Planet Football

Tottenham have lost more Premier League home games than Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool combined since they moved into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019.

The state-of-the-art new ground has been praised for its facilities, but it’s been a struggle for Spurs to make it a difficult place for the opposition to go.

Jose Mourinho praised Tottenham’s stadium as “the best in the world” after he took over while the club were still getting used to their new home. But it wouldn’t be long before games were being played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think so,” Mourinho responded when asked if the new stadium can become a fortress.

“But we need to do it with the fans. Without them you can create a kind of fortress, but based on the tactical side of the game.

“But, I think with fans, you can do it in a much stronger way because you add the emotional side of the game that only your fans in your stadium can give to you.”

That didn’t quite come to pass, although they weren’t shockingly poor in their first full season with the stadium packed out – the 2021-22 campaign in which Antonio Conte led them to a top-four finish ahead of their north London rivals Arsenal.

Spurs won 13 of their 19 league outings on their own patch that season and boasted a better home record than the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.

What they’d give for a record like that now, with their dismal record at home one of the key reasons for being mired in the relegation battle this season.

After beating Burnley on the opening weekend, Spurs have won just one of their last 15 outings at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They have the worst home record in the entire division, having picked up even fewer points on their own soil than Championship-bound Wolves and Burnley.

“We would like our home to be a fortress,” Thomas Frank discussed back in October.

“Can we make our home an unbelievably difficult place to come to? Then the job is half done in terms of what you like to try to achieve. And that is like an unbelievable cohesion between the team and the fans.

“It cannot only be the team, it cannot only be the fans. It needs to be both. We need to bring energy to each other. We need to work unbelievably hard, perform well, try to be positive – but also need a little bit of help.

“Every game goes a little bit up and down. You have good spells, bad spells. We need the fans, especially in the tough moments. The better they can be behind the team, the better it will be.”

Unfortunately for Frank, he never got his wish. Spurs’ home form never picked up, and the Dane was sacked, while his successor Igor Tudor has failed to turn things around. The interim has overseen defeats to Arsenal, Crystal Palace and now relegation rivals Nottingham Forest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Here’s the breakdown of the Premier League home table since Tottenham moved to their new stadium.

Note: to create this table, we’ve used our sister site Football365 and their brilliant Premier League Tables resource – a goldmine for creating and exploring custom tables.

READ NEXT: Ranking five misfits who’d still take the Tottenham job as Tudor sack grows inevitable

It may well be a last throw of the dice for Igor Tudor as Tottenham take on Liverpool on Sunday, desperate to find a way to halt the longest losing streak in their history.

Tudor has lost all four of his games in charge of Tottenham so far, picking a different lineup each time. That makes predicting his next Spurs XI (could it be his last?) a bit tricky – but we’re going to try.

A trip to Anfield awaits Spurs on Sunday as attention switches back to the Premier League after the debacle of their 5-2 loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Tottenham’s list of absentees isn’t helpful. Micky van de Ven is suspended, while the injury list includes Ben Davies, Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur, Wilson Odobert, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.

Destiny Udogie could be on the verge of a comeback, while Spurs will have to assess Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha after their clash of heads on Tuesday that forced them both off.

So what starting XI will Tudor scramble together to take on another English side who lost in midweek and have a manager under scrutiny – just not on the same full-blown crisis scale?

Here’s a quick reminder of the four different lineups Tudor has started with so far:

v Arsenal (3-5-2): Vicario; Palhinha, Dragusin, Van de Ven; Gray, Bissouma, Gallagher, Sarr, Spence; Kolo Muani, Simons

v Fulham (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Dragusin, Van de Ven, Gray; Gallagher, Palhinha, Bissouma; Kolo Muani, Solanke, Simons

v Palace (3-4-3): Vicario; Porro, Danso, Van de Ven; Gray, Palhinha, Sarr, Souza; Kolo Muani, Solanke, Tel

v Atleti (3-4-3): Kinsky; Danso, Romero, Van de Ven; Porro, Gray, Sarr, Spence; Kolo Muani, Richarlison, Tel

And here’s how we think/guess Tottenham will set up on Sunday, in a 3-5-2 shape…

GK: Guglielmo Vicario

Tudor simply has to revert to starting Vicario after the much-scrutinised decision to switch to Antonin Kinsky – and then take him off after 17 minutes – on Tuesday.

Kinsky struggled on his Champions League debut, so the fair thing to do would be to take the 23-year-old out of the spotlight.

Vicario has started all 29 of their Premier League games this season. Whilst he hasn’t entirely convinced in his own right, the Italian will make that 30 on Sunday.

RCB: Kevin Danso

Tudor will have to decide whether to use a back three or back four against Liverpool.

He has gone with a three in all but one of his matches in charge so far, so we’ll assume that’s what he’ll prefer, even though Van de Ven’s absence and the question mark over Romero could put that in doubt.

Danso came into the starting lineup against Palace and completed the full 90 minutes in that game and against Atleti.

Tottenham conceded eight goals in that time, which isn’t a great reflection for their defence, but given their available personnel at the moment, he will likely be a senior option in their backline.

CB: Cristian Romero

Romero may need to be assessed after his head injury, but he didn’t come off as badly from the collision as Palhinha.

The centre-back will likely be able to return to action, which will be important for a Spurs side missing Van de Ven.

