Yorkshire Evening Post

Leeds United still have to play relegation rivals Tottenham this season.

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One of Leeds United’s key relegation rivals have a new manager but the same old injury issues with just seven games of the season left.

Tottenham Hotspur confirmed the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as their new head coach on Tuesday evening, having parted ways with Igor Tudor following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest before the international break. The Croatian was in charge for just 44 days and left Spurs one point from the drop zone.

De Zerbi is believed to have signed a five-year contract with no relegation clause at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Italian has seven games to keep Tottenham afloat, one of which will see them welcome Leeds to North London in early-May - each side’s third-to-last fixture.

“I am delighted to be joining this fantastic football club, which is one of the biggest and most prestigious in the world,” De Zerbi said following confirmation of his appointment. “In all my discussions with the club’s leadership, their ambition for the future has been clear – to build a team capable of reaching great achievements, and to do that playing a style of football that excites and inspires our supporters.

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“I am here because I believe in that ambition and have signed a long-term contract to give everything to deliver it. Our short-term priority is to climb the Premier League table, which will be the complete focus until the final whistle of the last game of the season. I’m looking forward to getting out on the training pitch and working with these players to achieve that.”

Injury issues continue for Tottenham

Tottenham’s first game under De Zerbi is at Sunderland but the new head coach is already facing the possibility of a fresh injury blow. Midfielder Pape Sarr missed Senegal’s 3-1 win over Gambia on Tuesday, reportedly due to a shoulder issue.

Sarr has over a week to recover from any issue before Tottenham go to the Stadium of Light but his absence would only add to a long list of first-team absentees. Any time out of training would also be an issue, given the complexity of De Zerbi’s style and lack of time to start getting results.

Sarr has played 22 Premier League games so far this season, registering two goals and three assists. The energetic midfielder has been one of Tottenham’s most consistent performers.

De Zerbi already has several first-team players out injured. Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario, Mathys Tel, Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ben Davies and Yves Bissouma are all currently sidelined.

Leeds United’s key struggling rivals are on the hunt for another manager.

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Leeds United’s key struggling rivals Tottenham Hotspur have announced that head coach Igor Tudor has left the club with immediate effect.

Spurs turned to former Juventus boss Tudor after sacking Thomas Frank but the troubled London outfit are still yet to win a Premier League game in 2026.

Last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at home to fellow relegation rivals Nottingham Forest left fourth-bottom Spurs just one point off the dropzone and the club have now announced that Tudor has left his position by mutual consent.

A statement released by the club on Sunday afternoon read: “We can confirm that it has been mutually agreed for head coach Igor Tudor to leave the club with immediate effect.

“Tomislav Rogic and Riccardo Ragnacci have also left their respective roles of goalkeeping coach and physical coach.

“We thank Igor, Tomislav and Riccardo for their efforts during the past six weeks, in which they worked tirelessly.

“We also acknowledge the bereavement that Igor has recently suffered and send our support to him and his family at this difficult time.

“An update on a new head coach will be provided in due course.”

Boss leaves after bagging just one point

Tudor lasted just seven games in charge of Spurs, five of which ended in defeat.

His sole victory came in the Champions League second leg at home to Atletico Madrid who still progressed on aggregate.

Tudor took just one point from his five Premier League games in charge via the 1-1 draw at Liverpool.

Sean Dyche and Robert De Zerbi are the two market leaders to replace him, followed by Marco Silva, ex-Monaco boss Adi Hutter and then Mauricio Pochettino who has long been linked with a Spurs return.

Pochettino is in charge of the USA national side who were hammered 5-2 by Belgium on Saturday night.

It is being reported that Spurs will appoint a new head coach in the next few days.

Leeds United have just seven games left in their fight for Premier League survival - but who has the ‘easiest’ run-in of the teams battling to avoid the drop?

Daniel Farke’s Whites have gone four games without scoring a goal but two of those contests ended in 0-0 draws and Leeds sit four points clear of the relegation zone after 31 matches played.

