at a crucial point of the season. West Ham were porous defensively, their league position was precarious and boss Nuno felt he needed to bring in help.

The club’s first win after Jemez’s appointment came as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away, courtesy of Wilson’s stoppage-time winner. West Ham only suffered two defeats in their next nine games in all competitions, winning four and drawing three, including beating Brentford via penalty shootout in the last 16 of the FA Cup.

“I guess you could say he’s a lucky charm,” academy graduate Ollie Scarles told The Athletic after the 3-1 victory against Sunderland on January 24. “Paco’s been brilliant for us. He’s a defensive coach and has strengthened our back four. He’s really good to be around and brings a good vibe to the team. All the coaches are vocal, but it’s good for the group to have one to motivate us all.”

Roshane Thomas

Forest sour the mood at Tottenham

With their club drifting perilously close to the bottom three, Tottenham supporters tried to take matters into their own hands on March 22. Thousands of them welcomed the team bus when it arrived before their crucial game against Nottingham Forest. Flares were lit and some fans hung from lampposts while others perched on bus stop roofs. Blue and white flags were handed out to members of the crowd and the atmosphere made the game feel like a cup final.

Spurs started positively but they collapsed after Igor Jesus scored from a corner just before half-time, with Forest running out 3-0 winners and plunging Spurs deeper into crisis.

All of the pre-match positivity drained out of the stadium and many Spurs fans booed at full time.

Forest leapfrogged their opponents in the table and never looked back. Spurs head coach Igor Tudor’s position was untenable and it turned out to be his final game in charge after a miserable 44-day reign.

Jay Harris

The De Zerbi effect

Spurs tried to hire Roberto De Zerbi in the immediate aftermath of Frank’s dismissal in February. However, the Italian had only just left Marseille and the timing did not work out. Spurs persisted and eventually convinced De Zerbi to join them in March, handing him a five-year contract and lucrative salary.

The conventional wisdom at the time was that Spurs needed a caretaker manager in the mould of Michael Carrick at Manchester United; somebody who knew the DNA of the club and could motivate the players. De Zerbi did not fit that description but he has lifted the mood of the dressing room with his focus on possession-oriented football and positive messaging.

Spurs lost De Zerbi’s first game at Sunderland thanks to Nordi Mukiele’s deflected winner and drew against his former side Brighton after Georginio Rutter’s stoppage-time equaliser. The improvement was clear to see, though, and back-to-back victories over Wolves and Aston Villa lifted the gloom hanging over a club that had last won a Premier League game over 100 days earlier. De Zerbi deserves a huge amount of credit for coaxing such an improved performance out of this side, especially as captain Cristian Romero, Xavi Simons, Mohammed Kudus and Dominic Solanke have all been missing through injury.

Jay Harris

Wood’s comeback leads to a formation change

There were a handful of clearly defined turning points in Forest’s season — all of which were related.

And there was one specific moment that underlined all of them, during the half-time interval in the game against Burnley on Sunday April 19.

Trailing 1-0 to one of their relegation rivals, Forest looked lost. But Vitor Pereira introduced Igor Jesus off the bench and tinkered with his attacking quartet, to have the Brazilian playing just behind Chris Wood — recently returned from a lengthy knee injury — with Gibbs-White pushed out to the left and Omari Hutchinson on the right.

Gibbs-White finished the game with a hat-trick and Jesus added another, as Forest romped to a 4-1 win. It was a performance and result that saw buoyant Forest follow up with a memorable 5-0 success at Sunderland.

Pereira’s biggest successes, following his appointment in February, has been instilling confidence and unity in his squad — and getting the best out of them, tactically.

Those two victories — along with a subsequent 3-1 win at Chelsea — were effectively what led Forest clear of trouble.

But Pereira’s calm tactical reshuffle against Burnley perfectly demonstrated the qualities that have helped Forest secure safety.

Paul Taylor

West Ham crumble in May

Before the 3-0 loss to Brentford, West Ham were on a three-game unbeaten run and buoyant about their chances of securing top-flight safety.

