Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi has failed to instil enough fight into the players in his first two games in charge, according to Keith Wyness.
The former Everton chief executive, speaking to Football Insider, still has Spurs down as favourites to be relegated from the Premier League.
De Zerbi picked up his first point in charge of the club against Brighton last time out, but it was not enough to lift Spurs out of the relegation zone.
West Ham picked up a point at Crystal Palace to stay two points above Spurs, whilst Nottingham Forest are now five points above the drop zone following their victory against Burnley.
Spurs face a crucial clash at Wolves next, who are already relegated and sit bottom of the Premier League table, in a match De Zerbi’s side will be expected to win.
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Tottenham in ‘difficult position’ as expert predicts relegation fight
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – says he does “feel sorry” for Spurs, but that West Ham are currently showing more fight to stay in the Premier League.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness said he would bet on the Hammers staying up at Spurs’ expense right now.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “We’re seeing the momentum with West Ham, although Spurs did sort of show some fight for the very first time against Brighton.
“Looking at the fixture lists, Spurs are my favourites to go down, which is a seismic event. I’ve had so many requests for my take on that because I took over Villa when they were relegated. That’s probably the last big club of that sort of scale to go down.
“Although you could argue that Spurs are bigger than Villa were. Obviously they were at the time when Villa went down. It’s a difficult position, but West Ham have that momentum. I thought they were unlucky against Palace the other night.
“I thought they played really well and really showed some attacking flair and fight and desire and that’s what I’m still not seeing from De Zerbi’s team at the moment. There’s no doubt I feel sorry for Spurs, in the sense of all the injuries they’ve had this season that have dogged them really badly.
“But nevertheless, we are where we are, and if I had to put my betting money on I’d be putting it on West Ham to stay up and Spurs to go down.”
Leicester situation provides warning for Tottenham
If relegation from the Premier League would be bad enough for Spurs, the north London club should look at the current predicament at former champions Leicester City.
Leicester have suffered back-to-back relegations, and will play in League One next season despite being backed to fight for an instant return to the Premier League at the start of the campaign.
Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider that Spurs would also not be guaranteed Championship promotion at the first attempt.
Spurs stars would suffer a 50% wage cut, alongside a drop in revenue, in what would prove to be a financially challenging time for the club, if they were relegated.
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