United are four points clear of third-bottom West Ham but also three points ahead of fourth-bottom Tottenham Hotspur and also hold a one-point advantage over fifth-bottom Nottingham Forest.

There is then a six-point gap up to 14th-placed Crystal Palace who themselves are three points adrift of both Newcastle United and Bournemouth who already appear pretty much safe on 42 points, a comment which might also be applied to Palace on 39 points.

At the foot of the table, the bookies also think that bottom two sides Wolves and Burnley are already as good as down, second-bottom Burnley nine points behind West Ham and Wolves 12 adrift.

Nevertheless, it means there are still seven teams very much still battling for Premier League survival if Palace are included but who has the hardest and easiest run in?

Here, we have worked out the average league position of each team’s remaining opponents and ranked the respective run ins from ‘hardest’ to ‘easiest’ based on those results.

One of Leeds United's closest relegation rivals are considering a shock move for Sean Dyche, according to reports.

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Leeds United’s relegation rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, could be set to make a drastic move to appoint Sean Dyche as manager in a bid to avoid the drop.

Both sides are embroiled in the relegation battle at present, with Leeds 15th on 33 points and Spurs 17th on 30 points, just four and one clear of 18th, respectively.

However, where Leeds are still managing to scrape results even when playing poorly, the signs are much worse for Spurs, who have taken just four points from their last 13 Premier League games since their most recent win on 28th December.

Igor Tudor on the brink at Spurs

Spurs’ poor run cost Thomas Frank his job after just eight months and 38 games in charge, replaced surprisingly by Igor Tudor. However, things have only gotten worse under the Croatian, who has lost five of his seven games in charge across all competitions, and taken just one point from five Premier League outings.

As a result, Tudor’s job now appears to be in serious jeopardy as everyone associated with Spurs works under the anxiety of stumbling toward what would surely be the most shocking relegation in Premier League history, if not around Europe’s top leagues.

Now, according to the Telegraph, the Lilywhites are considering an ‘SOS call’ to Dyche in a bid to save their skins.

The report states that former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is their current first choice, with the Italian out of work since leaving Marseille in February, but he is insisting he will only take the job at the end of the season when he knows whether or not Spurs will still be a top-flight club.

Spurs don’t play again until 12th April, when they travel to Sunderland, and if they fail to win and West Ham beat Leeds later that day, they would be in the bottom three.

A decision on Tudor’s future is expected to be made by Monday, though that situation has been complicated by the death of Igor’s father, Mario, and the funeral this week.

Tottenham eyeing up Sean Dyche

With all of the above in mind, Dyche now appears to be high up on Tottenham’s list as they desperately seek to avoid the drop.

The 54-year-old has a track record in this regard, having navigated Burnley through multiple relegation battles and even into European competition in 2018, while he helped Everton maintain their top-flight status despite player sales, and PSR-related points deductions and spending restrictions between January 2023 and January 2025.

Dyche has been without a job himself since 12th February, when he was sacked by Nottingham Forest after 25 games in charge - winning 10 and losing just nine. The Tricky Trees were 17th and three points above the relegation zone at the time of his departure, and while they’ve moved up one place, the gap between them and West Ham remains exactly the same.

The biggest hurdle for Spurs in convincing Dyche to come to North London would be his potential reluctance at signing a seven-game contract, with the Lilywhites unlikely to see him as a viable candidate to take the club forward beyond the end of this season.

Leeds are slated to travel to Spurs on Saturday, 9th May, in what could be a vital clash in the Premier League relegation battle.

The picture has changed in Leeds United’s fight for Premier League survival and a new supercomputer has made a Whites alteration in its new predicted final table and points.

Daniel Farke’s Whites approached the final round of games before the March international sat three points clear of the relegation zone in being three points ahead of both West Ham and Nottingham Forest.

