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The Italian took over from interim boss Igor Tudor at the end of last month and Spurs started his first match at the helm in the Premier League drop zone after West Ham beat Wolves on Friday.

Their defeat, courtesy of Nordi Mukiele's heavily deflected strike in the second half, left them two points behind the Hammers with just six games to go.

Sorry Spurs have not won a Premier League game since late December and are facing a huge battle to avoid their first relegation since 1977.

But former Brighton and Marseille boss De Zerbi - the London club's third manager of a shocking season - said a win would change the mood.

"We have to work on one win because with one win we can change everything this season," he told Sky Sports.

"I have 24 hours per day and it is not a problem of time. We created chances in the first half, the same we have done in the week.

"The players have great quality but we have to believe more in ourselves and the crucial part is to win one game.

"We can play much better than today but after five or six training games it is difficult. All together we have to stay focused to win one game."

Tottenham face Brighton next week, with a game against bottom club Wolves to follow but it is difficult to see where their next win is going to come from.

De Zerbi said his new team, who have lost half of their 32 league matches this season, had the quality but were suffering a crisis of confidence.

The Tricky Trees started the game one place and one point below Spurs in the table, with both teams teetering on the brink of the bottom three.

With third-from-bottom West Ham's game against Aston Villa taking place at the same time, it wouldn't be known until full time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, exactly who would be in that final relegation spot.

Morale-boosting win in midweek for Spurs

The Lilywhites hadn't won in 12 league games, whilst Forest were on a seven-match winless run of their own, though the visitors had certainly got the better of their hosts in recent head-to-heads, having won 3-0 at the City Ground last time out, as well as the two games beforehand, letting in just one goal in that time.

After a terrible start to his time in the Tottenham dugout, the Atleti result and a battling draw against Liverpool at Anfield suggested that Igor Tudor had finally turned a corner.

Albeit the Croatian will have been in no doubt before the game as to just how important a win against this particular opponent would be.

Tottenham on the front foot but toothless in attack

Although Spurs looked to attack in the early stages of the game, their accuracy was off, and none of Mathys Tel, Richarlison or Pape Matar Sarr could find the target with their efforts.

Forest were biding their time, but looking to make inroads down their left side. Indeed, Djed Spence's four attempted tackles in the first half-hour were the most of any player, but only completing one successfully was a sign of things to come.

Teammates Kevin Danso and Cristian Romero were working overtime in order to stifle Forest's attacking threat, and some of the former's 13 one-on-one duels won (from 18 attempted) were a chief reason why it took until the last minute of the first half before the hosts went a goal down.

When the opening goal arrived, it was simplicity itself. Igor Jesus had won a corner with his first on-target effort and was then left unmarked at the back post, and had the easy task of heading into the net unchallenged.

Boos at half-time

Ominously, Spurs hadn't won any of their previous 10 home matches this season (D3, L7) when conceding the opening goal, and Forest hadn't lost when scoring it (W5, D2).

What's more, an 18th goal conceded in the final 15 minutes of a first half is the worst record in the entire Premier League in 2025/26, and suggests a collective 'switching off' by Tottenham's players, as they head towards the half-time break.

The hosts' response was to get their first shot on target in stoppage time, but the boos which greeted the team as they made their way down the tunnel spoke volumes.

Tudor had seen enough and made a double substitution at the break, but his side just weren't at the races for long periods.

Forest biding their time

Archie Gray, normally one of his side's most creative players, couldn't string two passes together and his 77.6% completion stat was one of the worst on show.

Richarlison fared even worse, with a 50% showing coming about because of just five accurate passes from only 10 made.

The Brazilian was marked out of the game thanks to an excellent defensive performance from Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic, who won 100% of their tackles.

The pair were ably supported by Elliot Anderson and Ibrahim Sangare, who made 10 tackles between them and contested 37 one-on-one duels alone.

Up front, Omari Hutchinson was causing Tottenham all sorts of problems, winning four of his seven dribbles and eight of his 13 attempted duels.

Once again, it appeared that the fight had gone from the Lilywhites' squad, and in what was effectively a relegation six-pointer, that's unforgivable.

Gibbs-White in acres of space

As the hour mark approached, there was a flurry of attacks from the North Londoners, though none of their efforts at goal were on target, and they were quickly made to pay.

Callum Hudson-Odoi wasn't challenged as he made his way from the sideline to the touchline, and his pull-back found Morgan Gibbs-White by the penalty spot without a Spurs player anywhere close to him.

