Daily Mail

The battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League looks like going down to the wire, with Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and West Ham fearing for their future in the top flight.

With Wolves and Burnley looking cut adrift, it is looking like a dogfight between four teams to avoid finishing 18th.

On Sunday, Nottingham Forest rose to the occasion by beating Tottenham 3-0 in their relegation six-pointer, breathing life into their survival bid. The result plunged Spurs into further turmoil, with the prospect of unexpected relegation growing ever more likely for one of the Premier League's ever presents.

Tottenham are only a point above West Ham, who currently lie the wrong side of the dotted line despite improving in recent months. Leeds are four points above the drop, but are by no means out of the woods.

There promises to be plenty of dramatic twists and turns in the final seven matchweeks of the season in the relegation fight.

Daily Mail Sport has attempted to predict how the battle could play out.

Leeds - 33 points

Would Leeds fans have accepted this position at the start of the campaign?

Daniel Farke's side are currently four points above the drop, with two teams between themselves and the bottom three.

There are growing concerns though, having picked up four points from their last six matches - the second lowest tally in the division.

Those four points have all come from draws, with Leeds scoring just three goals across those matches but only conceding five.

On paper Leeds look to have a favourable fixture list, with Farke's side playing all of the current bottom four in their last seven matches.

If Leeds go down from here, they will only have themselves to blame.

Biggest banker - Burnley - Leeds home form would be good enough to put them 13th in the table. Three points against the Clarets will feel like a must, particularly as they will want to keep daylight between themselves and the bottom three a week before travelling to Tottenham.

Write off - Man United - Leeds are 12 league games without an away win and are yet to win at Old Trafford in the Premier League era.

Banana skin - Tottenham - At time of writing Spurs have won two league matches at home and Leeds have won just one away. So this match could be a coin flip. Leeds will hope to already have put distance between themselves and the drop, but defeat in North London could see them dragged back in.

Nottingham Forest - 32 points

Forest's monumental 3-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday will have fans buoyant about their chances of beating the drop going into the international break.

The result came at the end of a positive week, with Forest also progressing to the Europa League quarter-finals.

Forest's fixtures immediately after the international break could prove key to their survival, ahead of a tough looking conclusion.

Forest's home matches on paper could deliver points, but they have scored a league low 13 goals in front of their own fans so far this season.

Biggest banker - Burnley - Vitor Pereira's side will have a home match against the struggling Clarets circled for three points.

Write off - Man United - Forest will be hoping the Red Devils have already secured Champions League qualification by the penultimate game of the season. However, you can bet Man United and Michael Carrick will want a final flourish in front of their home fans.

Banana skin - Burnley - Anything but three points against Burnley would set nerves jangling, particularly with difficult looking away matches against Chelsea and Man United coming up in May.

Tottenham - 30 points

The mood is bleak at Tottenham heading into a three-week break following that dismal defeat in their six-pointer with Forest.

Spurs remain without a league win in 2026, picking up just five points so far this year. Will Igor Tudor even be in charge by the time Spurs face Sunderland on April 12?

It is hard to make a case for Spurs at this stage, with fans potentially hoping another change in the dugout and more players returning from injury could rescue the club.

On paper, there look to be some opportunities for Spurs to pick up points still, but the club is in its worst form in 91 years having gone 13 league games without a win.

With Tottenham's home form remaining dreadful, picking up unexpected points on the road may be vital. Spurs fans may hope Aston Villa progress in the Europa League, as their match at Villa Park would be sandwiched between a two-legged semi-final.

Victories over Wolves and Leeds feel essential.

Biggest banker - Leeds - Tottenham may have the worst home record in the league, but Leeds have only beaten Wolves away so far this season. Victory over Leeds is a must if Spurs are to stay up - but they have already lost to relegation rivals West Ham and Forest at home.

Write off - Chelsea - Spurs have won just one at Stamford Bridge since 1990 and it would be staggering if this team was the one to earn a second. With the match being their penultimate game of the campaign, Spurs fans will already be fearing the possibility that Chelsea could send them down.

Banana skin - Wolves - Tottenham fans will have identified Wolves and Leeds as their best bets for wins for the remainder of the campaign. But Wolves have improved considerably as the season has gone on and Tottenham have lost their last three at Molineux.

West Ham - 29 points

The Hammers looked destined for the drop back in January, but their upturn in form under Nuno Espirito Santo has given real hope of survival.

The problem is that despite the improvement, West Ham remain in the bottom three heading to the final weeks of the season.

