West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur find themselves at the wrong end of the table for the second season running but this time the chance of relegation is very real indeed.
Last season the Hammers and Spurs were fortunate that the three promoted teams were so poor they went straight back down without so much as a fight.
Tottenham were officially the worst team in the Premier League outside the relegated clubs as they finished 17th while West Ham ended the campaign three places above them.
This time around, West Ham and Spurs don’t have that safety net and the relegation dogfight looks like being between the two wildly underperforming London rivals, Nottingham Forest and Leeds to avoid joining Burnley and Wolves in the Championship.
West Ham can pile pressure on Premier League’s worst team Spurs
There are mixed feelings in West Ham circles this week after the 0-0 draw with Bournemouth.
While it proved to be a point gained on Tottenham and Forest, who lost to Arsenal and Liverpool respectively, there is a nagging feeling that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side should have piled more pressure on by closing the gap further.
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West Ham are still the favourites to drop with a 50 per cent probability according to analysts.
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Many pundits, journalists and observers feel Tottenham will be fine in the end and have the quality to get themselves out of danger.
But West Ham simply must capitalise as a journalist makes a damning Spurs claim.
Statisticians forecast very early into the new campaign that a higher than usual number of points will be required to stay up due to the increased competitiveness of the division.
The benchmark of 40 points to survive in the 20-team Premier League has not been needed for well over a decade.
The number has dropped significantly in the last 12 or 13 years but analysts have warned all season that something like that figure may well be needed this time around.
West Ham on the up while Spurs spiral towards disaster
West Ham’s board have opened up on their fears over the survival points total required as they battle Tottenham, Forest and Leeds to avoid demotion to the Championship.
The Irons are at a disadvantage as they are two points from safety and four off Tottenham ahead of the last 11 games.
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But Nuno and his side should take real encouragement from how Spurs are starting to be viewed in what promises to be a fraught survival scrap.
Evening Standard reporter Sam Tabuteau has declared Tottenham are the worst team in the Premier League.
And he has provided the stats to back up his claim.
“With West Ham having lost just one of their last eight games in all competitions, and Nottingham Forest looking revitalised under their new manager Vitor Pereira, Spurs do not have the safety buffer they had last season,” Tabuteau says.
“Spurs remain the only team yet to win a Premier League game in 2026. They are in relegation form and, with even Wolves picking up under Rob Edwards and Burnley showing some fight, there is an argument that they are the worst team in the division right now.”
This is the perfect example of the kind of intense pressure that Tottenham will feel more than any of their relegation rivals.
Nuno will be hoping that pressure, coupled with Spurs’ injury crisis and their unpreparedness for a relegation battle can cripple their bitter foes.
But West Ham really must start turning up when it matters in order to ratchet up the pressure on Tottenham.
Because it will be difficult for interim boss Igor Tudor to transform the north Londoners from the ‘worst team’ in the Premier League to one capable of getting themselves out of two-year downward spiral.