Alternatively, if Romero can’t play, Spurs may have to drop Archie Gray into the back three or go with a four instead.

LCB: Radu Dragusin

After starting Tudor’s first two games in charge, Dragusin missed the Palace match and sat on the bench against Atleti.

As long as he’s fit enough, Spurs probably need him to step back into their starting defensive line in Van de Ven’s absence.

RWB: Pedro Porro

Porro has become the only genuine candidate for the right-back role due to Djed Spence shifting over to the left-hand side.

Archie Gray could be an alternative at right-back, but Porro is the more natural fit there and will be expecting to start a fourth game in a row.

CM: Archie Gray

Gray is the only player to have played every single minute under Tudor so far, although that hasn’t all been in the same position.

He’s played at right wing-back, left-back and in his natural position of central midfield.

As mentioned, depending on Romero’s availability, Spurs might need him in some sort of defensive role on Sunday. But if Romero does play – and Palhinha doesn’t – Gray could operate as the holding midfielder.

CM: Pape Sarr

Sarr is one of only four players – along with Gray, Vicario and Van de Ven – to amass more than 300 minutes of gametime under Tudor so far.

However, he will be in a battle with Yves Bissouma – who wasn’t included in their latest Champions League squad list but is in contention this weekend – for a starting berth on Sunday.

CM: Conor Gallagher

Gallagher started Tudor’s first two games in charge before coming off the bench in the two since.

Any question marks over Palhinha’s availability could play into his hands for a chance to return to the starting lineup, when his energy could be crucial to keep Liverpool at bay.

LWB: Djed Spence

Spence was an obvious choice to return to the starting lineup in midweek, since January signing Souza isn’t in Spurs’ Champions League squad list.

Tudor can pick freely between them for Sunday, but the more senior Spence would be the safer choice against a team like Liverpool.

He would presumably be in a direct battle against Mohamed Salah. The fact that Spence is right-footed should help his chances of dealing with whenever Salah cuts inside, but it will still be a tough one-on-one clash.

ST: Randal Kolo Muani

Tudor reunited with Kolo Muani after their time working together at Juventus last season and has chosen him as a starter in all four of his games so far.

The Frenchman scored the first goal of Tudor’s Spurs spell, but hasn’t found the net again since.

It could cost him his place in the starting lineup after being taken off in all four games so far, but if Spurs go with a strike pairing, it may make more sense to stick with him over someone like Xavi Simons.

ST: Richarlison

Richarlison’s appearance against Atleti was his first as a starter under Tudor, but the former Everton forward has a good record against his old rivals Liverpool.

From 15 appearances against them in the Premier League, Richarlison has scored five times, including three from five as a Spurs player.

The only teams he has ever scored more against are Leicester and Wolves, and while Tudor could also call upon Dominic Solanke, Richarlison is likely to be in slightly better shape.

READ NEXT: Spurs manager crash-outs ranked as Tudor joins Mourinho, Conte…

Tottenham Hotspur have been wretched at home this season, and not just by Premier League standards…

To the surprise of precisely no one, Spurs lost at home again on Thursday night. In a very typically-Tottenham manner.

It started well enough, with Igor Tudor’s side enjoying what many suggested could be their finest two minutes of the season in the first half against Crystal Palace.

They escaped falling behind because Ismaila Sarr couldn’t stop his nose from straying offside, moments before Dominic Solanke put them ahead.

Then, three minutes later, it all went terribly Tottenham.

Their captain and best player Micky Van de Ven was sent off, sparking a collapse that saw Spurs go from being in front on 38 minutes to 3-1 down and a man down by half-time.

For some Spurs fans, it was enough to prompt an early dart. And based on the absolute dross they have been served at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season, who can blame them?

If the unthinkable happens and Spurs are relegated, their home form will be one of the primary reasons, along with their abject inability to win anywhere in 2026.

Tottenham have taken a measly 10 points from 15 games on their own patch this season, losing nine of them. Only goal difference prevents it from being the worst record in the Premier League.

The wider context below this, the Premier League home table, paints an even bleaker picture…

Across the 92 clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two, only Sheffield Wednesday have gathered fewer points at home.

And the Owls were pretty much condemned to relegation from the second tier before a ball was kicked, back when Thomas Frank was full of hope and optimism for the season ahead.

Across Europe, in the big five leagues, only Hellas Verona, Pisa, Metz, Nantes, and Wolfsburg have all earned fewer points at home.

But all have played fewer home games than Spurs. And only Pisa can match Spurs’ nine defeats on their own turf.

Spurs have four home games remaining in the Premier League: a six-pointer against Nottingham Forest, Leeds, Brighton and Everton.

Forest, Brighton and Everton have all picked up more points away than Spurs have at home, while Leeds’ away record currently matches Spurs’ at home.

READ NEXT: An XI of the best players to be relegated from the Premier League: Who could join in 2025-26?

The calendar year Premier League table reflects very well on Wolves boss Rob Edwards while offering yet another damning indictment on Tottenham Hotspur…

For the first half of the season, all the talk around Wolves was not around whether they might stay up, but whether they could avoid being the worst Premier League team in history. And for a while, it did not look good for the Molineux men.

Finally, Derby’s infamy looked set to end.