Leeds had the opportunity to create a six-point gap with a victory from Saturday evening’s hosting of Brentford but had to settle for a point through a goalless draw ahead of two enormous games in the battle for survival on Sunday afternoon.

Something had to give as Tottenham Hotspur hosted Nottingham Forest and Spurs suffered another defeat as Forest recorded a 3-0 victory that took them above Tottenham and just one point behind Leeds.

West Ham, though, also suffered a 2-0 reverse at Aston Villa, leaving the Irons third-bottom but just one point behind Tottenham, three behind Forest and four adrift of Leeds.

With just seven games left in the fight for Premier League survival, the supercomputer from the team at CasinoHawks has now unveiled its new predicted final table and points which features a Leeds change and relegation shocker.

Here is the full new run down in reverse order.

Leeds United head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for what looks set to be a huge Premier League game in May.

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The visit of Leeds United to North London in May is one of seven ‘finals’ Tottenham Hotspur have to save their season, according to captain Christian Romero.

Tottenham fell closer towards the bottom three following Sunday’s crushing 3-0 defeat at home to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest. A late first-half Igor Jesus header sent Romero’s side into the break behind before second-half goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and substitute Taiwo Awoniyi.

Forest leapfrogged Spurs with the points from that win as the North London side dropped down to 17th, just one point above West Ham in the final relegation place. They now have just seven games to save their Premier League status, including at home to Leeds in early May.

“This season is tough, especially in this moment, another loss at home,” Romero told Sky Sports. “The first thing for the fans is thank you for today because they stayed with us.

“The first half was good but in the second half we lose confidence, lose the ball, concede another stupid goal. This is difficult but now it is finished. it is painful and a bad but the most important thing is go to national team and then back here for seven finals.

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"It's like this, it's very tough and it's [been] a bad season. Honestly, me, the first responsibility. Football is sometimes like this. The most important thing is staying together."

After scoring late to earn a point at Liverpool and beating Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last-16 second-leg - albeit losing on aggregate - there was renewed hope at Spurs. The team coach was greeted by thousands of fans heading into the stadium on Sunday in a concerted effort to get behind the team.

Renewed Spurs hope quickly disappeared

Spurs started the better side too but failed to convert their dominance into goals. Jesus’ headed goal came from a corner and felt all too easy while Gibbs-White was left in acres of space on the penalty spot to make it 2-0. The game was gone when Awoniyi netted a third.

Tottenham head coach Igor Tudor went straight down the tunnel after full-time and did not carry out any post-match media duties after being informed of an immediate family bereavement. His assistant Bruno Saltor was left to dissect the defeat.

“I think in the small details, I thought for 44 minutes in the first half we were the better team,” he said. “And again, I think any mistake that we make, any small detail goes against us and we're not able to capitalise on the opposition's mistakes.

“Probably that affected the team. As you can see, the players, they care and they are 100% trying their best. But at the moment, it's not enough. We need to minimise any mistakes because we know that we're going to concede a goal.”

Leeds United got clarity on the importance of their point against Brentford following Sunday's Premier League action.

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Leeds United learned the importance of their point against Brentford following tough defeats for rivals Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham on Sunday.

All of the Whites’ three main rivals were in action on Sunday, with the most notable game being 17th-placed Nottingham Forest’s trip to Tottenham one place above them. West Ham in 18th travelled to Champions League-chasing Aston Villa.

Leeds were the first of four relegation candidates to kick off over the weekend and were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Brentford. Daniel Farke’s side edged an attritional game but created little of note, missing the opportunity to claim a huge three points in a game many saw as winnable.

The point did pull Leeds a little closer to safety, however, with a four-point gap opened up on 18th-placed West Ham going into Sunday’s action. The same cushion was held over Nottingham Forest in 17th while Tottenham in 16th were three shy of the Whites.

The Spurs team coach was met by thousands of fans heading into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ahead of their crunch clash with Forest. Igor Tudor’s side arguably enjoyed the better first-half chances but were hit by a sucker-punch when Igor Jesus headed home a corner just before the break.