There will be an immediate chance to jump out of the bottom three with West Ham playing Wolves on a Friday night on April 10.

West Ham will also look to the next match against Crystal Palace as an opportunity, with their London rivals having won just three home matches in the league this season.

The Hammers' goal difference is the worst out of the four sides and that could ultimately prove crucial.

Biggest banker - Wolves - Victory over Wolves would lift West Ham out of the bottom three and plunge Tottenham into the relegation zone before their match at Sunderland. It could prove a massive psychological blow.

Write off - Arsenal - West Ham will probably hope Arsenal have the title wrapped up by this point and have their eyes on other prizes. But on paper, this should be three points for the Gunners.

Banana skin - Leeds - West Ham fans will be dreading it coming down to the final day of the season and it remains possible this could be a shoot-out to avoid the drop.

Tottenham will avoid dropping into the Championship this season despite their significant Premier League relegation fears, according to Opta's supercomputer.

Spurs suffered a dismal 3-0 home defeat by Nottingham Forest on Sunday to increase concerns about the club facing the drop for the first time since 1977, with Igor Tudor's side now in 17th place and just one point clear of West Ham in 18th.

Tottenham's last league win came against Crystal Palace on December 28, 13 games ago, and they have taken only one point from Tudor's five top-flight matches in charge.

However, according to Opta, Spurs - who have lost six of their past seven games - will avoid relegation by one point, with West Ham the team the data backs to take the final relegation spot alongside Burnley and Wolves.

The model gives Tottenham a 27.10 per cent chance of relegation, compared to 57.48 per cent for West Ham.

Nottingham Forest's position has been significantly boosted by Sunday's triumph in North London, with Vitor Pereira's side only given an 8.74 per cent likelihood of returning to the Championship for the first time since 2022.

Elsewhere, Leeds face a 6.80 per cent chance of going down to the second tier, with Crystal Palace the only other team in the running, according to Opta - although a disastrous capitulation for Oliver Glasner's men is only measured at 0.05 per cent.

Wolves have a 99.94 per cent chance, meaning their relegation is all but certain as per the data, with Burnley's verdict similarly damning at 99.89 per cent.

In their final seven games, Spurs face trips to Sunderland, Wolves, Aston Villa and Chelsea, with their three home matches coming against Brighton, Leeds and Everton.

The Opta model has also given a predicted points total, with Wolves expected to finish bottom of the Premier League on 25 points, one point behind Burnley on 26.

West Ham are predicted to amass 37 points, with Tottenham on 38, Forest on 41, Leeds on 42 and Palace on 48.

Speaking after Sunday's humbling defeat, Bruno Saltor, Tottenham's assistant coach who was filling in for Tudor, tried to remain upbeat despite the challenging situation.

'Every mistake right now is going against us, every detail is going against us and it affects the players as well,' he said.

'You can see how much they are fighting. We are in a difficult situation, everyone knows. In the first half we were the better team and we need to be consistent with that.

'We were 1-0 down and wanted to be a little more aggressive with players coming back from injuries. It didn't work as planned but it was our intention.

'It hurts us, it is painful, really painful, but the fans were outstanding today – from before the game until the end of the game.'

Saltor continued: 'We need to carry on because we care, we care for Spurs, we are family and want to get out of this situation.

'I am 100 per cent sure we can get through this situation.'

Spurs do have a three-week break before their next fixture and Tudor, if he remains in the role, will hope to welcome back the likes of Mohamed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur from injury over the international break.

Meanwhile, the supercomputer also predicted that Arsenal will win the title, while it backed Man City, Man United, Aston Villa and Liverpool to make up the top five.

Re-live Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score, team news and updates as Newcastle welcomed Sunderland to St James' Park in the Premier League and Tottenham hosted Nottingham Forest in huge relegation six-pointer.

Tottenham boss Igor Tudor did not fulfil his post-match media duties on Sunday due to a family bereavement.

Spurs suffered a humiliating 3-0 home defeat by Nottingham Forest to increase their relegation fears - and the Croatian has now picked up just one point in five Premier League games.

The loss also put further scrutiny on Tudor's future, but he was unable to talk about his side's latest setback.

Football.London reported that Tudor had been informed of an immediate family bereavement following the game, meaning that his assistant Bruno Saltor spoke to the media instead.

Saltor explained: 'Personal matters, family matters and I am stepping in as it is not the right time for him [Tudor] to speak.'

