There was optimism entering Thomas Frank's debut season in charge that Tottenham Hotspur would re-assert themselves towards the top of the Premier League table after a 17th-place finish the season prior.
Ange Postecoglou ultimately sacrificed our domestic campaign in favour of Europa League glory, and his gamble paid off. The absence of a relegation threat meant we were able to stomach unproductive weekends during the second half of the season as Thursday night fever persisted.
And while the summer wasn't perfect, Spurs at least seemed in a position to build on that magical night in Bilbao, albeit with a different manager at the helm.
What very few foreshadowed was a Premier League campaign akin to Postecoglou's last. Frank's reign was a disaster, to the extent that playing Championship football next season is a frightening possibility.
Thus, as we creep towards the 'run-in', we're not all that interested in who the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United have upcoming, but instead West Ham United and Nottingham Forest. They're our relegation rivals, and that's who we must outperform during the final 11 games of the season to preserve our Premier League status.
How Tottenham's Premier League fixtures compare to West Ham, Nottingham Forest
Our winless start to 2026 continued despite a change in the dugout, with Igor Tudor's reign starting with a 4-1 defeat in Sunday's North London Derby. Despite the recent misery, the number-crunchers at Opta rate our chances of actually going down as very slim. It's fair to say that supporters are much more pessimistic, but that's just in our nature.
Nevertheless, there's reason to believe that everything will be okay. Players are coming back, slowly but surely, and we should benefit from a relatively kind fixture list down the stretch.
Of course, nothing is coming easily for the Lilywhites. "Bad habits" are undermining any chances of success, according to the new manager, and few are looking forward to the weekend's trip to Craven Cottage, where we were beaten three times under Postecoglou.
However, I can confirm that our remaining fixtures, based on current standings and data, are the 'easiest' compared to our fellow relegation-threatened friends. The average position of our remaining opponents is 11th. Nottingham Forest's is 9.45th and West Ham's 8.8th. That doesn't quite work grammatically, but you get my point.
Moreover, the six teams we're visiting have collected an average of 21.83 points at home this season. That total is less than Forest's (23.66) and West Ham's (23.16) six away opponents. Forest have a slightly simpler schedule at home, with the five teams travelling to the City Ground earning an average of 14.6 points on the road. Our opponents have notched 15.4 points away from home, while West Ham's have earned 16.8.
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the rest of the division over the past couple of years, but you'd have to say that Spurs deserve to go down if they can't tally enough points with their remaining fixtures to stay up. Crystal Palace, Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion, Leeds United and Everton all have to visit N17 before the season's end. That's a kind run, no matter how dire we've been this season.