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After a tense start to the second-half, Morgan Gibbs-White put Forest 2-0 up just beyond the hour mark. Callum Hudson-Odoi breezed past Pedro Porro before cutting back to his teammate, who was in acres of space on the penalty spot to finish underneath Guglielmo Vicario.

Forest had time to grab themselves a third as minute 90 approached, with substitute striker Taiwo Awoniyi getting the wrong side of Kevin Danso to finish Neco Williams’ teasing cross. That goal, and the full-time whistle, were both met with boos inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

West Ham travelled to a Villa side who’d lost their last three in the Premier League but like Spurs, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side found themselves a goal down at half-time. John McGinn curled home after a well-worked free-kick and in truth, the home side could have been further ahead.

Villa did get their second with 23 minutes of the game remaining, Ollie Watkins finishing a swift counter-attack after Hammers goalkeeper Mads Hermansen fumbled a relatively tame Morgan Rogers effort. West Ham were unable to cause their hosts any real problems as it ended 2-0 at Villa Park.

Saturday’s draw against Brentford, coupled with those Sunday results, now leaves Leeds four points clear of the relegation zone with seven games to go. West Ham occupy 18th place with their new closest rivals now being Tottenham, who are just one point above the drop.

Leeds remain 15th in the table, with Forest climbing to within one point of Farke’s side following their big win in North London. This is how the Premier League will look for three weeks now, with the FA Cup quarter-finals following the March international break.

Leeds United's Saturday night visitors Brentford are sweating on the fitness of a key attacker for the Elland Road clash.

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Bees head coach Keith Andrews has revealed that attacking midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard, who scored two and made one in the recent madcap win over Burnley, has returned to training after sustaining a knock on Monday. Damsgaard went off after 72 minutes of the 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers and missed some training this week.

"Dams was on the grass today, which is obviously positive,” Andrews said. “We’ll give him every chance to see how he is for tomorrow.”

Brentford will be without full-backs Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey through hamstring problems. Vitaly Janelt [metatarsal] and Josh Dasilva [knee ligament] are out and both Fábio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo are out for the rest of the season with respective ACL injuries.

Leeds, however, have everyone fit and available other than the suspended Gabriel Gudmundsson for the vital Premier League clash. They will welcome a Bees side who have been in red-hot form on the road of late, with wins over Burnley, Newcastle United and Aston Villa.

“We’ve been on a really good run," said Andrews. “We’ve looked really calm and confident in what we’ve been doing. Whatever’s been thrown at us, we’ve dealt with it pretty well. The group are in a pretty good place. There will be a quiet, calm confidence about how we approach the game tomorrow.”

Elswhere in the relegation picture, Tottenham Hotspur have suffered a fresh blow with the news that first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario needs surgery. The Italian has started each and every one of Spurs' 30 Premier League games to date. He didn't start the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Atletico Madrid, but was parachuted into the game after a nightmare start for back-up Antonín Kinský who conceded three inside 17 minutes and made two big mistakes.

A Spurs statement said: "We can confirm that Guglielmo Vicario will undergo surgery next week on a hernia. The minor procedure for the Italy international goalkeeper has been timed to have as minimal impact on our season as possible. Guglielmo will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately, and it is hoped that he could return to action within the next month."

Leeds United Under-21s returned to winning ways in York on Monday night.

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Young Leeds United goalkeeper Robbie Cook earned a clean sheet on his Under-21s debut last night in a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Cook joined Leeds from Perth Glory in February 2025 and has had to remain patient, playing mostly at Under-18 level during his first year in Yorkshire. The 19-year-old was rewarded for his efforts with a place in Scott Gardner’s starting-XI on Monday, with Darryl Ombang on the bench fresh from confirmation of his youth loan to FC United of Manchester.