Saltor went on to be questioned on a variety of topics, including Tottenham's battle against relegation.

'Every mistake right now is going against us, every detail is going against us and it affects the players as well,' he said.

'You can see how much they are fighting. We are in a difficult situation, everyone knows. In the first half we were the better team and we need to be consistent with that.

'We were 1-0 down and wanted to be a little more aggressive with players coming back from injuries. It didn't work as planned but it was our intention.

'It hurts us, it is painful, really painful, but the fans were outstanding today – from before the game until the end of the game.'

Saltor continued: 'We need to carry on because we care, we care for Spurs, we are family and want to get out of this situation.

'I am 100 per cent sure we can get through this situation.'

Tottenham had begun the game brightly but they were unable to recover after Igor Jesus' opener on the stroke of half-time.

Morgan Gibbs-White, a summer transfer target for Spurs, made it 2-0 to Forest midway through the second half before substitute Taiwo Awoniyi added the gloss to the victory late on.

The defeat left Tottenham just one point clear of West Ham, who occupy 18th place, although their battle for survival was boosted by the Hammers losing 2-0 to Aston Villa on Sunday.

In their final seven games, Spurs face trips to Sunderland, Wolves, Aston Villa and Chelsea, with their three home matches coming against Brighton, Leeds and Everton.

Meanwhile, since Tudor replaced Thomas Frank last month, Tottenham have scored just four Premier League goals and conceded 13 across five matches.

They were also beaten 7-5 on aggregate by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last-16.

Spurs do have a three-week break before their next fixture and Tudor, if he remains in the role, will hope to welcome back the likes of Mohamed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur from injury over the international break.

There was a moment towards the end here, after Tottenham had supplied yet more evidence of their inadequacies for this league and that stadium, when the corner filled by Nottingham Forest fans burst into song.

It was catchy and got to the heart of a point that had been lost on no one: ‘Morgan Gibbs-White, he stayed because you’re s***e.’

If anyone from Spurs had the appetite to mount a counterargument, then this was not the day for it. Not the season, either.

They are dismal. They are gutless. They are a club that has operated with sheer cowardice at an institutional level across multiple transfer windows and, right now, as this campaign enters its championship rounds, they are close to entering the Championship itself.

For a while that has seemed unthinkable. Possible but improbable. Too big. But they aren’t and this was the sort of match that proved it. The sort that could not be lost and the sort they have lost over and again, a tortured echo of the home game against Crystal Palace three weeks ago.

When the pressure is on, they crumble; when they need to step up, they fall. A second leg against Atletico Madrid when the tie is over? They can turn it on. But not when it counts against a side with some fight in them.

Tottenham 0-3 Nottingham Forest: MATCH FACTS

Tottenham (4-4-2): Vicario 6; Spence 6 (Bergvall 46, 5.5), Danso 6, Romero 6.5, Van de Ven 6 (Udogie 46, 5); Porro 5, Gray 7 (Gallagher 84), Sarr 6, Tel 6.5 (Kolo Muani 67); Richarlison 5.5 (Simons 67), Solanke 5.5.

Subs not used: Kinsky, Dragusin, Souza, Palhinha, Gallagher.

Booked: Udogie

Manager: Igor Tudor 5

Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels 7; Aina 6, Milenkovic 8, Murillo 7, Williams 7.5; Sangare 7 Anderson 7.5; Hutchinson 6.5 (Ndoye 80), Gibbs-White 7, Jesus 7 (Awoniyi 70, 7); Hudson-Odoi 6.5 (Yates 70, 6.5).

Subs not used: Ortega, Morato, Dominguez, Netz, Bakwa, McAtee.

Booked: Sangare

Manager: Vitor Pereira 6.5

Referee: Michael Oliver 7

Will it cost Igor Tudor his job? That remains to be seen.

In any case, he departed the stadium soon after this match because of a family situation. That provided some perspective. It’s only a ball game.

But it is also a ball game that doesn’t seem to suit Tottenham at present. Nor does this kind of battle, admitted with some honesty by Tudor’s assistant, Bruno Saltor, who gave a damning assessment of how a strong first half gave way to an abject capitulation: ‘We were unable to deal with the weight of the game.’

That is more of an indictment than he may have meant but the truth of it was unmistakable. For that, more credit goes to Forest and Vitor Pereira, who are facing identical pressures but emerged with three goals and a clean sheet. Not bad from a side that has not scored so many in a single league game since December. That was against Tottenham, too, by the way.