Despite the ink barely having dried on a new contract, Wolves took the necessary step of sacking Vitor Pereira – he was certainly not to blame for all Wolves’ woes but he did not seem to be helping – before boiling all the p*ss on Teesside by taking Edwards from promotion-chasing Middlesbrough.

Edwards copped a lot of grief for abandoning Boro in November, especially when it seemed as though the two sides were on course to swap divisions. But Edwards secured a hefty pay-rise and, most crucially, was able to move back to the Midlands where his family still lived.

Still, it seemed a fool’s errand with Wolves winless on two points when he took over and offering little encouragement that they would find the 10 points necessary to beat Derby’s dire haul in 2007/08.

Wolves lost their first seven games under Edwards, not earning their first point under the manager until they went to Old Trafford in their final game of 2025 to face Manchester United. Mercifully for Edwards, this was Amorim’s United, the rubbish one, not Michael Carrick’s all-conquering iteration of the Red Devils.

A draw gave them some encouragement to take into 2026 and Wolves have really run with it since.

Their first game of the year saw West Ham blown away at Molineux with Wolves finally getting their first win of the season. Then came another point, and another, allowing Edwards’ side to build some momentum that few thought they were capable of.

Indeed, the calendar year table shows Wolves to be a top-half team following their late win over Liverpool on Tuesday night, a second victory in five days, when for a while, few doubted if they would manage a couple of wins all season.

Of course, the table paints a particularly bleak picture of Tottenham, who remain the Premier League’s only winless team in 2026.

PREMIER LEAGUE: CALENDAR YEAR TABLE

If we stretch it back even further to since Edwards was appointed on November 12, Wolves are still above Spurs. And that accounts for the seven defeats Edwards began with.

PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE SINCE EDWARDS TOOK OVER AT WOLVES

Note: to create these tables, we’ve used our sister site Football365 and their brilliant Premier League Tables resource – a goldmine for creating and exploring custom tables.

READ NEXT: Ranking the 10 best managers who will be available this summer: Alonso, Pochettino…

Tottenham are yet to win a Premier League match in 2026 and find themselves inching closer to the relegation quagmire every week.

The club are the fifth favourites for relegation with the bookmakers. Should Spurs go down, it’d be one of the biggest shocks in Premier League history, but it could actually happen.

We’ve ranked the eight biggest reasons why a Tottenham relegation isn’t as crazy as you might think.

Were we to be churlish, this entire article could have been reduced to ‘did you see their performance against Arsenal?’.

A change in the dugout did at least offer a reprieve in terms of vibes, with most glad to see the back of Thomas Frank’s dour pragmatism, but the North London derby – with Spurs every bit as bad as they were in the reverse fixture – suggests Spurs’ problems run much deeper.

Igor Tudor had 10 days to prepare for this match. Enough time for us to digest all the long reads about his time at Juventus and Marseille, how he’ll stick a rocket up the players, and the statistics about how he always makes an immediate impact… And then he served up that.

It’s too early to judge the interim. They were playing against the league leaders, on their day the best side in the country, in a derby. That can happen.

But we are left questioning whether Spurs might have been better appointing a manager – not to go too Tim Sherwood – who knows the Premier League (aka “our league”).

Will Tudor’s well-established firefighter credentials from the continent translate over here? Spurs going from averaging 2.1 points per game against the so-called European elite in the Champions League to 1.07 points in the Premier League suggests that might be easier said than done.

The Croatian could well be exactly what they need. But we could also see this all going a bit Felix Magath Mk.II.

Leeds United and West Ham might be in the FA Cup, but they’re very much focused on the matter at hand. Nottingham Forest will harbour ambitions of winning the Europa League, but that shouldn’t prove as taxing as Tottenham’s upcoming Champions League excursions.

In the next round, Spurs will likely play Galatasaray (5-2 up against Juventus) or Club Brugge or Atletico Madrid, which still hangs in the balance. A trip to Istanbul, or facing Simeone’s Atleti, doesn’t sound ideal.

We can’t quite believe we’re saying this, given how dismal they’ve been in the league, but we could even see Spurs putting together a decent run and going even further. They’ve proven their ‘big European night’ credentials with last season’s Europa League victory and subsequent league phase form.

Avoid Premier League opposition – bar maybe Man City, who they still enjoy a hoodoo over – and they could go far. Paradoxically, that might be the last thing they need.

Were we feeling a bit more charitable, we could place this at No.1.

You could put together a very good XI of players who are currently unavailable. Had the likes of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison been fit all season, they’d surely be at worst in midtable.

But you have to play the hand you’re dealt and there’s no use pining for what might’ve been.

Tottenham’s squad-building and recruitment has been questionable, to say the least, in recent years.

But even with so many key players sidelined, this team shouldn’t be anywhere near as bad as it has been. There are some quality players there.

You look at this squad, and you wonder who is going to step up and drag them out of this mess. Micky van de Ven’s head looks elsewhere already. Archie Gray is a kid. Xavi Simons possesses quality, but is he what you want in a relegation scrap?

Club captain Cristian Romero is a leader, but is he the right kind of leader? He’s suspended for two more games yet. He might be correct, and it sure must be cathartic, but is aiming both barrels at the club hierarchy actually achieving anything?

Last season, and the season before, the newly-promoted clubs were so feeble that any of the big dogs could afford to take their eye off the ball, safe in the knowledge that there’d always be three worse teams.