In the weeks leading up to that fixture, they sealed home wins against Wolves and Everton — though on reflection, a goalless draw at Crystal Palace felt like a missed opportunity. Wilson’s stoppage-time winner to beat Everton at London Stadium boosted morale but their survival hopes then took a dent against Brentford the following Saturday.

Konstantinos Mavropanos scored an own goal, El Hadji Malick Diouf conceded a penalty, Pablo Felipe squandered a good goalscoring opportunity and they hit the woodwork three times in a defeat that kick-started a three-game winless run, with further losses against Arsenal and Newcastle.

West Ham never recovered from that defeat in west London. Nuno and the players referred to every game thereafter as a cup final, but failed to rise to the occasion time and again.

Roshane Thomas

The scrappy moment that saved Spurs and condemned West Ham

It won’t go down as one of his best goals in a Tottenham shirt because there have been some outrageous ones, but Palhinha’s scuffed finish in the 41st minute will surely be remembered as the most important.

Tottenham were threatening from set pieces throughout the first half, with Kevin Danso twice going close with headed efforts before Mathys Tel swung a cross over the Everton defence, which Palhinha initially headed powerfully onto the post.

Palhinha was then the first to react to the rebound, nudging a goalbound shot past Jordan Pickford, which Everton striker Thierno Barry came close to clearing off the line before referee Michael Oliver checked his watch, gave the goal, and the crowd and team celebrated wildly.

Palhinha, whose loan from Bayern Munich ended after this game, has been an unlikely talismanic figure under De Zerbi. His hard tackling and intensity set the tone in midfield, and he has an impressive knack for turning up with big goals in important games.

His winner against Wolves to help Tottenham record their first league win of 2026 was similarly unimpressive but equally momentous. Had it not come, and Tottenham went into the half-time break level at 0-0, the second half, with West Ham taking the lead in east London, would have undoubtedly been a much more nervy affair.

It was the goal that secured Tottenham’s Premier League status and meant that whatever West Ham did against Leeds United was in vain.

Elias Burke

Roberto De Zerbi believes that saving Tottenham Hotspur from relegation is “the biggest achievement” of his managerial career.

De Zerbi’s Spurs completed their rescue job on Sunday by beating Everton 1-0, their third win in the last five games. They finished in 17th place, two points ahead of relegated West Ham United, vindicating Spurs’ decision to hand De Zerbi a five-year deal at the end of March.

“It is the biggest achievement in my time,” De Zerbi said in his post-match press conference. “Brighton in the Europa League was great. The second place in Marseille with a lot of problems was a big achievement. But I think today was maybe one of the best days in football.”

De Zerbi will now start the process of planning next season and he said that there will have to be changes to get Spurs back to the level they want to be at.

“We are Tottenham, and we can’t suffer like this until the last second of the last game to stay up,” he said. “I will be stronger. I don’t want to decide alone, because football is a group. Sporting Director, scouting, CEO. But my target now is finished to stay up. My target is to start the pre-season with the team I have in my dream my head.” De Zerbi said that Spurs have “10, 11, 12 good enough players” but that he wants to complement that group with “first-level players” coming in.

But De Zerbi said that people must be aware of what went wrong this year and make sure this is not repeated again. Spurs finished 17th for the second season in a row.

“It’s difficult to promise because the Premier League is very tough,” he said. “For sure, we have to learn from our mistakes we have done this season. But no, ‘Now we are happy because we stay up and we forget the past.’ No, no. Stupid people forget the past. Smart people, the people with value, can’t forget and keep in their mind the past, and we have to improve from our mistakes, and we have to look forward to start to rebuild a team from this night. From tomorrow. Not from 10 days. We have no time to go on holiday.”

De Zerbi praised the efforts of multiple players after the match, including goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky. The 23-year-old started Tottenham’s last seven games after Guglielmo Vicario underwent hernia surgery. The run of starts came after Kinsky made two mistakes leading to goals and was substituted after just 17 minutes in a 5-2 defeat against Atletico Madrid in March.

“I want to say a secret. Before my first game in Sunderland, I thought to make Kinsky captain for one game, to show one thing that’s very important in football and life,” De Zerbi said. “If we’re a team, we’re like a family. If one of us is going through a difficult period we have to stay with him, showing love and everything he needs, but he didn’t need. Because he’s a strong character. Strong personality. A great goalkeeper.”

