Tottenham Hotspur have been tipped to suffer relegation in Opta's final Premier League table with West Ham retaining their top-flight status. The north London outfit sit 18th in the standings and are two points adrift of the Hammers with five fixtures remaining in the campaign.
Fellow relegation battlers Nottingham Forest secured a vital triumph on Friday when thrashing Sunderland 5-0 at the Stadium of Light to move eight points clear of danger. The commanding performance by Vitor Pereira's men has afforded them crucial breathing space in what appears to be a two-horse race, with Spurs and West Ham seemingly set to scrap it out in the closing stages.
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Opta's projected table had Arsenal as the Premier League champions and Spurs finishing 18th with a points tally of 36.90. West Ham finished marginally above in 17th with 38.49 points and Forest some way clear in 16th with a final total of 44.02 points. Still without a Premier League victory in 2026 with their last success coming in late December against Crystal Palace, Spurs make the trip to the already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.
With forthcoming encounters against Aston Villa, Leeds United, Chelsea and Everton, securing three points at Molineux is absolutely vital and as Roberto De Zerbi stated, is a must-win fixture for his team. The Italian manager was speaking ahead of the vital encounter and emphasised that while he does not wish to heap pressure on his squad, they understand the importance of the fixture. He said: "I don't want to put pressure but we have to know the situation.
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"We can't forget the table; we can't forget we need to win. What we have done until now is not enough. If we win at Wolves, it's not finished. There will be four games. We deserve to win games. I knew Brighton was one of the best teams in the league. After Chelsea, everyone understood. We played a good game but we were unlucky."
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Despite suffering 4-0 and 3-0 defeats to West Ham and Leeds respectively in their previous two outings, Wolves' recent formidable home record makes for uncomfortable reading for a Spurs side already plagued by a complete absence of confidence.
Discussing his team's journey to Wolves, De Zerbi emphasised: "It's not an easy game. The last three at home, they drew with Arsenal, and won against Aston Villa and Liverpool. It's a tough game because they have nothing to lose. We have to be able to play, not too much pressure.
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"My work is to prepare the game in my best way, but to play football. These players are very good players. They have important qualities, and they play without too many problems in their head."