Indeed, Tottenham did exactly that last season, putting all their eggs in the Europa League basket and ending up 17th. It worked out in the end, but their tally of 38 points would’ve seen them go down in other years. It might not be enough this season.

Sunderland are practically home and hosed already. Leeds United are making a really decent fist of it, rarely losing since Daniel Farke switched to a back five in November.

Yes, Wolves have been historically bad and Burnley are gone, but there’s one other spot up for grabs.

West Ham are the current relegation favourites and have five points to make up, but they’re showing more signs of life than Spurs.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s Hammers have picked up seven more points than Tottenham so far this calendar year. They could easily have had at least five more points with a bit more rub of the green in recent outings against Bournemouth, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Only Wolves have picked up fewer points and lost more games on home soil than Tottenham this season.

Unbelievably, Spurs have managed just one league win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since the opening weekend.

They might boast one of the best stadiums in world football, but it’s anything but a fortress. Contrast that to Elland Road.

Yes, Tottenham are the only side without a win in the Premier League in 2026. But we can be guilty of being overly reactive to poor runs of form.

Step back, take a breath, and take a look at the bigger picture. Good idea.

Tottenham’s form over the past 18 months tells you this is no short-term problem. They mustered just 38 points last season.

They’ve picked up just 34 points from the last 38 games. Of the 17 ever-present clubs going back to March 2025, only Wolves have a worse record.

Spurs have picked up just three more points than Leeds over that period, despite playing 11 more matches.

READ: The crazy Premier League table over the past 38 games shows that Spurs could really go down

Were you not paying attention this season, it would be a fair assumption to make that this is just a freak season; that Tottenham have just been profoundly unfortunate and don’t deserve to be where they are.

Think Jurgen Klopp’s last season at Borussia Dortmund, whereby the data suggested they were just really unlucky to be scrapping relegation at the midway point.

This kind of thing just does not happen. The club with the sixth most expensively assembled squad and sixth highest wage bill should be insulated from relegation worries.

Surely they’re not as bad as the results suggest? Au contraire – they might actually be worse.

Tottenham’s cumulative xG in the Premier League this season is 32.9. Only Wolves, Burnley and Sunderland have notched a lower number. No side in the division is outperforming their expected goals more.

Sixteenth with 29 points is exactly where Spurs deserve to be. There’s little about their performances, and the numbers behind them, that suggest this ship is going to turn around any time soon.

READ NEXT: The amazing XI Tottenham would’ve had if they’d backed Ange Postecoglou

Tottenham are bonafide relegation candidates if you look at the Premier League table over the past 38 matches.

Of the 17 teams to have been in the top flight over the past year – not including last season’s relegated trio or the newly-promoted clubs in 2025-26 – only Wolverhampton Wanderers have taken fewer points than Spurs.

We’re still scratching our heads over how a member of the league’s so-called ‘big six’, the reigning Europa League winners who finished above the likes of Barcelona, Man City, Real Madrid and PSG in the Champions League league phase, could possibly be threatened by relegation – but a season’s worth of games should provide a sober wake-up call.

Sunderland have played 10 fewer matches and have picked up more points in this table. So too have Leeds United, among Spurs’ direct rivals for relegation, and they’ve only picked up three fewer points.

Elsewhere in the table, Aston Villa sit third – ahead of the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool – while Manchester United are down in eighth, only marginally ahead of the likes of Everton, Brighton and Crystal Palace.

West Ham have been comparable to Spurs over the past 38 games, but they’ve shown more signs of life in recent weeks.

Tottenham’s interim manager Igor Tudor is not worrying about relegation, but he did concede that he’s stepping into “emergency” situation.

“100%,” Tudor responded when asked if he believes that the club will still be in the Premier League next season.

“What I saw this week was the quality of the players. We have enormous quality in the squad.”

“When you start pre-season and then you have 50 days in pre-season and you have 20 players, of course then we see the style.

“This is an emergency, an emergency situation, when you need to find fast what suits the 10 plus three players and it’s totally different.”

Here’s how the table stacks up since March 2025, with most teams in the division playing a season’s worth of games over that period.

Note: to create this table, we’ve used our sister site Football365 and their brilliant Premier League Tables resource – a goldmine for creating and exploring custom tables.

READ NEXT: The wild Premier League table over the past 10 seasons since 2016: Man Utd 5th…

Igor Tudor will be looking to make an immediate impact and instantly write his name into Tottenham folklore when he takes charge of his first match – the north London derby.

Spurs are the only team in the Premier League yet to win a match in 2026, and the unthinkable prospect of relegation looms closer. When they kick off on Sunday, they could be just two points above the relegation zone.

The Croatian coach, who has experience at Marseille, Juventus and Lazio, has a reputation of something of a firefighter. He rarely lasts anywhere for long and he’s not expected to remain at Tottenham beyond his contract until the end of the season.

He’s got a pretty impressive track record when it comes to the fabled new manager bounce, with six wins and one draw from his last seven first matches at various clubs.

Here’s how we predict Tottenham might line up against Arsenal.

GK: Guglielmo Vicario

The Italian is capable of spectacular saves and singlehandedly delivering points.

But Vicario’s also got the odd rick in him and he’s not always been entirely convincing when Tottenham’s backs are against the wall.

It’ll be interesting to see how he fares if Spurs are really dragged into the relegation quagmire. Things could go either way. But there’s no questioning his spot between the sticks.