The details of this repeat could be told in Spurs’ shortcomings, because we can say the same thing about each of the goals scored by Igor Jesus, Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi - no marking. No busted guts. No chase. No clue. Forest were their opposite in every way.

Pareira’s take was telling on that front: ‘I asked them before the game how deeply they wanted to be in the Premier League next season. How much can you sacrifice of yourselves to achieve it?

‘If we want a lot, we need to do a lot. This is the spirit I want when they come back from international duty.’

Fair play, they delivered on his brief, while Tottenham merely reaped what has been sewn long-term by those members of the Lewis family involved the running of the club.

The fact it was Gibbs-White who killed this game was poignant – Spurs had effectively signed him in the summer but wouldn’t throw in the extra few quid to make it certain and so that Forest chant really resonated.

Spurs fans? They mostly stayed to the end and can take no blame for the mood here. It was immense, from the moment a pre-match protest was abandoned in favour of blue and white smoke bombs and a message of unified support. They created a superb atmosphere and that fed into a frantic game.

For a time, Tottenham had the better of the chaos. Archie Gray, excellent in midweek, was strong again here - he created the first opening by pinging a 50-yard dart from right to left, pitching Mathys Tel against Ola Aina. Tel skinned the full back and had his shot blocked.

Across the half, Richarlison would go on to head wide, Jesus glanced against his own bar, and Tel had further success in his duel with Aina. But they weren’t making it count. Over and again, we have made that observation, and just as often we have seen Spurs pay for their deficiencies.

So it came to pass here. Forest had offered only moderate threats, and nothing to stress Guglielmo Vicario and his hernia pain, but with 45 played that changed on both fronts. First, Igor forced Vicario into nudging over the bar and from the subsequent Williams’ delivery, Tudor was failed by poor marking, with Jesus allowed a free header. The bloke didn’t even need to jump for it.

Naturally, we might ask why none of the grappling was penalised, but it wasn’t isolated to any one side. They fouled each other and the easiest call from Michael Oliver was evidently to punish none of it. Clearly, it’s an area of the game that officials need to address.

As for Tottenham, their fix is infinitely more complicated. Tel hit the bar as they chased a quick retaliation, before Tudor took matters into his own hands at the break, hooking both Micky Van de Ven and Djed Spence in the hope that new full-backs might be the answer. It succeeded only highlighting that the decision to use Van de Ven at left-back was daft in the first place. Add it to the list.

The defensive weaknesses continued into the second half, signalled when Williams was gifted a free header, saved well by Vicario, before the killer strike of Forest’s second goal. Callum Hudson-Odoi made it with an easy skip around Pedro Porro and Tel permitted the space for Gibbs-White by paying no attention to his run. The strike was decent but Vicario should have saved it.

Forest are fighting to the end. Forest have given themselves a solid chance. Tottenham can say neither of those things.

Igor Tudor has put Tottenham’s small signs of progress down to sharper minds, fitter bodies and a little less on-field sleepiness.

Spurs followed a draw at Liverpool with victory against Atletico Madrid, which was not enough to avoid elimination from the Champions League but did lift the mood.

'Mental sharpness,' said interim boss Tudor. 'That was the key. We are sleeping less on the pitch. For me this is crucial. Now, we react earlier on what happened on the pitch.

'We are not always wondering what happened and then reacting. We are reacting before things happen. Not in the way I would like but much better.

'This mental sharpness, awareness of dangerous situations, this is coming and that’s why we are better.'

Tudor also has reason to believe his players are fitter than when he arrived. 'I saw good energy,' he said. 'I saw good numbers. They told me the last games are in the top four or five of all season for high intensity runs, so I think we are progressing.'

Tudor has benefited from a slightly less congested schedule since replacing Thomas Frank in mid-February.

Nottingham Forest on Sunday will be his seventh game in four weeks whereas Frank played nine in his final four weeks during a period when injuries were biting hard.

Tudor has players returning. Lucas Bergvall, who had been out for two months, and Destiny Udogie, who had been out for five weeks, both came off the bench against Atletico Madrid in midweek.

There were also positive updates on Mohamed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur, who have been out since January but could be back soon after the upcoming international break, and James Maddison who Tudor expects to return from a serious knee injury before the end of the season.

Spurs are 16th in the Premier League with eight to play and Forest are only one point behind, outside the relegation zone only because they have a better goal difference than West Ham, who are at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Tudor was reluctant however to pile too much emphasis on Sunday’s clash with Forest, claiming there was no such thing as a ‘six-pointer’ and he did not see it as a ‘cup final’.