Tottenham have beaten Everton 1-0 to retain their Premier League status and relegate West Ham to the Championship.

Joao Palhinha’s goal two minutes before half-time was enough for victory Spurs, rendering West Ham’s 3-0 home win against Leeds irrelevant.

Liverpool drew 1-1 with Brentford to seal Champions League football next season; Sunderland’s 2-1 win over Chelsea earned them a Europa League place in a fine top-flight return, alongside Bournemouth.

Brighton will play in the Europa Conference League and there were emotional goodbyes for a number of players and managers, including Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Liverpool forward Mo Salah.

Catch up on everything that happened — with live reaction — below.

Share your thoughts: live@theathletic.com

After five years at the club, Marco Silva is reaching the end of his contract at Fulham and has been linked with Portuguese side Benfica.

The head coach was not biting on his future after his side’s deserved 2-0 win against Newcastle, but did say there would be a resolution on his position within the next week:

💬 “At this moment, being honest with you, I have not decided. If I had made my decision, I would say. If I haven’t announced anything and the club hasn’t announced anything, it’s only because we haven’t decided.

“I don’t like to play games. It’s going to be next week for sure. The next few days we are going to sit down again.”

On Fulham’s performance, Silva added:

💬 “It was important for us to end this way and give the fans something back, for them to have this feeling. We deserved to win.

“This place has been a fortress for us and it has been another very positive season for Fulham.”

And Mikel Arteta admitted there were times when he felt like he wasn’t the right man to finally end Arsenal’s recent wait to lift the Premier League title.

💬 “There are doubts and understanding that maybe you’re not the right person to do the final job. But thank god we did it. I feel a lot of joy and a little bit of relief as well.

“I can’t control certain things, it’s out of your hands and at that time you need the best people around you ... to say ‘we are going to do it, and we are going to do it with you’.

“You raise your level based on who you are against, the best team in the history of this competition, the best manager in my opinion in the world. To do it in those circumstances ...

“We have an opportunity to write new history in our club and I’m convinced we’re going to do it.”

Mikel Arteta spoke on Sky Sports after Arsenal’s Premier League trophy lift at Selhurst Park, and he was beaming with delight.

💬 “It was beautiful. Look at the joy of all the people. They have been waiting so long, they deserve it. It’s all worth it when you see that kind of reaction.

“Now it’s time to enjoy, to take the manager hat off and enjoy it with them. We showed an incredible connection, an incredible commitment, and incredible courage. Everything that was around us was fuel to go and do it.

“We have an incredible ownership who has been through tough times. They have incredible values, they know the sport better than anyone here. They committed themselves to a project which has now been delivered.”

Tottenham win 1-0, stay up and now the whole squad and staff and Roberto De Zerbi are on the pitch in front of the South Stand.

This is one of the happiest, loudest and most unified I have ever heard this place. Funny old game!

The thing that’s really breaking my brain is that if you strip away literally all the context, they’ve basically ended up where they were this time last year against Brighton.

Everyone happy, singing, clapping the team, the stadium still full long after full time, vibes off the chart.

Lots to say but to start with the obvious: De Zerbi took over a squad with shattered confidence, ripped apart by injuries and after Sunderland they took 11 points from their last six.

That is a triumph of management in the circumstances.

Andoni Iraola has conducted his final Bournemouth press conference with a massive grin on his face.

He admits he was keeping an eye on the Manchester City and Liverpool games in the hope Bournemouth would end up in the Champions League, but there is enormous pride at a Europa League place: a first continental campaign in Bournemouth’s history.

Iraola is especially keen to praise his side’s 18-game unbeaten run and the fact that over the second half of this season, they have stayed unbeaten against all 19 Premier League opponents.

Bournemouth played Chelsea for the second time before they played Arsenal for the first time, a quirk of the fixture schedule that stops that being a 19-game unbeaten run as they lost against the Champions on January 3.

Iraola beamed:

💬 “I feel so, so happy. So happy, because I cannot ask for much more.”

Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi spoke to Sky Sports after the match and hailed his players.

💬 “We have a lot of big players and big guys. You can see in the game today, they played a fantastic game with the ball.

“They played maybe their best game in my time here, you can imagine how big the personality of my players is.

“An incredible game. They deserve everything football gave them today. Football is nice because if you give your best, football gives you back everything.

“At the end of the game, I suffered a lot. My life is so nice because there is the pressure of football.”

A tense afternoon in north and east London ended with Tottenham Hotspur staying up with a win against Everton while West Ham United were relegated to the Championship for the first time since 2012.

The teams went into the final day with Spurs two points clear with a far superior goal difference, so realistically, only a Spurs loss and West Ham win over Leeds would change the positions. But West Ham’s 3-0 win was not enough to avoid a first relegation to the second tier since 2011.

In the Spurs game in north London, early chances were missed before Joao Palhinha put them ahead to the delight of the home crowd, while West Ham in the east were whistled off at half-time, drawing 0-0.

There was then a five-minute delay to the second half at Spurs while the referee’s assistant had some equipment fixed, which meant the West Ham game finished well before Tottenham’s. News had filtered through to Spurs fans that Taty Castellanos had put West Ham ahead and the London Stadium crowd were given hope. A second and third West Ham goal meant victory was assured, so it was on Spurs to avoid victory.

But they managed to hold out and avoid defeat to secure their Premier League status.

Jay Harris and Elias Burke at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Roshane Thomas at the London Stadium talk us through a tense afternoon.

What does relegation mean for West Ham? Who is to blame?

There will be huge implications on Nuno’s future. The head coach, who signed a three-year contract when he replaced Graham Potter in late September, was tight-lipped about whether he would lead the club in the Championship during Friday’s press conference.

He would not be the only potential high-profile departure. Club captain Jarrod Bowen, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Mateus Fernandes, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos could all leave as the club desperately needs to sell players in order to raise funds for the summer transfer window.

During the 3-0 victory against Leeds, the home fans protested towards majority shareholder David Sullivan. Throughout the season, supporters have expressed their disdain towards the board’s handling of the club.

A common concern among the fanbase is what the future holds following relegation. West Ham sealed promotion at the first time of asking after relegation in the 2010-11. But after demotion in 2003, it took them two years to return to the Premier League. It could once more be an agonising return to the top flight.

Roshane Thomas

Where do Spurs go from here? What lessons need to be learned?

Tottenham will be playing Premier League football next season, something many Spurs fans did not think would be the case before Roberto De Zerbi took over on March 31.

Relegation would have changed Tottenham’s trajectory in the short term, and it’s impossible to predict how it might have affected their fortunes in the long term. Though they would have had a financial might that the second tier has never seen before, immediate promotion is never promised, and they would surely have lost several important first-team players in the transfer window.

Thankfully, however, they can now plan for a more exciting future. Tottenham are the ninth-richest club in the world, according to Deloitte, and remains an incredibly attractive destination for many top players around Europe. And Tottenham’s hierarchy, that’s technical director Johan Lange, CEO Vinai Venkatesham and Lewis family representatives Vivienne Lewis and Nick Beucher (who were all in attendance on Sunday afternoon) need to demonstrate their financial might this summer, as Tottenham must make several additions to the first-team squad to ensure a season like this does not happen again.

But if there’s one person who Tottenham fans are delighted to have steering their fortunes on the pitch, it’s De Zerbi. In entirely shifting the club’s mentality and tactical direction, the Italian’s impact has been colossal.

Elias Burke

What was the atmosphere like in both stadiums?

The day started with Tottenham fans welcoming their players’ team bus to the ground and inside the stadium, the mood remained positive and supportive even when chances went begging. And when Palhinha’s goal was confirmed, the place erupted.

Palhinha has been criticised at times this season and it is unclear if Spurs will convert his loan into a permanent deal. However, he has scored some crucial goals this season, including the winner in last month’s 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Portugal international’s goal just before half-time relieved a lot of tension inside the ground.

