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Daunting February heightens Spurs' relegation scrap fears
Tottenham just cannot win Premier League games right now.
Saturday's last-gasp 2-2 draw at Burnley extended their winless league start to 2026 to five matches.
It is also just one win from their last eight league games, in a run which has seen them lose against two of the bottom four - West Ham and Nottingham Forest.
Burnley 2-2 Tottenham - Match report & highlights
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They also needed a 90th-minute equaliser to rescue a 1-1 home draw against bottom-side Wolves in late September, which was Wolves' first point of the season.
And Spurs required another 90th-minute leveller to avoid defeat at second-bottom Burnley, who came so close to ending their 13-game winless league run.
Spurs' failure to beat the sides below them, combined with their abysmal form, has not only piled the pressure on boss Thomas Frank but raised concerns they could well get dragged into a relegation battle.
Last season, Spurs finished 17th but were never truly at risk of dropping into the bottom three as they focused on Europa League glory. But this season, the relegation scrap feels different.
Spurs started Saturday 10 points above the drop zone, but after the draw at Turf Moor and a second consecutive win for rejuvenated West Ham, Frank's side sit eight points clear of the bottom three.
In a Sky Sports poll, 65 per cent of users believe Spurs are in a relegation battle, while the bookmakers' odds of relegation continue to drop, with the price now at 20/1.
Maybe what is heightening these fears is Tottenham's daunting February fixtures - the hardest any team has in the next four Premier League gameweeks.
Spurs face four top-half sides next month - Manchester City (H), Manchester United (A), Newcastle (H) and Arsenal (H). Looking at those games, it is hard to see where their next win is coming from.
And with the fans once again showing their displeasure with Frank at Turf Moor, the winter of discontent could become a whole lot worse.
Liverpool are all possession no purpose
Liverpool had the ball, the territory, the familiar patterns but absolutely no menace.
A 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth will sting on the scoreline, but the performance cut deeper. This was a night that laid bare a growing problem under Arne Slot of sterile control mistaken for authority.
Bournemouth 3-2 Liverpool - Match report & highlights
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Slot has spent much of 2026 pointing towards low blocks as the great inhibitor of Liverpool's attacking rhythm. Teams sit deep, he says. Space is denied. His players are not built for that kind of puzzle.
Except Bournemouth did not play that game.
They stepped out. They pressed. They left space in behind. And Liverpool still looked short of ideas and, most damningly, short of belief that their football could hurt anyone.
Liverpool finished with 14 shots. Those efforts amounted to just 0.83 expected goals, a figure that tells the story of their struggles. This was a team settling for the comfortable option. Shots from distance. Crosses without conviction. Attacks that slowed just as they needed acceleration.
For all the ball Liverpool had, Bournemouth always looked the more likely to land the punch that mattered. And punch they did. Bournemouth were everything Liverpool were not. Direct, decisive and daring.
This was a bad one for Slot.
Lewis Jones
Haaland rested but others step up for Man City
Erling Haaland had scored only once - a penalty - in his previous eight appearances and was showing signs of exhaustion given his workload so it was no great surprise to see him rotated for Manchester City's 2-0 win at home to Wolves. But Pep Guardiola will be encouraged.
Omar Marmoush, ostensibly his replacement up front, netted the opening goal early in the game. In fact, the Egyptian was playing as more of a wide forward mirroring the positioning of Antoine Semenyo - but he found the net too. Others stepping up for City.
Man City 2-0 Wolves - Match report & highlights
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It was Marmoush's first Premier League goal of the season. It was Semenyo's first in the competition in a City shirt on the occasion of his home Premier League debut. That added firepower is going to be very important during the back end of this season.
But just as important is the fact that it allows Guardiola to give Haaland a break. Jarrod Bowen is the only forward in the Premier League to have started more games in the competition this season than the Norwegian - and his team are not in Europe as well.
Haaland's form is such a big factor in what Manchester City are capable of achieving. If he can be fresh for the run-in then what has been an unconvincing season for City could still have an exciting ending with them challenging in three different competitions.
Adam Bate
Where would West Ham be without 'Captain Fantastic'?
You really have to wonder just where West Ham would be right now without their skipper Jarrod Bowen, who once again led from the front with a captain's display as they recorded a massive 3-1 win over Sunderland to breathe new life into their bid to beat the drop.
West Ham 3-1 Sunderland - Match report & highlights
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Bowen, 29, revealed recently how he is "hating" the situation he and his Hammers team-mates find themselves as they look to move out of the relegation zone, but the forward will now be in better spirits.