RB: Archie Gray

Arguably the only Spurs player who emerged from the Newcastle defeat with any credit in the bank.

The rare goal was nice, but it was his all-around competent performance stood in stark contrast to his team-mates.

The 19-year-old’s future surely lies in midfield, but he remains useful as a utility player for now. With a breakout season at right-back at boyhood club Leeds United under his belt, he’s demonstrated he can do a job there.

CB: Micky van de Ven

There are question marks all over this XI, but one very obvious port of call is Van de Ven in the heart of the backline.

First name on the teamsheet, arguably.

CB: Radu Dragusin

Tudor tended to operate with a back five for much of his time at Juventus, Lazio, Marseille, and Hellas Verona.

We expect to see that formation shift in the coming weeks, but a major selection headache – club captain Cristian Romero suspended, Kevin Danso expected to remain out for “weeks” – leaves the Croatian’s hands tied. With only two senior centre-backs available, we can’t see him playing a back three.

There is the wildcard possibility of a makeshift backline. He could play someone out of position (Joao Palhinha?) or throw in a youngster (Jun’ai Byfield?), but we’re hedging our bets and guessing that Tudor will pragmatically go with the same centre-back partnership that started last time out.

He doesn’t have much choice. Van de Ven and Dragusin it is, then. Gulp.

LB: Djed Spence

It seems a long old time ago that Spence was regularly boasting on social media about the opposition wingers he had on lockdown.

Ideally you’d want him on his favoured right side, but with Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies out – and Gray proving adept to cover there – it’s a bit of a needs-must scenario.

There’s also January recruit Souza, but throwing in a teenager – fresh from Brazil – straight into a North London Derby would be madness.

DM: Joao Palhinha

Yves Bissouma looked off the pace and was hooked at half time last time out.

Fortunately for him, a new manager might come in with the idea of a clean slate – but you imagine that Tudor will have studied the tapes and will want a repeat of that horrorshow.

Palhinha’s progressive passing leaves a lot to be desired, with a sense that things were far too stodgy when he partnered Rodrigo Bentancur in Frank’s much-maligned double pivot (see: the last North London Derby back in November).

But Tudor has a reputation as a demanding taskmaster and one thing the Portuguese midfielder will offer is graft. He ranks top for tackles across Europe’s five major leagues this season, and his bite could come in handy against an increasingly-brittle-looking Arsenal.

CM: Conor Gallagher

A Palhinha-Gallagher partnership arguably suffers from the same trappings as a Palhinha-Bentancur one.

You can’t imagine the forward passing would be especially high, but it would be a tenacious, industrious pairing that would – at least, in theory – be difficult to play through.

Tudor will have to think more ambitiously in the medium term about how to set Tottenham up to get at the opposition. Frank’s inability to do that was ultimately his undoing.

The situation at hand for this game, though? Stopping Arsenal from playing and fighting tooth and nail for the clean sheet is enough. Do that and there’s something to build on.

READ: The amazing XI Tottenham would’ve had if they’d backed Ange Postecoglou

CM: Pape Matar Sarr

The Senegal international was a mainstay under Ange Postecoglou – the Australian’s most-used player – and was outstanding during the short-lived honeymoon period under Thomas Frank.

Sarr has had an up-and-down time of it over the past few months, but he’s surely a key cog of whatever project Tottenham might hope to build beyond Tudor’s tenure. And the injury list gives him little competition for a place in the XI here.

There’s also the option of dropping Sarr, or playing him instead of Gallagher or Palhinha, bringing Xavi Simons in deeper and throwing in another forward. But the circumstances of this game surely call for something a bit more sturdy and conservative.

FWR: Mathys Tel

Wilson Odobert started on the right side of Spurs’ attack last time out, but an ACL rupture will leave him sidelined until next season.

With Mohammed Kudus still unavailable, and Brennan Johnson not replaced, the wide attacking options look painfully short.

Tel replaced Odobert last time out and looks likely to be given the nod here, but there remains a sense we’re still waiting to see where he fits in best. Perhaps Tudor will be the man to unlock him.

ST: Dominic Solanke

“[The North London derby] could be a dream scenario, and it just could happen,” Frank told reporters in late January, with regards to Richarlison’s (and Pedro Porro’s) potential return date.

You imagine there’s nothing the Brazilian is itching to get back for Arsenal, but you’d imagine it’d be the bench at most.

There’s really little choice here but Solanke.

FWL: Xavi Simons

Simons had to make do with a substitute appearance as Frank opted for a belt-and-braces approach, featuring a back five, in the reverse fixture.

It was at that stage when the Netherlands international was still getting to grips with the pace and physicality of Premier League football.

He has more to do to silence his doubters, but in recent months, we’ve seen more regular, impactful performances.

READ NEXT: Arsenal made their ‘bottlers’ bed in Spurs’ Pochettino era. Now they must lie in it

If you still engage regularly with football content and still haven’t jumped ship from X, chances are you’ll recognise your ‘For You’ algorithm as an absolute binfire.

Your feed is surely littered with the most obnoxious blue-tick gobsh*tes who have mastered the art of tribal pointscoring.

Engagement-bait nonsense can now be successfully monetised thanks to the genius in charge of the platform. Nice one, Elon.