Rhys Chadwick scored the decisive goal midway through the second-half at the LNER Community Stadium in York, latching onto a cross from full-back Jayden Lienou, who impressed again. Australian Cook made a sublime first-half save to deny Tottenham’s James Wilson, one of several stops to keep things level before Leeds won it.

“Really buzzing with the result, obviously the clean sheet,” Cook told LUTV. “And to be fair, I didn’t perform too bad so I was pretty happy with that! The boys really put a good shift out there. It was really good.

“I am very happy with that debut. I have been working pretty hard to get an opportunity and it has taken a long time, but it has worked out so hopefully just keep going on from that.

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“I have really pushed myself day in, day out from the start, especially in the first season where I was injured the whole time. I just kept working and then obviously it has worked out.”

Leeds had lost consecutive games in Premier League 2 heading into Monday against West Ham and Sunderland, conceding eight goals in the process. And so the keeping of a clean sheet was of paramount importance, with Cook certainly playing his part in the victory.

Leeds United head coach on important U21s win

“It is really important to win after the run that we have had recently,” head coach Gardner added. “We have had some tough games clearly, with a young group, but a lot of character there and fairly comfortable throughout the game.

“It looked like we eradicated a lot of the problems this evening, so that should give them a lot of confidence going forward for the next three or four games that we have got.

“[Cook was] Excellent, really solid performance. He has had to be patient. We talked about sometimes you have to wait for your opportunity and he has done that and he has taken it with both hands, so fair play to him.”

Cook’s week got even better shortly after that clean sheet, with the goalkeeper called up to represent Australia Under-19s during the upcoming international break. He will be part of a squad that faces China twice later this month.

The former Leeds United youngster is now playing for a direct relegation rivals in Spurs.

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Leeds United academy graduate Archie Gray’s versatility looks set to be tested with a stint at centre-back when Tottenham Hotspur face Liverpool on Sunday.

Gray has already played in three different positions under new manager Igor Tudor, who himself has only been in charge for four games - losing all of them. The Croatian manager has stuck rigidly to a back-three formation despite seemingly endless injury issues, often forcing square pegs into round holes.

With Micky van de Ven suspended for Sunday’s trip to Anfield while Christian Romero and Joao Palhinha both suffered midweek concussions, Spurs have just two natural centre-backs. And the likelihood is Gray will take on a fourth new role under Tudor alongside Radu Dragusin and Kevin Danso.

“That's the problem,” Tudor said of Gray. “He needs to, every game, change the position, tomorrow again. Four games here, four positions for Archie Gray. He's an amazing player, but that's been that.

“Something's wrong. Beautiful guy, beautiful player. I didn't know him before so much, so from inside, he has my big respect.”

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Despite the regular change of role, Gray has impressed under Tudor in a period where few others can say the same. The Leeds academy graduate, who turned 20 this week, has been a rare shining light in North London for a team two points shy of his boyhood club and in serious relegation trouble.

Spurs boss on recent struggles

Spurs have conceded 14 goals during Tudor’s four-match reign and have a propensity to implode, conceding four goals inside 22 minutes at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday. There is already serious pressure on the firefighter manager, with reports this week suggesting work is already being done on a potential replacement.

“Like everything in life, you can choose how to see the situation,” Tudor added. “So, you can stay and cry or you can fight. You can be the victim or you can say I can change something. This is the message I want to start and what I told to the players.

“The bottle is always half empty or half full. Here there is nothing full, there is a lot of empty things but difficult moments don’t last forever. In the last period, a lot of things about what is the club, the problems, no one can do nothing and this like victim-ism, like we were victims.

“I said this morning to the players totally opposition things. We are the team and we are the staff. It’s all about us. All the bulls***, all the other things are bulls*** and sorry to use this word, but it’s on us.”

Spurs go to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, by which time they could be in the bottom three. Although that would require West Ham Nottingham Forest to both win against Manchester City and Fulham, respectively. Leeds will have their own chance to pull clear of Gray’s side, with a two-point gap becoming five if they win at Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday.