Tottenham facing relegation threat following disappointing defeat to Forest
LONDON — The vacant gaze has become the only certainty at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and it is directed towards the peril of relegation.
Last season’s UEFA Europa League champions, one of the most prominent and affluent clubs in the Premier League, who faced Atlético Madrid in a UEFA Champions League round-of-16 match earlier this week, are now engaged in a struggle for survival following a 3-0 home loss to relegation contenders Nottingham Forest.
Spurs could not afford to suffer a defeat. However, for the fourth consecutive Premier League home match, they did just that, and the margin was significant.
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Forest’s win propelled them two points ahead of Igor Tudor’s squad — which may soon belong to someone else — leaving Spurs in 17th place, just one point above West Ham United, currently occupying the third and final relegation position.
While their slim lead over West Ham keeps Spurs out of the relegation zone as they approach the international break, the sustainability of this position is questionable, given that Spurs have not secured a league victory in 2026.
Since their 1-0 triumph at Crystal Palace on December 28, Spurs have not earned all three points from any match. Their last home victory in their impressive £1 billion stadium occurred three weeks earlier against Brentford, marking their first win at home since defeating Burnley 3-0 on the season’s opening day.
Indeed, Spurs have managed only two home victories throughout the season. They have garnered a mere 10 points at home, the poorest home record in the Premier League, leaving little room for optimism.
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The fans may be the only source of positivity for the club as they confront seven matches that will determine their fate between survival and the grim prospect of relegation.
Although the supporters canceled a planned pre-match protest against the club’s owners, the ENIC Group, in favor of a fervent, flare-filled welcome for the team bus, those who remained at the conclusion of the match vocally booed the players off the pitch.
They had displayed a banner reading “All Together – Always” just before kickoff. By the final whistle, the sentiment felt more like “Us against Them” as they jeered at the players and Tudor.
Who could fault them? The fans had done their part, but the players faltered under the pressure to secure a win.
The team was not aided by the ineffective Tudor, whose reputation as a so-called “firefighter” may well have been diminished by his dismal record of seven games in charge. The Croatian coach has overseen one win in Europe, a draw at Liverpool, and five losses.
During that lone victory, a 3-2 second-leg win against Atlético when the tie was already beyond reach, midfielder Xavi Simons excelled, scoring twice in a player-of-the-match display. Yet for a match that Spurs desperately needed to win, Tudor benched the former RB Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, only bringing him on in the 67th minute when Forest was already 2-0 ahead and firmly in control.
However, Tudor is merely one of several issues at Spurs. If he remains in charge after the international break, when Tottenham travels to Sunderland, it would be surprising. In fact, it may be unwise for the club’s board to retain him any longer due to the minimal effect he has had since taking over from Thomas Frank just over a month ago.
Yet Forest demonstrates that changing managers does not always result in an immediate improvement in performance. Vitor Pereira is the fourth manager appointed by Forest this season, following Nuno Espírito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, and Sean Dyche, and this was his first victory in five league matches since taking the helm in mid-February.
Nevertheless, Forest approached the match with greater composure than Spurs, who quickly ran out of ideas before Igor Jesus headed the visitors into the lead just before halftime. This was the worst possible outcome for a team lacking confidence. Spurs needed to score first to uplift their spirits and harness the enthusiasm of the supporters, but Jesus’s goal effectively dampened the atmosphere.
From that moment onward, Forest took control, sensing the tension among the Spurs players and fans, and they secured the game midway through the second half when Morgan Gibbs-White converted Neco Williams’s cross past goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs are not a team capable of overcoming challenges; they tend to shrink in adversity. This is concerning for them as the first match after the international break sees West Ham hosting bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers. Thus, when Spurs kick off at Sunderland, they could find themselves in the bottom three.
By the time Forest scored again, through Taiwo Awoniyi in the 87th minute, the stadium was nearly empty except for those Spurs fans who chose to remain until the bitter end to express their feelings.
Bitter is an apt description of the atmosphere. However, the situation could worsen for Spurs from this point onward.