After the game Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo rightly eulogised about the England international, saying: "We are very lucky to have him, he is a captain who leads by example, takes us forward, fights for every ball and is always dangerous."
Which pretty much sums up Bowen's all-action display on the right-hand side of West Ham's now dangerous-looking front three as he first created the key opener on a plate for Crysencio Summerville to nod home, before keeping his cool from the spot to soon double the hosts' lead.
And just to emphasise Bowen's growing stature at the London Stadium, not only has he now scored and assisted in 11 different Premier League games for West Ham - the most of any player for the club, overtaking Paolo Di Canio (10) - but he also became the Hammer with the outright most goal involvements in Premier League history (103 - 63 goals, 40 assists), moving clear of Michail Antonio (101 - 68 goals, 33 assists).
Rich Morgan
Could Chukwueze replace Wilson at Fulham?
Samuel Chukwueze's superbly well-taken equaliser went under the radar as Fulham earned a late 2-1 victory over Brighton.
Harry Wilson's 92nd-minute free-kick stole the headlines, but it was Chukwueze's calm finish that set Marco Silva's side on their way to a big three points that has moved them up to seventh.
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Chukwueze's introduction as a 59th-minute substitute was greeted by a big cheer from the Fulham supporters and Sky Sports' Paul Merson was soon describing the 26-year-old's equaliser as "Thierry Henry-style" after he slotted past Bart Verbruggen for his sixth goal contribution in his last six games.
Fulham had made offers this time last year for the winger before finally landing him on loan from AC Milan with an option to buy permanently for between £21.6m and £26m.
If Wilson is to depart in the summer, then Chukwueze would be a fine replacement.
David Richardson
'Brutal' Brighton run damaging European hopes
"Football is brutal," said Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler after their late defeat at Fulham.
Even Fulham's Marco Silva admitted it was "harsh" for the visitors to lose at Craven Cottage.
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But it is now just one win in 10 league games for Brighton, who have slid from fifth to 12th after their bright start to the season, and are in danger of their European hopes getting away from them.
Brighton have lost only three times during that run, but are unable to turn draws into wins. It is a worrying trend. This time, they turned a point into none when it looked like Danny Welbeck had handed them the lead just seconds after Fulham's equaliser. Hurzeler knows the margins are fine.
Cristian Romero's 90th-minute equaliser spared under-pressure Tottenham boss Thomas Frank an embarrassing defeat at second-bottom Burnley as the defender's header snatched a 2-2 draw.
But the full-time whistle at Turf Moor was greeted with boos from the away end as the pressure remained on Frank, with Spurs having won just two of their last 14 league games.
Frank's side failed to build on the momentum of Tuesday's Champions League home win over Borussia Dortmund to remain winless in the Premier League in 2026.
Thirteenth-placed Tottenham now sit eight points above the drop zone, with a daunting February ahead as they face Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle and Arsenal in the Premier League.
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Substitute Lyle Foster's 74th-minute goal had looked to complete the Burnley turnaround after Axel Tuanzebe had cancelled out Micky van de Ven's 38th-minute opener on the stroke of half-time.
But Romero's last-gasp goal - his third in as many games - extended Burnley's winless league run to 14 games, as Scott Parker's side moved seven points from safety.
Spurs fans chant 'We want Frank out'
Sky Sports News' Peter Stevenson at Turf Moor:
"Boos from the away fans at the final whistle, after Spurs rescued a late point. They started this game brightly but struggled to match Burnley's intensity in the second half. They were facing yet another defeat until Romero's dramatic late equaliser.
"Frank walked off to chants from both sets of fans as Spurs supporters sang 'We want Frank out', and then he reached the home fans who taunted 'You're getting sacked in the morning'.
"A huge disappointment for Burnley, who looked on course for their first win since October.
"They're now in danger of being marooned at the foot of the table with Wolves."
Frank: We should've won the game
Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank speaking to Sky Sports:
"We played a good first half, where we are on top, we get up 1-0 and could easily have scored the second. Then we conceded a goal just before half-time that we can never ever concede.
"Then we go in at half-time with a little bit of a bad feeling. The second half was a bit back and forth. We didn't create as much, but then we conceded another goal we can't concede.
"But then the players showed great character to keep pushing forward and fighting. We had four big chances and scored from one of them.
"But we should have won the game with how much we created."
On goals from defenders: "Big praise to Micky and Cuti. It also highlights a little bit that we need to get goals from other angles as well."
Opta facts: Spurs have most shots on target in just over two years
Tottenham's 11 shots on target were their most in a Premier League match since December 2023 (12 vs Newcastle), and their most in a match they failed to win since December 2021 (11 in a 1-1 draw with Southampton).