“Genuinely, if Arsenal bottle this Premier League title it’s the biggest collapse of all time, no question about it,” the kind of re-microwaved-several-times-over lukewarm take routinely rewarded by thousands of likes. Yawn.

So it was particularly refreshing to see a genuinely thoughtful, generally bang-on quote-response somehow float to the top of a quagmire of guff, surprisingly enough from a fellow blue-ticker.

Well worth reposting in full, here’s the full post from football journalist Steve Kay:

If Arsenal lose this Premier League title, can we please retire the word ‘bottle’ for five minutes?

There’s a section of younger fans who can’t analyse a football match without throwing that word around.

Back in the day you never heard it every five minutes. Teams didn’t “bottle it” they ran out of steam, they lacked depth, they picked up injuries, they came up against a better side.

Not every dropped point is a psychological collapse.

To call something the biggest collapse of all time, you need context: How big was the points gap? Were there major injuries? Who were they competing against? Did they crumble in direct head-to-head games?

Losing a tight title race to an elite side isn’t bottling it.

That’s football.

Modern discourse has replaced tactical analysis with meme culture. Everything is banter now. But serious football conversations require more than one buzzword.

There’s a difference between collapsing under pressure and simply falling short over 38 games.

Football deserves better analysis than ‘they bottled it’.

Lots of salient points there. We in the football media could certainly do with looking in the mirror and recognising this – particularly the points about banter, meme culture and buzzwords.

Leave the on-the-whistle hot takes and painfully unfunny jibes to the footballer-as-avatar ‘Sakaology’ bottom feeders. Chances are you’re engaging with literal 14-year-olds. Needless to say, we ought to strive to be better than a Year 9 slanging match.

The only problem? That particular journalist would have done well to abide by his own words.

We don’t know who Steve Kay supports, but we can hazard a guess after sleuthing X users dug up his old posts laughing at Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs for being “bottlers”.

It’s been over seven years since those particular posts. Growth is good. We’d like to think we’ve become a bit more considered over the same period.

But it’s funny how Tottenham were “bottlers” while we could all do with some mature critical thinking when it comes to Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, isn’t it?

Therein lies the heart of the matter. Social media’s race to the bottom has undoubtedly accelerated in recent years, but its malign influence on ‘the discourse’ isn’t anything new.

There were thousands of posts decrying Tottenham as yellow-bellied cowards who lacked the minerals to deliver a trophy.

Reductive? Most definitely. But it is what it is. The well has been poisoned for a long time. Now Arsenal find themselves swimming in the murky waters.

If Pochettino’s Spurs were “bottlers”, worthy of ridicule, that tag must apply tenfold to Arteta’s Arsenal until they make it over the line.

Want to bring nuance into it? That Tottenham side were always miles off the country’s big dogs in terms of their spend on wages and transfers.

Their world-class front four of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Son Heung-min cost just £38million – an era when the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan cost about that alone.

In that context, it was a minor miracle that side finished 2nd with 86 points in 2016-17, the most goals scored and fewest conceded in the league, and later reached a Champions League final.

Spurs failed to sign a single player for two successive windows in the 2018-19 campaign, eventually ending their year-long transfer drought to sign Jack Clarke.

Under Pochettino, they never competed with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea when it came to outlay and infamously missed their opportunity to improve a squad that was agonisingly close to glory.

In contrast, Arsenal have incrementally built Arteta’s squad every summer with a series of expensive, lavish additions. Imagine the uproar on Arsenal Twitter if they went a full 18 months without making a signing.

A team goes from averaging 2.4 points per game up to January to dropping to 1.4 points per game at a crucial juncture of the campaign, missing a golden opportunity to emulate last season’s Liverpool, pull away from the chasing pack and make the run-in a formality. What do you call that?

Going two goals up away to the cut-adrift bottom side, one chasing Derby County’s worst-ever record, and blow it?

No leading side in Premier League history has let a two-goal slip against a side in the relegation zone. Is that not a textbook bottling?

After decades in which St. Totteringham’s Day could be taken for granted as an annual celebration, Arsenal fans had to take the nasty medicine of finishing behind their north London rivals for six successive seasons.

As was their right, they could always take solace in Spurs ultimately having nothing tangible to show for that excellent team.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. If Arsenal don’t win something this season, the club will have become their favourite punchline.

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Ange Postecoglou has caused shockwaves by claiming that Tottenham aren’t a big club by the way in which they operate in the transfer market, and threw out several names of players that he wanted the club to sign that they failed to get over the line.

“They’ve built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities but when you look at the expenditure, particularly their wages structure, they’re not a big club,” Postecoglou told the Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast.

“I saw that because when we were trying to sign players we weren’t in the market for those players.

We’ve put together a full XI of players Tottenham could have today if they’d backed Postecoglou more.

GK: David Raya

There’s little to suggest that Postecoglou wasn’t happy with Guglielmo Vicario, who has had his dodgy moments but is a world-class shot-stopper on his day and has proven an upgrade on late-era Hugo Lloris.

But the Italian doesn’t appear to have been Spurs’ first-choice target in Postecoglou’s first summer.

There are conflicting reports over whether they actually made an official bid for Raya, but weeks before the club sealed Vicario’s signing, they’re said to have approached Brentford. Fabrizio Romano even reported that he’d agreed personal terms.

The Spanish ‘keeper was approaching the final year of his contract and was set on a departure, but Spurs baulked at the Bees’ £40million asking price.

