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If you have followed the English Premier League closely since its formation in 1992, there are certain assumptions you rarely question. Tottenham Hotspur being dragged into a relegation fight is one of them.
It has simply never been part of the conversation.
Tottenham’s last relegation from the English top flight came in the 1976–77 season. They returned two years later and have remained ever since. Stability, if nothing else, has defined their place in the division. Year after year, when pre-season predictions are made, Tottenham are discussed in terms of Europe, of transition, sometimes even ambition, but never survival.
That may be changing now.
This is no longer a distant threat or an exaggerated narrative. Tottenham are in a serious relegation battle, and it is not creeping up quietly, it is confronting them directly. The danger is no longer theoretical. It is immediate. And, as things stand, the likelihood of it becoming reality feels uncomfortably close.
They still have a chance of surviving. But the question is no longer if they are in trouble, it is how much of a chance they actually have.
To understand that, you have to go back.
The cracks did not suddenly appear this season. They were visible long before now, even if they were never fully addressed. Last season, Tottenham finished 17th, their lowest position in years. On paper, a 13-point gap to safety suggested distance from relegation. In reality, it masked a team already drifting.
Context matters here. The same last season ended with a Europa League final win over Manchester United, another club that had spent much of the campaign looking similarly unstable. For Tottenham, that night offered relief, even celebration. But it also blurred the wider picture.
Sixteen days later, Ange Postecoglou, the man who delivered that European trophy, was sacked. The decision reflected something deeper than a single result. It was an acknowledgement that the season, taken as a whole, had fallen short.
Then came another shift. On 4 September 2025, Daniel Levy stepped down as executive chairman after nearly 25 years in charge. It marked the end of an era and the beginning of a structural reset, framed around the idea of building a new sporting direction.
With that level of change, the expectation was clear, a reset, followed by progress.
It has not worked out that way.
The appointment of Thomas Frank in the summer felt, at the time, like a calculated gamble. His work at Brentford suggested adaptability, organisation, and the ability to maximise limited resources. There was logic to it, a coach capable of building structure in a team that badly needed one.
But the experiment never fully took hold. Performances remained inconsistent, results followed the same pattern, and by February, Frank was gone. Even then, the situation had not yet reached its current level of urgency.
Which makes the present moment even more telling.
Igor Tudor, whose managerial appointments have often been to lead teams to stability or safety, and who has successfully delivered in most of them, had no win in five Premier League games as an interim from 14 February to 29 March 2026.
Roberto De Zerbi, the former Brighton coach who led the team to Europe for the first time during his tenure, was called upon and appointed on 31 March on a five year contract. His first two games have yielded just one point, with a draw against Brighton over the weekend after losing to Sunderland in his first game.
So where does survival come from? It’s difficult to say.
Is it that the players lack the zeal, the fight, or are simply not good enough? But if a team wins a European competition, how can we say they are not good enough? There are lots of questions that need answers, and time is of the essence for Spurs.
In all fairness to them as well, injuries have played a huge part in how their season is unfolding. At one point, they had over 70% of their first team players out of the squad, so that’s also a factor.
But whether all that has happened or not, there are five more games left for them to play.
After the draw against Brighton, the coach of the side, Roberto De Zerbi, said at the post match press conference: “It is not finished yet. We have another five games. Every one of us knows it’s a tough moment, a difficult situation. But we have another five games, for 15 points. And this team is able to win five games in a row.”
As a neutral, it’s tough to hear him say that. What are the realistic chances of a team that hasn’t won a Premier League game this year, their last win coming against Crystal Palace on 28 December 2025, suddenly winning the final five games? It feels unlikely.
Tottenham Hotspur are currently in 18th position, one point behind West Ham in 17th and five points behind Nottingham Forest in 16th.
Their last five games are against Wolves (A), Aston Villa (A), Leeds (H), Chelsea (A), and Everton (H).
These are tough games. Maybe Wolves away is the only one that looks remotely winnable on paper, but for a team that hasn’t won a league game this year, paper won’t carry them very far. They need something more tangible now. Something real.
Their coach believes they can still win five in a row and take all 15 points. That’s the message. The reality feels different. We’ll see which one holds.
And if, by the end of the season, Tottenham Hotspur do go down, it will not just be a shock. It will be one of those stories that feels surreal even as it unfolds, a season that slipped slowly, then all at once.
For now, survival is still there.
Let’s see if they can reach it.