Burnley's Martin Dubravka has made more saves than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League this season (94).
Burnley remain winless in their last 14 Premier League games (D5 L9), their longest run in the top-flight since 1970 (also 14).
All four of Cristian Romero's Premier League goals this season have made the scores level.
Tottenham have scored more headed goals (10) and had more goals scored via defenders (9) than any other side in the Premier League this season.
Only Richarlison (8) has scored more goals for Spurs than Micky van de Ven (7) in all competitions this season. The Dutchman's seven are also the most of any Premier League defender across all competitions.
Story of the match in stats...
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Patched-up Spurs' best 45 minutes of the season relieved some of the mounting pressure on Thomas Frank with a 2-0 win over 10-man Borussia Dortmund.
Despite having only 11 outfield players available and with ongoing questions over their head coach's future, Tottenham produced 45 minutes of the most free-flowing football they have managed since Frank's appointment - and now look set to secure a top-eight finish in the Champions League league phase.
"I'll have two big glasses of red, that'll be necessary," a clearly relieved Frank - whose side were booed in a toxic atmosphere following defeat to West Ham last time out - joked after the game.
"The players are giving everything, that is a good sign about the coach. An extremely good sign that they want to do everything. We were down to the bare bones with available players.
"It was extremely nice to experience the way the fans pushed us forward. That energy between the fans and the players was magic."
Spurs have reserved many of their best performances for European competition this season but this still represented the pick of the bunch and came against the most high-profile opposition they have hosted in this tournament under Frank.
In a perfect example of necessity being the mother of invention, makeshift left winger Djed Spence was their best player in that opening period but saw the headlines go to the goalscoring duo of captain Cristian Romero and the returning Dominic Solanke.
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Spence did at least win the corner leading to Romero's opener, recycled by Wilson Odobert and fired home by the centre-back 14 minutes in, which gave Spurs a lead that even by then they richly deserved.
After watching five months of insipid football, the home fans were regularly off their seats as Spurs cut apart their visitors at will, taking full advantage of their clear physical edge, threatening with every attack and lacking only an all-important second goal.
Their task was given a boost with less than half an hour played when Daniel Svensson was sent off for a high challenge on Odobert following a VAR review, and 11 minutes later Spurs finally had their cushion as the French winger's cross was bundled home - though not without ricocheting off his own calf first - by Solanke on his Champions League debut.
Spurs went in at the break without giving away a single shot though there was still a worry there could be another sting in the tail their fans have become accustomed to witnessing. A half-time double change did improve Dortmund, but Julian Ryerson's free-kick minutes after the interval was as close as they came to inspiring a collapse from the hosts.
Instead, the one frustration for Frank on an otherwise hugely encouraging night was an injury suffered by Lucas Bergvall, which did at least herald the arrival of 17-year-old debutant Jun'Ai Byfield to become Spurs' youngest ever Champions League player.
The teenager slotted in comfortably at right-back as Spurs celebrated an unfamiliarly comfortable victory to give Frank a few days out of the spotlight - at least until the weekend trip to Burnley.
Frank: We must build on this result
Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank:
"The big thing is to build on this with a performance and a win against Burnley on Saturday. It's a big skill to be able to produce in the Premier League and Champions League every week from the players.
"We're working very hard on that. I keep saying it but this is the eighth game in a row where we have consistently performed quite well, but haven't been able to get the margins with us.
"Today you can say the margins may have been the red card, instead of the one against Liverpool which went the other way. Of course, the triple contact of Dom's goal going in, whereas we didn't get that against Sunderland, Bournemouth and West Ham where we could have won all three.
"We've got to keep doing the same things, keep believing and we know things will turn."
Analysis: Sterner tests to come - but a near-perfect night
Sky Sports' Ron Walker at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
"That result was about everything Tottenham and Thomas Frank needed this evening.
"A win, first and foremost, but also a performance of quality and excitement. Something hugely lacking this season.
"Despite the cold and rain most of the South Stand remained to applaud the players off - and even Frank, this time.
"There are of course caveats about the physicality of Dortmund and that Burnley will offer a very different challenge to break down on Saturday.
"But those are problems for another day. For a welcome change, it was smiles all round on the pitch from Frank and his players."
Solanke: Hopefully this can be a turning point
Goalscorer Dominic Solanke to TNT Sport:
"I hope [this can be a turning point]. We've done quite well in the Champions League and if you look back to last season and how well we did in the Europa League, it definitely gave the team confidence.
"We know we haven't been good enough in Premier League this year, so hopefully this gives us the extra boost, we can improve in the league and continue in the Champions League.