Raya ended up getting his move later that summer, joining Arsenal on an initial season-long loan before a £27million move the following summer. He’s now chasing down a third successive Golden Glove since signing for the Gunners.

RB: Pedro Porro

Djed Spence was reintegrated into Postecoglou’s first-team set-up after spending the 2023-24 campaign out on loan to Leeds United and Genoa, but the coach appeared more than satisfied with Porro at right-back.

Only two players made more appearances for Spurs under Postecoglou.

“He’s worked awfully hard on his game on both the offensive and defensive side,” the former manager told SPURSPLAY after a well-deserved Spain call-up in March 2024.

“We’ve obviously put some different demands on that position, but he’s adapted so well and credit to him, he’s worked really hard.”

CB: Micky van de Ven

We ummed and ahhed over which of Spurs’ existing centre-backs to include in his hypothetical dream backline, but ultimately decided on Van de Ven.

The Dutch defender’s blistering pace was almost like a cheat code when playing Postecoglou’s daring high line.

It’s easy to forget now that Spurs finished within a whisker of Champions League qualification in his first season, while nowadays fifth place would be enough.

Van de Ven and his recovery pace was absolutely integral when Angeball was clicking.

CB: Marc Guehi

Postecoglou’s admission that he wanted the club to go out and sign Guehi raises an interesting question over who’d have featured in his first-choice backline.

He could have played Guehi alongside two other centre-backs, as Oliver Glasner did so effectively at Crystal Palace, but we just can’t imagine a deviation from the 4-3-3 he favoured at Spurs. It’s just who we are, mate.

Such talk is probably academic, given the defensive injury headache Postecoglou had in his final season. But having Van de Ven, Guehi and Cristian Romero – man of the match in Postecoglou’s finest hour – would leave one quality defender out.

Perhaps had they got Guehi over the line, they’d instead have cashed in on Romero. The interest in the World Cup winner is well established, and it would’ve made the kind of cold, hard financial sense that was always music to Daniel Levy’s ears.

LB: Destiny Udogie

There’s been little in the transfer rumour mill to suggest that Spurs were planning anything but integrating Udogie into Postecoglou’s set-up after his impressive loan to Udinese in 2022-23.

Like Van de Ven, the left-back was often exceptional in the period where it looked like Angeball was the future.

Given Udogie’s recent injury record, a quality alternative wouldn’t have gone amiss, but if fit and available this spot belongs to the Italy international.

DM: Joao Palhinha

Six was an ongoing problem position in the Postecoglou era. Pierre Emile Hojbjerg’s limitations were exposed in his final season, while Yves Bissouma has never really kicked on.

It would have been interesting to see how Joao Palhinha would have fared under Postecoglou. The Portuguese midfielder’s progressive passing has left a lot to be desired, but his engine and out-of-possession play would have made him a useful asset for Angeball.

Getting in a world-class defensive midfielder might have been the difference in the Postecoglou project ever taking off, but linked players are relatively thin on the ground. We’ll stick Palhinha in here, but really this is the biggest question mark in the XI.

CM: Pape Matar Sarr

The Senegalese midfielder might not be the flashiest name, but he had Postecoglou’s trust. Surprisingly, no player made more appearances for Spurs under the Australian than Sarr.

“He’s been great from the moment I arrived,” Postecoglou told reporters after he shone in an early statement victory over Manchester United.

“He’s got a great energy about him, but he’s got quality there too. He’s one of those midfielders who causes the opposition real problems because, whether it’s him running with the ball or without the ball, he runs forward, he runs aggressively, and he disrupts the opposition.

“He’s just got a great temperament for a young guy. So really pleased for him.”

Sarr hasn’t quite kicked on as many would have expected since Postecoglou’s departure, but there’s undoubtedly a player there.

Conor Gallagher, now with Spurs of course, is an alternative option. But moving directly from Chelsea was always unlikely.

QUIZ: Can you name every player Ange Postecoglou used at Tottenham?

CM: Eberechi Eze

We’re surprised that Eze’s name wasn’t one mentioned by Postecoglou in his recent appearance on Stick To Football, because according to media reports he was very keen on the playmaker long before Tottenham’s knocked-back approach last summer.

“There is also the fact that Postecoglou wanted to buy Eberechi Eze and got Timo Werner on loan instead,” wrote BBC pundit Pat Nevin in his defence of Postecoglou after he departed the club last summer.

“I was going to explain this disparity further but if you know football at all, you have got the point already.”

Say no more, Pat.

FWL: Antoine Semenyo

Postecoglou spoke of wanting to sign “Premier League proven” players, with Semenyo one of the specific players he namechecked.

The forward had enjoyed an eye-catching 2023-24 campaign at Bournemouth, but it was really from that point onwards – under the guidance of Andoni Iraola – that he really exploded into life.

Now he’s chasing down trophies with Manchester City, with five goals in his first eight appearances since arriving in January. Tottenham got a bitter taste of his extraordinary talent with his last act for Cherries, notching a brilliant injury-time match-winner back in early January.

Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, eh?

ST: Bryan Mbeumo

“We ended up signing Dom Solanke and three teenagers,” Postecoglou bemoaned of Tottenham’s business in the summer of 2024.

It was then that he levelled the charge that they’re not operated like a big club. Ouch.

