Tottenham Hotspur were never supposed to be anywhere near a relegation scrap this season. Yet, as the betting markets now see it, they are heading for the 2026-27 Championship.
If Leicester City’s title win 10 years ago remains the ultimate Premier League fairytale, then Spurs are threatening to deliver a twisted mirror image. Under Claudio Ranieri, Leicester defied 5,000/1 odds to lift the trophy in that 2015-16 season. Tottenham, by contrast, are drifting towards a relegation outcome that once seemed almost as improbable.
At the start of the season, they were available at 94/1 to go down, according to Betfair Exchange odds. By mid-September, as they lost just once from their opening six games under new head coach Thomas Frank, that number ballooned to 479/1. Those odds implied barely a 0.2 per cent chance of losing their top-flight status at season’s end, and what has followed since is a collapse few could have anticipated.
Managerial instability has been central to the downturn as the tenures of Frank and his short-lived successor Igor Tudor failed to halt the slide. Their relegation price has now dropped to 8/11, flipping Spurs from extreme outsiders to odds-on for relegation in a matter of months. Now it is Roberto De Zerbi tasked with guiding them to survival at a time when they are favourites to join Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley in the Championship come August.
This weekend, Spurs travel to Wolves needing a positive result to ignite any credible fightback over the final four matches. On paper, it might look like an opportunity, with Wolves’ relegation already confirmed. Yet recent form complicates that narrative. Wolves are unbeaten in three home league games, with wins against outgoing champions Liverpool and Champions League qualification chasers Aston Villa and a draw with table-topping Arsenal. Tottenham, meanwhile, have not managed a top-flight away victory since December 28 — a narrow 1-0 defeat of Crystal Palace.
Monday night’s draw for West Ham United at Palace widened the gap between Spurs and the safety of 17th-place to two points. West Ham are now 5/4 to be relegated, while Nottingham Forest, who are 16th, sit at 9/1.
For Tottenham, what once felt unthinkable is fast becoming one of the most remarkable collapses the 34-year Premier League era has seen.