"When we're all together - players, staff, fans - that's key. We're all one club, we all want the same thing. We need to put the performances in on the pitch like we did tonight and hopefully we can carry on the momentum."
Story of the match in stats...
What's coming up for Tottenham?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
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Patched-up Spurs' best 45 minutes of the season relieved some of the mounting pressure on Thomas Frank with a 2-0 win over 10-man Borussia Dortmund.
Despite having only 11 outfield players available and with ongoing questions over their head coach's future, Tottenham produced 45 minutes of the most free-flowing football they have managed since Frank's appointment - and now look set to secure a top-eight finish in the Champions League league phase.
"I'll have two big glasses of red, that'll be necessary," a clearly relieved Frank - whose side were booed in a toxic atmosphere following defeat to West Ham last time out - joked after the game.
"The players are giving everything, that is a good sign about the coach. An extremely good sign that they want to do everything. We were down to the bare bones with available players.
"It was extremely nice to experience the way the fans pushed us forward. That energy between the fans and the players was magic."
Spurs have reserved many of their best performances for European competition this season but this still represented the pick of the bunch and came against the most high-profile opposition they have hosted in this tournament under Frank.
In a perfect example of necessity being the mother of invention, makeshift left winger Djed Spence was their best player in that opening period but saw the headlines go to the goalscoring duo of captain Cristian Romero and the returning Dominic Solanke.
As it happened | Teams | Stats
Live Champions League table
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Spence did at least win the corner leading to Romero's opener, recycled by Wilson Odobert and fired home by the centre-back 14 minutes in, which gave Spurs a lead that even by then they richly deserved.
After watching five months of insipid football, the home fans were regularly off their seats as Spurs cut apart their visitors at will, taking full advantage of their clear physical edge, threatening with every attack and lacking only an all-important second goal.
Their task was given a boost with less than half an hour played when Daniel Svensson was sent off for a high challenge on Odobert following a VAR review, and 11 minutes later Spurs finally had their cushion as the French winger's cross was bundled home - though not without ricocheting off his own calf first - by Solanke on his Champions League debut.
Spurs went in at the break without giving away a single shot though there was still a worry there could be another sting in the tail their fans have become accustomed to witnessing. A half-time double change did improve Dortmund, but Julian Ryerson's free-kick minutes after the interval was as close as they came to inspiring a collapse from the hosts.
Instead, the one frustration for Frank on an otherwise hugely encouraging night was an injury suffered by Lucas Bergvall, which did at least herald the arrival of 17-year-old debutant Jun'Ai Byfield to become Spurs' youngest ever Champions League player.
The teenager slotted in comfortably at right-back as Spurs celebrated an unfamiliarly comfortable victory to give Frank a few days out of the spotlight - at least until the weekend trip to Burnley.
Frank: We must build on this result
Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank:
"The big thing is to build on this with a performance and a win against Burnley on Saturday. It's a big skill to be able to produce in the Premier League and Champions League every week from the players.
"We're working very hard on that. I keep saying it but this is the eighth game in a row where we have consistently performed quite well, but haven't been able to get the margins with us.
"Today you can say the margins may have been the red card, instead of the one against Liverpool which went the other way. Of course, the triple contact of Dom's goal going in, whereas we didn't get that against Sunderland, Bournemouth and West Ham where we could have won all three.
"We've got to keep doing the same things, keep believing and we know things will turn."
Analysis: Sterner tests to come - but a near-perfect night
Sky Sports' Ron Walker at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
"That result was about everything Tottenham and Thomas Frank needed this evening.
"A win, first and foremost, but also a performance of quality and excitement. Something hugely lacking this season.
"Despite the cold and rain most of the South Stand remained to applaud the players off - and even Frank, this time.
"There are of course caveats about the physicality of Dortmund and that Burnley will offer a very different challenge to break down on Saturday.
"But those are problems for another day. For a welcome change, it was smiles all round on the pitch from Frank and his players."
Solanke: Hopefully this can be a turning point
Goalscorer Dominic Solanke to TNT Sport:
"I hope [this can be a turning point]. We've done quite well in the Champions League and if you look back to last season and how well we did in the Europa League, it definitely gave the team confidence.
"We know we haven't been good enough in Premier League this year, so hopefully this gives us the extra boost, we can improve in the league and continue in the Champions League.
"When we're all together - players, staff, fans - that's key. We're all one club, we all want the same thing. We need to put the performances in on the pitch like we did tonight and hopefully we can carry on the momentum."
Story of the match in stats...
What's coming up for Tottenham?
