stamping survival after “massive shift” in relegation battle

Ahead of Monday night’s Premier League battle between relegation-threatened Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United, hear what the Sports Mole team have to say about the upcoming contest.

Ben Knapton, Site Coordinator: ‘Really difficult to see Spurs going down’

Feels like there's been a massive shift in this relegation battle now… I do think now Spurs will stay up because that Aston Villa win, following up the Wolves win, if they had not won, that would've been disastrous, against obviously the 20th-placed side.

But against an Aston Villa team, who admittedly made a lot of changes, they weren't in the best form before the game, losing to Fulham and Forest without scoring.

Villa looked like they didn't want to be there really and Spurs, to be fair to them, they had to take advantage and they did.

A brilliant finish from [Conor] Gallagher. It would've been so Spurs if they had blown it at the end when [Emiliano] Buendia flicked in that header, but I think there was never any danger of Spurs losing that.

You saw the celebrations at the end. It is a huge result for Spurs because their fate is now in their own hands, and you've seen a shift in the way that they've been playing under [Roberto] De Zerbi straight away.

When he was appointed, I was worried that it was a big gamble because it was such a shift from Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor. Would the Spurs players have enough time to get his methods into their heads before the end of the season?

But to be fair, they have. They're pressing high. They're winning possession in the final third 5.3 times per game under De Zerbi, which is the most for any team under any manager in the Premier League this season.

He's implemented that style straight away. The players have taken to him, they've taken to his methods, and it is now really difficult to see Spurs going down.

Matt Law, Football Editor: ‘Spurs will fancy their chances against Leeds’

I always thought [Spurs] needed a player to step forward in that run. Who is it going to be? You're looking through, and for me in the last two games, that's been Conor Gallagher.

He's a really good player Conor Gallagher. He went away to Atletico, came back to Tottenham for big money and big wages and he did not start great. I think he was struggling

But against Wolves, I thought he was really good, really disciplined performance, and he got on the scoresheet last time out in the win at Villa.

I fancied Tottenham to maybe nick a point against Villa. Didn't really expect them to go and win, but Villa were poor again.

I always felt just a weird feeling of Tottenham staying up. I just couldn't imagine Tottenham in the Championship next season.

Football throws up surprises all the time, we know that, but I just couldn't see it. I'm not saying that's definitely going to be the case, because if West Ham go and beat Arsenal in their game, it's game on in terms of the relegation battle.

In fairness to Tottenham, they've taken a lot of stick, but to put back-to-back wins on the board at this stage of the season and going to this game… it was a few weeks ago when a lot of Chelsea fans were saying, 'We could relegate Tottenham when we play them.'

But they're going to be going into that game in better form than Chelsea are even if Chelsea win this weekend and Tottenham lose, just because of the recent results.

Tottenham will fancy their chances I think of getting a good result here, especially as Leeds are probably safe. A really big game for Tottenham and they've got to go and win it.

Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter: "A lot of credit needs to go to Farke"

Three wins and three draws [for Leeds] in the last six games. They've been in really good form. They beat Burnley 3-1 at Elland Road last week. That was their 10th league win of the season.

I think a lot of credit needs to go to head coach Daniel Farke. A lot of people before the season questioned whether he could keep Leeds up, having previously struggled as a Premier League manager with Norwich.

But he's found a way to make his team a competitive outfit in the Premier League, and I think ever since he changed his formation midway through that game against Man City at the end of November, changing to a back five with wing backs, they've just looked a completely different team now.

They've only lost four of the last 22 Premier League games. Just four. That run of form is what's likely to keep them up now.

If they win against Spurs, they will be safe with two games to go, so credit deserves to go to Farke and some of the key players.

The likes of [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin who, after struggling a bit at Everton last season, is their top scorer with 12 Premier League goals, so he's done well for them.

Noah Okafor has enjoyed a great run of form in recent months, six goals and three assists in his last 10 games in all competitions.

They looked solid in midfield with [Ethan] Ampadu, [Ao] Tanaka and [Anton] Stach. All of those are likely to play on Monday. They’ve looked decent at the back as well, so they can head to North London with confidence despite Spurs' recent revival.

I think Leeds will still back themselves to maybe get something from this game. It won't be easy of course, but I think Leeds can go there with a lot of confidence now, and they've got that motivation to rubber-stamp safety with a win on Monday.