While Leeds United weren’t in Premier League action over the weekend, instead at Wembley, Spurs and West Ham collected huge wins on Saturday afternoon.
The Whites were heading down to the capital over the weekend for an FA Cup semi-final, but as we took over Covent Garden on the Saturday, scores were coming in from the Premier League.
West Ham hosted David Moyes’ Everton, while Spurs travelled to Wolves. Both sides needed to respond to Leeds’ spirited Bournemouth draw, plus Nottingham Forest absolutely battering Sunderland 5-0.
Spurs and West Ham both win to ramp up Premier League survival scrap
A draw against the Cherries is still undoubtedly a good result for Leeds, climbing onto 40 points with four games left. However, we’ve lost ground in the survival race as all three sides below us claimed victory.
West Ham took the lead through Tomas Soucek’s header against the Toffees, before the away side thought they’d salvaged a point when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall levelled in the 88th minute. Callum Wilson came off the bench to finish deep in added time for the Irons, though, sealing a huge win.
Over at Molineux, a tense affair between already-relegated Wolves and struggling Spurs found a breakthrough late on as well. Joao Palhinha found himself unmarked and played onside by Matt Doherty, scrambling in at the far post.
That result ends Spurs’ wait for a league win in 2026, moving onto 34 points. They are still in the bottom three, with West Ham now on 36 points, Forest on 39, and Leeds of course on 40.
Brutal Spurs injury confirmed for Xavi Simons as ACL rupture emerges
It wasn’t all good news for Leeds’ relegation rivals.
Spurs’ late winner at Molineux came off the back of a largely poor showing again, plus another two potentially devastating injury setbacks.
Xavi Simons latched onto a long kick out in the second half from Antonin Kinsky. As he jostled with Hugo Bueno, a seemingly innocuous challenge left Simons stricken in clear distress. He was obviously then forced off with a knee injury, requiring a stretcher. That setback for the Dutchman has now been confirmed as a ruptured ACL.
“We can confirm that Xavi Simons has ruptured the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his right knee,” Spurs’ statement read. “Xavi will undergo surgery in the coming weeks and, following that, will then begin his rehabilitation with our medical team.”
Prior to that, striker Dominic Solanke couldn’t continue in the first half, clutching his hamstring. On Solanke, Roberto De Zerbi couldn’t commit on whether he will be ruled out.
“Solanke has suffered a muscular injury,” De Zerbi told the Standard. “It’s not a big problem, I don’t know how many games will lose him.”
Gutting blow for Spurs could allow Leeds United more comfortable survival run-in
I’m still relatively confident that Leeds will be playing Premier League football next season. We’ve got four games left, are sitting on 40 points, and have to play three teams sitting below us.
Spurs are one of those, and you do wonder if that win against Wolves will spark them into life, but they still weren’t good. It’s not like they’ve been playing well for some time and will suddenly click into gear now they’ve beaten 20th-place Wolves.
That being said, if Solanke joins Simons in being ruled out for the rest of the season, that’s crushing for them. Two crucial attacking players in their setup missing leaves De Zerbi with it all to do.