In the second half, though, when Castellanos scored for West Ham, the television cameras picked up Spurs fans anxiously scrolling their phones. There were a few groans when Spurs made a couple of passes backwards as the crowd started to get nervous about a potential Everton comeback.

Over at West Ham, there was a mixture of emotions on the faces of supporters when news filtered through that Tottenham had scored, courtesy of Palhinha. Some pictured on the TV monitors in the press box shook their heads in frustration, while a young supporter was close to tears.

West Ham’s first-half performance against Leeds lacked fight and urgency. At half-time, the London Stadium faithful booed the players off, which has been a regular theme this season. There were also protests against owner Sullivan. Castellanos’s goal did bring some hope, as did Bowen’s, but it proved too little to save West Ham as Callum Wilson grabbed a third.

Jay Harris and Roshane Thomas

What did they say?

Jarrod Bowen, when asked about relegation, told BBC Match of the Day: “Just hurt. I’ve been here six and a half years now. Had a lot of good moments and this outweighs all of it. Getting this club relegated… it hurts. We shouldn’t be in the position we’re in but we’ve found ourselves in it and we’ve not done enough to stay up. Hurt is the only thing.”

“We’ve had so many games when we could have got different results. You can look at it and say ‘these, these, these, these’ but, ultimately, we didn’t pick the points up and in this league, the quality is so high and we didn’t give ourselves enough of a chance. You can individualise every single game. You can’t look back at every game but in some games we didn’t show the levels consistently enough.”

On his future, he said: “It’s disrespectful to everyone to start talking about that. I want this club to be in the Premier League. It’s a club that means so much to me and has given me so much so my vision is to get this club back in the Premier League.”

Speaking to Sky Sports, Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi said: “We worked well. I am lucky because I have a lot of big players and big guys. You can see the game today and you can understand that with big pressure, they played a fantastic game with the ball. Not just to fight but with the ball.

“They played maybe my best game in my time. If they play the best game in my time, you can imagine how big the personalities of my players are.”

The Athletic has live coverage of Tottenham vs. Everton in the Premier League final day.

After months of tense toing and froing, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are now just hours away from learning which of them will survive in the Premier League, and which will spend next season in the Championship.

Spurs hold a two-point advantage over their London rivals and neighbours going into Sunday’s final round of league fixtures, and their superior goal difference means that, realistically, West Ham need to win at home to Leeds United and have them lose to visitors Everton if they are to stay up.

The Athletic’s Spurs correspondent Jay Harris and West Ham counterpart Roshane Thomas set the scene…

How have these two clubs ended up in such a miserable situation?

Jay Harris: Spurs started the season positively under new coach Thomas Frank and a 3-0 win at Everton on October 26 left them in the dizzying heights of third. However, Frank’s reign unravelled in November with damaging league defeats to Chelsea, Arsenal and Fulham, which exposed a toxic disconnect between the squad and the players.

They limped on for a couple more months until Frank was sacked in February and replaced with Igor Tudor, who lasted for only five league games. The nadir of his spell was the loss at home to Crystal Palace on March 5, when Micky van de Ven’s red card triggered an astonishing seven-minute period where Spurs conceded three goals just before half-time.

A four-month winless run in the league was snapped under Tudor’s successor Roberto De Zerbi against Wolverhampton Wanderers on April 25. De Zerbi has made a few improvements but conceding costly late equalisers to Leeds and Brighton & Hove Albion has landed them in this messy situation on the final day.

Roshane Thomas: It has been a miserable decline for West Ham since the 3-0 opening-weekend defeat away to promoted Sunderland. The east London side lost four of their next five games in all competitions, which led to Nuno Espirito Santo succeeding Graham Potter as head coach.

But there was no new manager bounce under the Portuguese, with West Ham failing to keep a clean sheet in his first 19 league games in charge, during which they achieved a paltry four wins. His tendency to play players out of position didn’t help matters.

Although there was an uptick in form in the early months of 2026, three straight losses, with only one goal scored, have plunged West Ham back into the drop zone.

How are the fans feeling about it all?