'There are a lot of points to play for,' said the Croatian. 'Of course, it’s an important game because we are together there so let’s say not six, but four.

'It’s not a final. Maybe not three points but a four-point game. It is important but it will not be decisive.'

Antonin Kinsky could be thrust back into the Tottenham spotlight sooner than anticipated with Guglielmo Vicario set for surgery.

Vicario’s omission from the Italy squad on Friday was followed by confirmation from Spurs that he had been playing despite an injury and would have a hernia operation next week.

The Italian keeper will be available for Sunday’s relegation showdown against Nottingham Forest, however, and Spurs hope he will be back within a month.

The next fixture after Forest will be at Sunderland on April 12 with Kinsky on standby.

The 23-year-old Czech suffered the humiliation of being substituted 17 minutes into his Champions League debut last week after making two costly mistakes in a 5-2 defeat at Atletico Madrid.

Vicario, who had been rested in Madrid, came off the bench to replace Kinsky in the first leg and played through the entire 90 minutes of the second leg, on Wednesday when Spurs won 3-2 but went out.

If Vicario is not ready for the trip to Sunderland, it will leave interim boss Igor Tudor to face the decision of whether to recall Kinsky or select his third choice goalkeeper Brandon Austin, who has not appeared all season.

Spurs issued a statement to say: 'We can confirm that Guglielmo Vicario will undergo surgery next week on a hernia.

'The minor procedure for the Italy international goalkeeper has been timed to have as minimal impact on our season as possible.

'Guglielmo will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately, and it is hoped that he could return to action within the next month.'

Inter Milan are closing in on a £17million summer move for Vicario.

Tottenham have watched Germany Under 21 international goalkeeper Noah Atubolu as they assess potential targets for the summer.

A new goalkeeper will be paramount to Tottenham's plans with current No 1 Guglielmo Vicario looking at a return to Italy with Inter Milan in pole position.

Of course, who they can attract will depend on which division Tottenham are in. Sunday's crunch clash with Nottingham Forest will go some way to determining that. And Atubolu, the 6ft 4ins Freiburg stopper, has sights on a move to England.

The 23-year-old has been compared in style to Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer and while he has a long way to go to replicate his role model, Tottenham's defence certainly needs a similarly commanding force behind them.

Vicario has failed to convince this season while deputy Antonin Kinsky suffered the ignominy of being substituted after 17 minutes in the Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid.

That has left the Czech Republic U21 international contemplating a move away on loan.

Atubolu has recently signed up to the Epic agency with agents Marcello Brillmann and Ali Barat, who has exerted such great influence at Chelsea of late as well as bringing Xavi Simons to Spurs last summer.

The keeper has notched up 33 clean sheets in 111 appearances and earned a reputation as an expert penalty saver. He has also attracted attention from West Ham and both Milan clubs in recent months. He is under contract until 2027 but has no plans to extend.

Spurs would be well placed to proceed if they preserve their Premier League status.

Atubolu is not the only keeper on their radar though.

Crystal Palace's Dean Henderson and Manchester City's James Trafford are other names under consideration though both would cost significantly more than Atubolu.

Henderson, with his leadership and experience, has proved a consistent Premier League performer while Trafford is expected to mature into England's next regular number one.

He would first need to establish himself as a first-team regular but City would still look to command around £35million should they agree to sell.

More will become clearer if Spurs can build on their two performances from this week and use the momentum to stay up.

Inter Milan are closing in on a summer swoop for Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

The Italians have been searching for an alternative to Swiss No 1 Yann Sommer and sporting director Piero Ausilio was in London for meetings this week.

Ausilio is understood to have met with Vicario’s agent Valerio Giufridda ahead of the Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday and they are confident a deal can be done for a fee in the region of £17million.

Italy international Vicario started the game and made some wonderful saves in a 3-2 win, but the result was not enough to stop Spurs crashing out of the competition.

They lost the first leg 5-2 in Madrid when interim boss Igor Tudor opted to start with back-up goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky rather than Vicario.

Kinsky made two glaring errors in the opening 15 minutes and was brutally substituted by Tudor.

Vicario joined Spurs for £17.2m from Empoli in the summer of 2023. He made an impressive start to his Premier League career until opponents started to target his perceived weakness under the high ball.

The 29-year-old Italian has also been susceptible to mistakes with the ball at his feet.