Though Guglielmo Vicario got in the way of the Forest forward's shot, he couldn't stop it from going in, and the silence that then fell over the stadium was deafening.

A double substitution with 25 minutes left saw Richarlison and Mathys Tel replaced by Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani, though the latter pair managed just one touch in the Forest box between them in the entire time both were on the pitch.

Even having three-quarters of possession leading into the final stages of the match didn't lead to anything approaching a goal or even a chance from Tottenham.

When Taiwo Awoniyi added a third Forest goal towards the end of the game, it was no more than they deserved, and the first time they'd scored three goals this season since the last fixture against Spurs.

Better late than never, Dominic Solanke had two shots on target in the final minute, neither of which troubled Matz Sels.

A 13th game without a win for Tottenham is their worst run in Premier League history, and what will be most galling for Tudor and Spurs fans is that, actually, in a number of metrics, the hosts were significantly better than their opponents.

More passes, more possession, a better pass accuracy, more crosses and more dribbles.... and yet, when it came down to it, they were second best in terms of tackles made and won, and interceptions made.

When they really needed to fight for their lives, Tottenham just didn't have the spirit to do exactly that.

Tottenham - Nottingham  Flashscore.com

After a battling performance at Anfield that saw the Lilywhites pick up their first Premier League point under the Croatian, they followed it up with a Champions League win over Atletico Madrid.

Tottenham's fighting spirit

Though the North Londoners ultimately didn't progress in the premier European competition, both that performance and the one against the Reds at least showed the fighting spirit that the players still possess.

Against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, however, the recent upturn in form will mean nothing if Spurs are unable to get all three points.

With eight games left to play in the 2025/26 Premier League season, both teams are teetering on the brink of dropping into the bottom three.

Currently, West Ham are third from bottom on 29 points, the same total as Forest, who have a slightly better goal difference than the Hammers.

Forest have won the last three vs Spurs

Tottenham sit one place and one point above the Tricky Trees, so if the East Londoners can win their game against Aston Villa earlier on Sunday, then either Spurs or Forest will end the weekend in the relegation places if they lose.

In terms of current form, the hosts have won one, drawn one and lost three of their last five matches in all competitions, whilst their visitors have won one, drawn two and lost two.

Somewhat ominously for Tudor, Tottenham have lost their last three league games against Forest, scoring just once, despite having won six in a row against them before that.

Heading to North London is normally a happy hunting ground for the Midlanders, too, given that they've won away at Spurs on four separate occasions in the Premier League era. Only at Southampton (five wins) do Forest have a better record.

No league wins for Tottenham in 2026

Tudor also can't escape the fact that his side is the only team without a Premier League win in 2026, drawing five and losing seven of their 12 games. In fact, Tottenham have won just two league matches at home all season, drawing four and losing nine.

To put their recent run into some sort of perspective, only from April to November 1912 (13 games) and from December 1934 to April 1935 (16 games) have Spurs ever gone longer without winning in the English top-flight.

Only three other teams have gone longer without a win from the start of a calendar year, and all three (Sunderland, 17 games in 2002/03; Derby, 18 games in 2007/08 and Middlesbrough, 14 games in 2016/17) were relegated.

Forest also have a new man in charge in Vitor Pereira, with the Portuguese being unbeaten in his three games against Tottenham to date (W1, D2). One of those draws came away at the North Londoners when he was in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this season.

Anderson will dictate the tempo

The visitors haven't won for seven Premier League games themselves, however (D4 L3), so the odds of this being a low-scoring affair remain high.

Certainly, if Tottenham want to get anything out of this match, then they have to stop Elliot Anderson from dictating the tempo and flow of the game from midfield.

The England international has created the most chances for his team this season (45) and has also made more successful passes than any other midfielder in the Premier League this season (1,679).

Even if the hosts do somehow manage to dilute Anderson's influence, they still have to be aware of Ibrahim Sangare raiding deep into enemy territory and Morgan Gibbs-White's ability to make something out of nothing in the box.

Richarlison the key for Tottenham

With no new injuries other than their long-term absentees, Forest therefore have a relatively clean bill of health ahead of the game.

Tottenham, on the other hand, are still without James Maddison, Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mo Kudus, Ben Davies and Yves Bissouma, with both Dominic Solanke and Joao Palhinha set to undergo late fitness tests to determine their availability.

One player who is fit for the Lilywhites and who will lead the charge against Forest is Richarlison.

The Brazilian silenced Anfield last time out in the Premier League, and with nine goals already this season in the top-flight, he's already scored more than twice as many goals as any other Tottenham player, and that's despite starting fewer than half of Spurs' games (14/30).

With Xavi Simons also starring against Atletico in midweek, and plenty of others finally putting in a real shift for their manager, if Tudor can get his team selection spot on, then at the very least this could become a very intriguing relegation six-pointer indeed.

Tottenham - Crystal Palace  Flashscore.com

Tudor, a former Croatia international, joins Spurs on a deal until June following Wednesday's dismissal of Thomas Frank.

The 47-year-old's first game in the dugout will be the north London derby against Arsenal next Sunday.

"It is an honour to join this club at an important moment," Tudor told Tottenham's official website.

"I understand the responsibility I have been handed, and my focus is clear. To bring greater consistency to our performances and compete with conviction in every match.

"There is strong quality in this playing squad, and my job is to organise it, energise it and improve our results quickly."

Tudor takes over a Tottenham side 16th in the Premier League, five points above the relegation zone and winless in eight league games.

Frank was axed after just eight months in charge, with his final match a 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle.

The Dane had more success in the Champions League, though, guiding Spurs into the last 16 automatically with a fourth-place finish in the league phase.

Tottenham sporting director Johan Lange said of Tudor: "Igor brings clarity, intensity and experience of stepping into challenging moments and producing impact.

"Our objective is straightforward - to stabilise performances, maximise the quality within the squad and compete strongly in the Premier League and Champions League."

Tudor has been out of work since October after being sacked by Juventus following a seven-month spell in Turin.

He was dismissed with the club eighth in Serie A and in an eight-game winless run.

Tudor won Serie A twice in nine years as a player with Juve before heading into management with Croatia's Hajduk Split in 2013.

He has managed various clubs since then, having stints at the likes of Galatasaray, Udinese, Marseille and Lazio.

The 51-year-old Danish coach joined Spurs from Brentford in June, replacing Ange Postecoglou who, despite winning the Europa League and ending a 17-year trophy drought, was sacked after guiding the club to a 17th-place finish in the Premier League.

The loss to the Magpies followed a prolonged slide in results and growing dissatisfaction among supporters and the board, and was widely viewed internally as the final straw.

The club announced the sacking on X by saying: "The Club has taken the decision to make a change in the Men’s Head Coach position and Thomas Frank will leave today.

"Thomas was appointed in June 2025, and we have been determined to give him the time and support needed to build for the future together.

"However, results and performances have led the Board to conclude that a change at this point in the season is necessary.

"Throughout his time at the Club, Thomas has conducted himself with unwavering commitment, giving everything in his efforts to move the Club forward. We would like to thank him for his contribution and wish him every success in the future."

His official sacking means Tottenham are now searching for their fifth permanent manager since the 2019 departure of Mauricio Pochettino, who is now one of the leading candidates for the role.

Frank arrived from Brentford with a reputation as one of English football's shrewder operators, a coach who had navigated the Bees from Championship contenders to established Premier League competitors.

His Spurs contract ran until 2028, but the promise of long-term stability was undermined by uneven results and a style that never fully convinced.

Despite a solid start, he was unable to steady the ship left by his predecessor and leaves the post having won just seven of their 26 Premier League games, drawing eight and losing 11.

Home form was particularly alarming, with only two league wins in 13 matches, and a recurring inability to control games against perceived inferior opposition.

From 26 league matches, Frank has a win rate of just 26.9%.

Under Pochettino, Spurs won roughly 54 per cent of Premier League matches across nearly five seasons, with that figure rising above 60 per cent in his peak years. Jose Mourinho posted a league win percentage just above 51 per cent, despite a deteriorating squad and evident stylistic friction.

Antonio Conte, for all the volatility of his reign, still delivered a Premier League win rate of around 53 per cent, driven by a strong first full season.

Even under Postecoglou, whose final months were marked by defensive fragility and supporter unrest, delivered a league win rate hovering in the high 40s, comfortably ahead of Frank's output.

Damning losses to rivals - including a heavy 4-1 defeat away to Arsenal - did little to curry favour with fans, who also criticised the lack of attacking flair throughout his tenure.

The North London side also exited both domestic cups early, and while they have made the playoff stages of the Champions League, there is little expectation of a deep run in Europe's elite competition, while qualification for next year looks highly unlikely.

Another Premier League setback, this time against Burnley, leaves Spurs eight points above the relegation zone - and there is a growing expectation that time may finally be running out for the current boss.