Harris: Tottenham’s fanbase have been furious for the majority of the season. The standout moment arrived in November’s 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea, when they loudly booed after their team recorded a measly xG of 0.05. At full time that day, Van de Ven and fellow defender Djed Spence ignored Frank when he asked them to applaud the supporters.

A few weeks later, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was ironically cheered every time he touched the ball after a calamitous earlier error led to Harry Wilson scoring for Fulham.

There was a mindset change before March’s fixture against Nottingham Forest. Fans raucously welcomed the team bus before kick-off, let off flares, waved flags and tried to generate a powerful atmosphere. The mood was punctured as Tudor’s side suffered a 3-0 loss.

The supporters have been a little bit more upbeat since De Zerbi arrived at the end of March but a dismal home record — they haven’t won on their own pitch in the Premier League since December 6 — means there is still no shortage of nerves.

Thomas: Ahead of this game with Leeds, many West Ham supporters feel frustrated, annoyed, hurt, demoralised and disengaged.

There have been so many low moments, from the 5-1 loss at home to Chelsea in August, where a young supporter attempted to invade the pitch in protest, to the back-to-back defeats to fellow relegation candidates Wolverhampton Wanderers and Forest in January, and the spurned opportunity to leapfrog Tottenham when they could only manage a goalless draw away to Crystal Palace in April…

Following last weekend’s 3-1 loss at Newcastle United, West Ham supporters chanted that the players were “not fit to wear the shirt”. Although that felt like a low, given the number of poor performances they’ve had to endure, it was not the first time this season they have voiced their displeasure.

There have been regular protests against West Ham’s ownership throughout the season. Vice-chair Karren Brady left the club last month, and chairman David Sullivan remains an unpopular figure.

What would relegation mean for the club?

Harris: De Zerbi has insisted on multiple occasions that he will be in charge of Spurs next season, regardless of what division they are in, but it is not hard to think that could change. Chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange would come under fierce scrutiny. There may also need to be a rethink over plans to hire a new co-sporting director — Sebastien Kehl is among the leading contenders, having left the same job at top German side Borussia Dortmund in March.

Spurs are officially the ninth-richest football club in the world, so relegation would be a huge failure and a significant blow to their financial power. Several members of the first-team squad, including captain Cristian Romero, Rodrigo Bentancur and Spence, have signed long-term contracts in the past 12 months, but rivals in higher divisions would be keen to cherry-pick their best talents.

Tottenham might be forced to completely overhaul their squad and sell several of their stars — not that many have lived up to such billing this season. The Athletic has previously reported that the majority of the players have relegation clauses in their contracts that would prompt automatic pay-cuts in the Championship, softening some of the financial hit for the club.

Thomas: There will be huge implications for Nuno’s long-term future. The Athletic previously reported he is undecided if he will remain in charge if the club go down. Nuno, who signed a three-year contract when he replaced Potter, does at least have Championship experience if that happens and he chooses to stay, winning promotion to the Premier League with Wolves in 2017-18.

Key players Jarrod Bowen, Mateus Fernandes, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos could all potentially leave with the need to raise funds for the summer transfer window. As reported previously, the club would expect to sell four to five players.

But the greater concern is whether West Ham could seal promotion at the first time of asking. It happened previously, when they beat Blackpool in the 2012 play-off final. But after relegation in 2003, it took them two years to return to the top flight.

Some fans fear an even worse outcome than that — potential back-to-back relegations, which recently happened to Luton Town.

Other sides, such as Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City have struggled to return to the Premier League after relegation. West Ham will hope not to endure the same difficulty if Sunday doesn’t go their way.

Any reason to be positive ahead of Sunday’s matches…?

Harris: Spurs looked like they had suffered a knockout blow with that 3-0 loss to Forest before the international break. Then there was a brief moment during that fixture against Wolves a month ago when they were four points behind West Ham and rapidly circling the drain. Back-to-back wins there and against Aston Villa propelled them out of the bottom three and, despite losing to Chelsea in midweek, they retain the power to decide their own fate. Avoid defeat on Sunday and they can start ‘celebrating’ a second successive 17th-placed finish.