He missed three months of last season with a broken ankle sustained in a 4-0 win at Manchester City, during which he played on through the pain until the end of the game.

It has been a rollercoaster three years for Vicario since he arrived to replace Hugo Lloris as Tottenham’s first choice goalkeeper.

He has two more years on his contract but there seems to be a mutual understanding that it will be best for both parties to go separate ways in the summer.

Vicario will be back in the Champions League if he joins Inter, who are currently six points clear at the top of Serie A.

He will also be in a good place to pursue his international ambitions and add to his five Italy caps.

Spurs see a new goalkeeper as central to the summer overhaul as they attempt to bid farewell to this awful season, in which they are threatened by relegation with just eight games to play

Kinsky, 23, is also keen to leave on loan in the summer and find regular football to rebuild his career after his calamitous night at Atletico Madrid.

Archie Gray has emerged as a hero of these troubled times for Tottenham and his performance against Atletico Madrid was further evidence he has what it takes to perform at the very top.

Atletico’s Marcos Llorente took the trouble to jog across to shake Gray by the hand as the Spurs midfielder made his way around the perimeter of the pitch having been replaced in the 81st minute. The home crowd rose in waves to applaud him as he walked back to the bench and interim boss Igor Tudor, seldom one to lavish individual praise, hailed the 20-year-old afterwards.

'He’s playing continually in the right way, in a good way,' said Tudor. 'It’s a mix of quality - physically and mentally - to always make the right choices and be humble and have legs to do it.'

Gray continues to progress in adversity, despite the chaos of this Spurs season, despite finding himself pushed from one position to another during the times when injuries have hit hard. Everyone can see he is most at home in the centre of an orthodox midfield, in the role Tudor asked him to play against Atletico alongside Pape Matar Sarr.

He reads the game, covers the miles, wins his personal battles, can compete in the air and in tackles. He is growing in strength. There were traces of a young Declan Rice about him on Wednesday as he broke with the ball and powered from box to box.

As with Rice at West Ham, it is his temperament that elevates him in a mediocre team. The Spurs squad is immature featuring an over-reliance on the young players and with older ones lacking leadership qualities. Gray keeps going, tries to do the right thing even when he is finding it difficult.

Ahead of Sunday’s relegation showdown against Nottingham Forest, it is worth revisiting what happened at the City Ground in December when Gray, taking a pass from his goalkeeper, was hustled into a mistake leading to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s opener and Spurs went on to lose 3-0.

He was already scheduled for an interview with Daily Mail Sport, but he did not try to duck out of the appointment or dodge questions. Instead, he came in, sat down and owned it. Unequivocally, he absolved keeper Guglielmo Vicario of any blame, said he had spent time scouring over the replays to work out what he should do better and promised to learn.

Only a small example, but impressive for a young man, then still 19.

The defeat at Forest was the start of a terrible run of one win in 15 games for Spurs. The only win came at Crystal Palace when Gray scored the only goal, his first for the club. His second came against Newcastle in what would be Thomas Frank’s final game.

When Tudor came in as interim boss he, like Frank, deployed Gray as a full back and a wing-back before realising, like Frank, that for all his versatility he is in fact the best central midfielder Spurs have available. His partnership in there with Sarr at Liverpool and against Atletico has shown early promise. They have energy, stamina and tick at the same sort of tempo.

They also seem appreciate their limits. Xavi Simons thrived against Atletico because both Gray and Sarr realised the good sense of getting the ball to the feet of their main creative force.

Less than three years after his Leeds debut, Gray has already made 130 senior appearances. More than a hundred of them as a starter and 48 in the Premier League.

'He shows a lot of resilience, that young man,' said Frank after his goal against Palace. 'It wasn’t an easy first season for him in Spurs, and this season also, it hasn’t been straightforward. For him, to keep going shows he’s made of the right character material we need both now and in the future.'

Others are noticing. There are fellow professionals like Llorente. Gray is sure to feature in the conversations for the PFA’s Young Player of the Year.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are also among his admirers. Clubs managed in the past by Thomas Tuchel and the England manager must be considering Gray as he fine-tunes his World Cup squad.

Former Spurs coach and Frank’s assistant Justin Cochrane is still involved in Tuchel’s backroom team and those in the Under-21 set-up will vouch for him, too.

Rice, Elliot Anderson, Jordan Henderson, Adam Wharton and Alex Scott are the competition. All rank ahead in the pecking order with time running out although Gray can make a case through his versatility.

And by his determination to rise consistently to every fresh challenge thrown his way.