Frank earned a stay of execution with a win over Borussia Dortmund in midweek, but that remains their only victory from seven matches in 2026 so far.

They rescued a 2-2 draw at Turf Moor thanks to a very late goal from Cristian Romero, but Frank’s future remains uncertain.

Fans sang the name of former manager Pochettino on several occasions from the away end at Burnley, underlining the pressure on Frank as he attempts to survive.

Pochettino is currently in charge of the United States men’s national team, but would be a contender to take over if he were willing to return. Such a move is almost certainly unlikely until the conclusion of the World Cup campaign.

Pochettino led Spurs to a Champions League final, an achievement that certainly feels far beyond the reach of this current side.

Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham continues to support Frank, and any decision to part ways would require a clearly defined succession plan.

Frank, however, will point to the statistics from the Burnley match as evidence that his side were unfortunate. Spurs had 63% possession and registered 11 shots on target, with home goalkeeper Martin Dubravka producing an outstanding performance to limit their goal return.

Sources say Spurs officials have begun to look into possible bosses for the future, and Xavi Hernandez is one of those to have been checked out.

Frank is fighting to stay alive in his head coach role, but at what point will Spurs boss decide they have seen enough?

Though they've never been direct neighbours, and the Lilywhites' traditional derby is against North London rivals, Arsenal, the Hammers faithful are always up for the trip to N17 or when welcoming Spurs to the London Stadium.

A win for West Ham is vital

On this occasion, both teams are in dire need of the points, and both managers will want to see a performance of real quality, if for no other reason than it might extend their own tenures.

Nuno Espirito Santo isn't proving to be the saviour that many associated with the East London outfit hoped, and as West Ham head into battle, they do so in the knowledge that even a win will keep them at least four points adrift of a Nottingham Forest side up against the Gunners.

The Hammers lost to Forest in the league last time out and previously to Wolves in the fixture before that. This match represents the third in a row where Nuno will have faced a team he has previously managed, and he'll certainly not want to make it a hat-trick of losses.

He has won three of his five games against the North Londoners and will be hanging onto that little slice of positivity with dear life.

Just four home wins for Spurs in the last 24 games

He'll understand that though there's plenty of time left in the season for the Irons to turn the corner, once the games begin to be ticked off and confidence continues to suffer, the gap between them and the teams above them starts to look much worse with each passing week.

West Ham are winless in their last 10 English top-flight matches (D4 L6), which is their longest run without a win since December 2006 and March 2007. On that occasion, a 4-3 loss to Tottenham in their 11th game of that run was the final match before West Ham eventually put three points on the board.

Thomas Frank might not be in as imminent danger of the sack; however, the way that Spurs have been playing under the Dane has been sterile to say the least.

One win in their last seven in all competitions isn't good enough, and 14th position on 27 points isn't where Tottenham should be, whilst just four wins in their last 24 Premier League home games (D6 L14) won't fill anyone with confidence either.

Only five points behind sixth place

Spurs' two home wins this season represent their lowest ever after 10 league matches played, and they've won only one of their last 21 league games when conceding at least once (D6 L14).

However, they do remain just five points from sixth place, and if they can get a couple of decent results, all of a sudden, everything looks brighter.

Given that the visitors to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have lost all six of their London derbies this season, and six of Spurs' seven Premier League victories this campaign have been to nil, the hosts could well be smiling at full-time.

Only Fulham (13 - from August 2018 to November 2020) and Queens Park Rangers (seven - from August 1995 to January 1996) have lost seven or more consecutive London derbies in the Premier League, so Nuno has the weight of history on his shoulders in more ways than one.

Corners could decide this one

One aspect of the game the Portuguese has to address beforehand is his defence's position at set-pieces. No team has conceded more goals (12) from a corner in 2025/26 than West Ham, and no team has scored more from them than Tottenham (11).

Whether they play a part in Frank's thinking or not, Spurs have the opportunity to do the league double over the Hammers for the first time since 2019/20.

In order to stop that from happening, the visitors have to improve upon their recent H2H record against the Lilywhites, winning just one of the last eight in the league (D3 L4).

It isn't clear at this stage if Lucas Paqueta will play at any point for the Hammers either. Despite being a talisman for the East Londoners, the Brazilian has apparently made it clear that he wants to return home and is trying to engineer a move to Flamengo in this window.

Both teams suffering from absences to key men

Were he not to play any part, and officially, he has a back injury, that could significantly impact West Ham's ability to take even a point from this game.