James Maddison’s recent cameos off the bench following a long injury absence have provided the team with a creative spark that has been desperately missing this season. Richarlison keeps finding a way to score scrappy goals and was a hero for Everton when they dramatically avoided relegation in the 2022-23 season. Hopefully, England striker Dominic Solanke will be fit enough after a hamstring problem to feature at some point this afternoon.

Spurs tend to start games brightly under De Zerbi and then fade. If they come out of the blocks quickly today, they might be able to make it a relatively stress-free afternoon…

Thomas: The short answer is no. The long answer is also no.

The only real flicker of encouragement is that West Ham are in with a shout of survival on the final day at all. But expectations and hope have ebbed since the 3-0 loss at Brentford on May 2. On three successive matchdays, with further losses to Arsenal and Newcastle, West Ham squandered the opportunity to apply more pressure to Tottenham.

There is no momentum heading into today’s game. To compound matters, West Ham have not beaten Leeds this season, after a 2-1 away league defeat in October and a loss on penalties last month in a home FA Cup quarter-final where they trailed 2-0 before a dramatic late rally forced extra time.

Nuno and the players have often referred to the season’s last few games as being like cup finals, but they have not risen to the occasion.

…and what’s the biggest reason to worry it will all go wrong?

Harris: Spurs’ injury list features the names of most of their best attacking players. Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons and Dejan Kulusevski will be watching helplessly from the sidelines, while Solanke is only just battling his way back having not played for a month.

Tuesday’s defeat at Chelsea exposed the lack of quality options De Zerbi has on the bench to switch things up. Relying on Randal Kolo Muani to produce a moment of magic feels like an endeavour which is destined to fail — he has only scored once in 29 Premier League appearances since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain on loan last summer.

All of the pressure is on Spurs. They have struggled to cope with expectations for the past two seasons. The fans will do their best to support their team, but it could be an anxious and fraught atmosphere.

Thomas: West Ham could be toast if they make another slow start, as happened in recent weeks against Brentford and Newcastle. Nuno’s side conceded three times in the opening 19 minutes across those two defeats. The players have not coped well with the pressure, but there can be no excuses against a Leeds side with nothing to play for, given Nuno’s plea for the team to show respect and dignity.

Relegation is the worst-case scenario but given the built-up frustration, some in the crowd may take matters into their own hands when it comes to showing disdain for the board.

A March 2018 home loss to Burnley was marred by ugly scenes, with many gathering in front of the directors’ box. There is a chance things could turn similarly mutinous on Sunday.

Who is most likely to get them out of jail?

Harris: The romantic answer is Maddison, who has returned from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury suffered in pre-season to try to drag Spurs over the line to safety. He should have earned a penalty in the recent draw against Leeds and Jorrel Hato’s remarkable block prevented him equalising in the defeat to Chelsea. The England midfielder is only fit enough to play around 25 minutes against Everton, according to De Zerbi, but the hope is he will not be needed as an emergency option in the second half.

Mathys Tel would be a fitting saviour, too. The France Under-21 international has endured a mixed season. He was left out of the Champions League squad by Frank and went from hero to villain with his wild overhead kick at home to Leeds, which led to the visitors being awarded a penalty after he had opened the scoring. Tel’s attitude has been fantastic throughout the season and he has never given up. The forward’s development has been one of the only positives for Spurs in the current campaign and scoring the goal to secure their top-flight status would be a fitting finale.

Thomas: It has been a tough week for Bowen after not being named in England’s World Cup squad. Despite him having registered eight goals and 10 assists in the league this season, England coach Thomas Tuchel felt Noni Madueke, of Arsenal, was a better backup for his club colleague Bukayo Saka on the right wing.

Tuchel later admitted West Ham’s relegation battle has not helped Bowen’s chances. The 29-year-old has faced criticism for his role as the captain, almost clashed with a supporter after the Carabao Cup loss at Wolves in August and has had to bear the brunt for most of West Ham’s struggles.

Bowen has not scored a league goal since the 3-2 defeat to Chelsea in January. Today is the perfect occasion to prove Tuchel wrong, redeem himself in front of the London Stadium faithful and play a leading role in ensuring West Ham’s Premier League survival.

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.