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Thomas Frank insists he feels the support of the Tottenham board despite mounting pressure on his job as head coach.
Frank revealed he had lunch with the most important elements of the Spurs leadership on Monday in the wake of Saturday's toxic 2-1 home defeat to relegation-threatened West Ham.
Sky Sports News revealed on Monday that Frank would be given Tuesday's Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund after meetings were held at board level over his future.
Frank defiant despite Spurs fans singing 'you're getting sacked'
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The Spurs hierarchy are believed to be looking at all options after fans booed Frank and sung chants of 'sacked in the morning' at him, but the Dane is adamant that he is on the same page as his employers.
"I've just been feeling the trust along the way. I've said that every press meeting, that there's backing and support," he said.
"I had lunch with Nick [Beucher] and Vinai [Venkatesham, CEO] and Johan [Lange, sporting director] today, so all good.
"I know it's part of the media circus and the only focus I have is to do everything I can for us to win against Dortmund.
"I've said many times and I'll say it again, as long as we win football matches and make sure we win enough of them, then everyone will support us.
"It's not about me, it's about supporting the team, supporting the players."
Spurs down to 11 senior players vs Dortmund
Frank admits he will not be able to win over every Spurs fan after he was booed and subject to chants of 'sacked in the morning' after losing to rivals West Ham.
Pressure is mounting on Frank and he takes a depleted side into the game against Dortmund with only 11 senior players available for selection for their penultimate Champions League league phase fixture.
Spurs then travel to 19th-placed Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday, but there has been no final decision made over Frank's future.
"I think you can say, in this game, you always need to show resilience," Frank said.
"I listened to something the other day where the three biggest things in showing resilience is one, you have good values. I see myself as a guy that has pretty good values.
"Two, you know reality - and reality is that one in five normally don't like you, no matter what you do. One in five love you, no matter what you do. Then there's the three in five that, if you behave well, are respectful, show integrity, do your best, normally they are swayed.
"So, no matter what you do, the reality is someone will not like you.
"The last bit, have perspective in life, which I have in abundance. I keep doing what I do, what I believe in.
"If your back is against the wall, you fight and that's what I do. I'm energetic, I fight.
"It's about keeping the noise out, staying calm, carrying on. Look at the performances, look if the players are still running, running hard.
"In the last three games where we are down at half-time, how they come out and respond is a massive thing. They responded fantastic and we should've got more out of it.
"Sometimes, it's just football. That happens when you are in that spell.
"Are you still working hard? Are you still trying hard? Are you still believing? I see signs of that very clearly in every game.
"Then, of course, even the best coach in the world - Pep Guardiola - says I'm nothing without my players. I'm nothing without the best players available - and I think it's fair to say, they haven't been available enough at the same time.
"That makes it a little bit more tricky, but no problem. I'm happy to take the blame, as long as everyone supports the players."
Solanke to replace Tel in Champions League squad
One player who Frank will be hoping helps turn things around against Dortmund is Dominic Solanke, who he confirmed has returned to the Spurs Champions League squad in place of Mathys Tel.
Article 31.14 c of UEFA's rules and regulations state that a team can bring in a squad substitute if a player has been ill or injured for 60 days.
Tel replaced Solanke in the squad for the game against Slavia Prague in December, but per UEFA rules, Solanke can now return to the squad in place of Tel, but no other Spurs player.
Speaking about the situation on Monday afternoon, Frank said: "I made the decision. That was not a nice decision to have to make. Unfortunately, that's football, so you have to make the decision.
"The way the rules are, the only option was it was either Dom or Mathys in the squad and I chose Dom.
"I think Mathys has done very well in the last couple of games and that's the crazy thing; if I could pick from all the players that are fit, he would start tomorrow.
"But I could only chose between the two of them and now he is out of the squad, so that's a tough one to take for Mathys.
"When it rains, it pours."
Fans have turned on Frank but he believes he can win them back
Sky Sports News' Jamie Weir:
"Frank seems confident that he still has the full backing of the hierarchy.
"He was pressed on the lunch and whether he was given reassurances that he would still be in a job beyond tomorrow night against Borussia Dortmund and he didn't really say yes.
"He does seem incredibly confident that they have an aligned vision and he will be given time to turn it around at Tottenham. He is a man under pressure at the moment.
"History would tell you it is very difficult to come back from that [boos after full-time]. In the past, when the fans turn at any club, it is very difficult to win the fans back around.
"It is becoming a regular occurrence that players are getting booed off at half-time and full-time. He seems confident they can turn things around. It is clear that the fans, many of them have turned on Thomas Frank.
"He is still optimistic that if results turn around, the fans will too."