Tottenham Hotspur’s winless home run continues as they fell to a 1-1 draw with Leeds United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, leaving them without a win at their ground since December 2025.
Let us take a look at the five things we learned.
Tottenham miss huge chance in relegation battle
It certainly is a disappointing result for Tottenham Hotspur to have come away with just one point from the game tonight.
Spurs simply needed a victory here to give themselves a cushion in the race for survival, as a win would have seen them open up a four-point lead over West Ham United in 18th place.
The Hammers had fallen short earlier in the gameweek, losing to Arsenal, who handed Spurs a huge favour, but Tottenham have now surely missed a big chance by failing to win.
While Spurs remain above the dotted line with a two-point buffer over West Ham and a better goal difference, there is every chance they could drop back into the relegation zone before kicking a ball against Chelsea, should West Ham beat Newcastle United.
The margin for error is now very slim for Tottenham.
Mathys Tel’s brilliance is undone by a costly mistake for Spurs
It certainly was a mixed bag of a match for Tottenham. On the one hand, Spurs looked in control of the game, especially in the first half, as they probed and applied pressure.
MORE SPURS STORIES
At the heart of most of their good play was Mathys Tel, who was very direct down the left, never afraid to take on his man and causing the Leeds backline plenty of problems.
While he did not grab a goal in the first half, his moment of brilliance arrived in the second period when he let fly from the edge of the box, curling a wonderful strike beyond Karl Darlow.
That moment of genius had several Spurs fans on cloud nine as there finally appeared to be daylight between Tottenham and the drop zone.
But Tel did not wait long to almost erase all of that good work as he gave away a needless penalty. Attempting an overhead kick in the box when unaware of your surroundings is asking for trouble, especially when you catch your opponent in the head.
Two contrasting moments for the young forward, which pretty much sum up his time in N17. The strike was his first in 18 games and only his fourth of the season.
James Maddison’s return gives Spurs a major boost
It was not all bad for Spurs, though, with the return of James Maddison one of the few positives from tonight’s encounter.
After nine months on the sidelines because of an ACL injury suffered in pre-season, Maddison finally made his long-awaited return to action.
The midfielder came on in the 85th minute and was warmly received by Tottenham supporters, who gave him a standing ovation. He featured for around 20 minutes after additional time was taken into account and looked sharp from the bench, offering some attacking impetus to Spurs’ play.
Maddison could well have won a late penalty after he was clipped by Noah Okafor, but VAR ruled otherwise and agreed with the referee’s on-field decision.
At least Tottenham now have Maddison’s creativity to call upon in the final two games of the season.
Antonin Kinsky keeps Tottenham alive with crucial saves
The other major positive simply has to be Antonín Kinsky. A lot is often said about how good he is with the ball at his feet and his passing, but tonight it was all about his hands.
Yesterday, David Raya made a big save to keep Arsenal in the title race. Today, Kinsky made not one, but two huge saves that keep Tottenham’s destiny in their own hands.
The first came in the opening half following a Joe Rodon header, with the Czech international showing brilliant reflexes to get down low and deny a clear goal, while also ensuring he did not parry the ball back into danger.
Then, in the dying moments of the game, while Spurs pushed for a winner and the match became stretched, Kinsky was forced into an even better save from point-blank range after Sean Longstaff let fly. Once again, the Tottenham goalkeeper was equal to it.
Should Spurs avoid relegation, those saves will be looked back on as massive moments. To think this is the same goalkeeper who was substituted after 15 minutes a few months ago makes his response even more impressive.
Tottenham may now need result at Chelsea
Spurs cannot dwell too much on this result, with games coming thick and fast and relegation still a very real possibility.
It is now onto the next one for Tottenham, and that is an even more difficult encounter against London rivals Chelsea.
We know the Blues will want nothing more than to send Spurs down, and that will make the game even tougher. However, the task for Tottenham is simple – avoid defeat.
Should Spurs earn a draw, and West Ham also win, Tottenham will maintain their spot in 17th heading into the final game of the season with everything still to play for.