He did go on to say that he was very happy with Solanke (and that the teenagers would be great players for the future). He also claimed that he’d have loved to have had a season with Harry Kane (“the best player I’ve worked with”) after their pre-season together in 2013 – but the England captain always appeared destined for Bayern Munich.

Mbeumo has only lined up as a centre-forward for a fraction of his career appearances to date and we don’t imagine that would’ve been Spurs’ plan for him.

But we’re sticking him here as Postecoglou mentioned his name explicitly, and he offers a nice illustration of Tottenham missing out on players on the ascendancy who have gone on to thrive for their immediate rivals.

FWR: Pedro Neto

The last of four names mentioned by Postecoglou on his recent Stick To Football appearance (after Guehi, Semenyo and Mbeumo).

In fairness, the former Tottenham coach probably wasn’t suggesting that he wanted to sign all of those players together, especially given that three of them play similar roles, but it’d make an interesting forward line, wouldn’t it? You’d probably take it over their current one.

Neto hasn’t exactly pulled up any trees at Stamford Bridge, and his record of 20 goals and 28 assists in 172 Premier League appearances isn’t anything to write home about, but he’s featured regularly for a Chelsea side that did what Spurs failed to do and made the step up to the top four.

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Tottenham now find themselves in a relegation battle, with the club just five points above the bottom three with 12 games remaining.

Thomas Frank has been sacked following their latest defeat against Newcastle and if the club doesn’t appoint the right manager to replace him, they find themselves in serious danger of going down.

Using players under contract with the club, we’ve assembled a realistic XI of how Spurs could line up in the Championship next season, if they are relegated.

GK: Antonin Kinsky

Guglielmo Vicario would almost certainly leave if Spurs go down, which would open the door for Kinsky to claim a starting spot.

Spurs signed the 22-year-old for £12.5million last January and handed him a six-and-a-half year deal which runs until 2031.

Even if Tottenham are playing Championship football next season, he’s not going anywhere with a contract like that.

RB: Djed Spence

Of the players who’ve played more than 1000 minutes of Premier League football this season, we think that Spence would be one of the most likely to stay.

Let’s not forget that the full-back was playing in the Championship as recently as 2023-24 and with plenty of experience in the league, Spurs would likely want him to stick around.

CB: Ashley Phillips

Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven would probably be two of the first players out of the door in this scenario, so we won’t include them.

Spurs signed Phillips from Blackburn Rovers in 2023, but the young centre-half is yet to make his senior debut for the club.

He’s spent the past couple of seasons developing on loan with Stoke, where he’s established himself as one of the best defenders in the league.

The 20-year-old is certainly a Premier League player in the making and would be a seamless fit into Tottenham’s Championship XI.

CB: Luka Vuskovic

Another out-on-loan defender who could be a prominent starter next season is Vuskovic.

The towering Croatian defender has all of the attributes to be a dominant force in the second tier and is currently enjoying a good loan spell with Hamburg in the Bundesliga.

Kevin Danso is another potential option for this position, who we wouldn’t be surprised to see stick around in the second tier.

LB: Ben Davies

With the youthful look to the XI, Tottenham will be keen to retain at least some of their experienced heads.

Davis’ current contract expires at the end of the season, but the club could be tempted to give him another year on reduced terms if they land in the second tier next season.

CM: Archie Gray

Gray was a standout performer for Leeds United in the Championship during the 2023-24 campaign when they finished third.

While he’d likely have offers to return to the Premier League, Spurs should still have enough pull to make him stay, given his age and contract length.

He’s also another player who can fill in at right-back, although he’s most influential when in midfield.

CM: Lucas Bergvall

Similar to Gray, Bergvall would likely have offers to go elsewhere, but a year in the Championship wouldn’t massively hinder his career, given his age.

He’s still under contract with Spurs until 2031, so it would take a lucrative offer to lure him away from North London right now.

He’d also be a top player in the Championship and would thrive in a promotion-hunting side, like you’d expect Tottenham to be.

CAM: Alfie Devine

Devine has been thriving in the Championship with Preston North End, so it stands to reason that the club would make use of him next season.

It’s worth noting that Preston does have the option to buy the 21-year-old at the end of the season, but according to reports, it’s unclear if the club will be able to trigger the lucrative clause, which would likely be a club record.

From midfield, he’s scored six goals and produced two assists this season for a side in the playoff hunt.

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RW: Wilson Odobert

Tottenham fans are yet to see the best of Odobert, who has been in and out of the starting XI this season.

While he’s not a consistent performer at Premier League level, a drop down to the Championship could be the best thing for his career right now.

LW: Mikey Moore

Moore was linked with a loan move to the Championship, before he ended up joining Rangers instead.

Spurs fans still have high hopes for the teenager, who could become a first-team regular next season if the club is playing in the Championship.

Another option for this role could be Manor Solomon, providing that Fiorentina don’t trigger their option to buy at the end of the season.

ST: Will Lankshear

The striker spot is perhaps the biggest unknown if Spurs are relegated.

Richarlison and Dominic Solanke would almost certainly leave. Would someone like Mathys Tel stick around for a season in the second tier? We’re not so sure.

Of the players that Spurs have out on loan, Lankshear at least has experience at the level, having spent this season on loan with Oxford United.

He’s scored six goals in 30 appearances, but you’d think would be more prolific in a side that creates more chances.

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