Lukasz Fabianksi and Konstantinos Mavropanos are definitely out for the Irons, El Hadji Malick Diouf is still away on AFCON duty and Matheus Fernandes faces a late fitness test.

Taty Castellanos is likely to keep his place up front after scoring the winner in the FA Cup tie against QPR.

For the hosts, Mo Kudus won't play against his previous employers, whilst he's joined on the sidelines by Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Though a cup run is always nice, as Spurs' Europa League victory last season proved, Thomas Frank's focus has to be on improving the North Londoners' Premier League position.

Just four points from fifth spot

With 27 points to their name at present, they are far enough away from the bottom three so as not to be too concerned.

Indeed, the way West Ham, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers are playing at the moment, it would take a minor miracle for any one of the current bottom three to still be in the English top-flight next season.

That shouldn't take away from the fact that Spurs have been poor under the Dane's tutelage, though they do, somewhat unbelievably, remain just four points away from fifth spot despite being way down in 13th at present.

Just a short burst of form could see the North Londoners again pressing for a European place.

Postecoglou's mitigating circumstances

After hounding out Ange Postecoglou, even though a ton of injuries meant he did have mitigating circumstances with regards to results and performances, the Lilywhites faithful have wasted no time in turning on Frank.

He hasn't even been able to replicate Postecoglou's swashbuckling playing style, which might've papered over the cracks at the very least.

Indeed, one of the defining images of this or any season is when Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven completely ignored their manager after an insipid defeat to London rivals Chelsea.

It spoke volumes, whatever the Tottenham PR machine would have you believe.

Lange, not Frank, has questions to answer

However, one could also argue that Spurs fans' ire is somewhat misdirected and that Frank has become something of a fall guy at the club, in a not too dissimilar fashion to Postecoglou.

Johan Lange is a 46-year-old Dane who is the current sporting director at Tottenham, and has signed off deals on a number of players that are yet to come good for the club.

The roll call certainly doesn't make great reading for Lange, and with wider knowledge from the masses of his transfer involvement, the heat may well, temporarily at least, divert away from the manager.

To date, Lange has agreed deals totalling £293.5m, for the likes of Antonin Kinsky (£12.5m), Wilson Odobert (£25m), Mathys Tel (£37.3m - including his initial loan fee), Kevin Danso (£21m), Archie Gray (£30m), Dominic Solanke (£55m plus add-ons), Radu Dragusin (£26.7m), Lucas Bergvall (£8.5m) and Xavi Simons (£51.8m).

Not to mention the loans of Randal Kolo Muani (£7.8m), Joao Palhinha (£7m), Ashley Phillips (£2.5m), Yang Min Hyeok (£3.4m) and Kota Takai (£5m).

Though injuries have again played their part, with Solanke having been out long-term, and shorter-term injuries befalling one or two others, none have really lived up to the hype, so to speak.

Frank has to work with what he has

Of course, not every player is going to come into a new club and hit the ground running, particularly if they've come from a foreign league and need to adapt to a new culture, language and place to live on top of getting to grips with things on the pitch.

Though that can be a mitigating factor in one or two instances, to be getting recruitment wrong on so many occasions has to send a warning to other board members.

In Frank's defence, he can only work with what he has, and to that end, if the Lilywhites are going to enter the transfer market again this January, his own recommendations have to be spot on.

Apparent interest in 19-year-old Santos left-back Souza indicates that he and Lange are perhaps barking up the wrong tree again, and are taking punts on players that they hope will work out.

Response after Amorim sacking was telling

After Ruben Amorim was sacked on Monday by Manchester United, a job for which Frank was interviewed, the Dane's response was telling.

"It's very difficult to achieve sustainable success if you change key personnel in clubs, like the head coach and sporting directors," he was quoted as saying.

"If you think you have the right ones and are aligned, you have to do it over a long time, not one and a half years.

"For me, no matter what kind of title you have, it (transfer policy) always needs to be collaborative between the head coach, the sports director, ownership, leadership, whatever. So you're completely aligned in what you do."

It's difficult to decipher whether that's a deliberate jibe to those above him, or a plea to supporters to be a little more understanding of his situation, given that managers/head coaches are generally the ones to fall on their swords when things aren't going as well as can be expected.

That mutual respect is a two-way street, of course, so Frank needs to start getting a run of positive results quickly if he doesn't want to become another candidate to have fallen by the wayside after promising much but delivering little.