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The referee for Tottenham Hotspur’s upcoming clash at Craven Cottage has now been officially confirmed, and the omens don’t look great.

Spurs will head to West London on Sunday hoping to give themselves some breathing space in the relegation battle, with both Nottingham Forest and West Ham gaining ground on them.

With the Hammers heading to Anfield on Saturday, the Lilywhites potentially have an opportunity to push further away from their London rivals.

Igor Tudor was angered by some aspects of Tottenham’s performance against Arsenal, and he will be hoping for a better showing against Fulham, having had another week to work with the squad at Hotspur Way.

Paul Tierney will officiate Tottenham’s clash against Fulham

The Premier League have now confirmed that Paul Tierney will take charge of the London derby at Craven Cottage.

Adrian Holmes and Simon Long will be Tierney’s assistants, while James Linnington is the fourth official in charge of the clash.

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The VAR will be spearheaded by Craig Powsen, who will have Lee Betts to assist him at Stockley Park. However, what will worry Sprus fans is the club’s abject record in the games overseen by Tierney.

Spurs struggle to win when Tierney is in charge

Tottenham have won just five of their 22 matches that Tierney has overseen so far.

The Lilywhites have lost six times and drawn on 11 occasions in the Premier League when the 45-year-old has taken charge. However, the one piece of good news is that Tierney is not in a hurry to go to his notebook.

He has only given 38 bookings to Spurs players in his 22 games in charge, and the experienced official has never sent off a Tottenham player.

Former Tottenham Hotspur right-back has revealed whether he expects the Lilywhites to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

Being in a relegation battle was almost unthinkable at Spurs for over two decades, but the club are now at the very real risk of being relegated from the Premier League for the first time since the competition’s inception.

Only four points separate West Ham in 18th and Tottenham in 16th, and worringly, the East London side are looking more capable of getting results than the Lilywhites.

With some tough fixtures coming up, the North Londoners could easily find themselves in the bottom three over the coming weeks.

Stephen Kelly reveals only reason he expects Tottenham to stay up

Kelly does not expect Spurs to be relegated this season, but not because he has any faith in his former side.

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The former Republic of Ireland international believes that Tottenham will be able to preserve their Premier League status, only because the sides below them are even poorer than they are.

When asked about the fact Spurs have games coming up against Fulham, Crystal Palace and Liverpool, Kelly told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast: “You look at the fixtures coming and you feel like they are ones they could absolutely lose.

“The worrying part is the gulf in class between Spurs and Arsenal [on Sunday]. It was just enormous. You are looking at it and going ‘we are so far off that side’. They were so far off Arsenal in everything – pace, power, passing – and there was just a sense of dejection.

“They need a mentality to be able to perform at home. If you are struggling in front of your own fans and you don’t have the mental strength to be able to turn that around at home and get them back onside, because if you can get back to winning some games that can make a huge difference, but it just doesn’t feel like that is going to change between now and the end of the season.

“I don’t really want to admit it, and still feel there are teams that are really poor and won’t get themselves out of it [relegation], but the only reason Spurs will be OK is that other teams will do worse. Which is not a great thing to be talking about but is probably going to be the case, but it is not looking very good at all.”

Pundits have issued stark warnings to Spurs

Not every pundit is as confident as Kelly that Tottenham will still be in the top-flight next season.

Jamie Carragher has warned Spurs that they are on the verge of a catastrophe, given that they are struggling to get results at home.

A worrying stat has emerged which suggests that Premier League relegation could be more than just a possibility for Tottenham Hotspur this season.

The defeat in the North London derby has left Spurs teetering just four points off West Ham in 18th place.

Ahead of the game, Igor Tudor confidently asserted that Tottenham will stay up this season, but that is not a view shared by most observers of the game.

Jamie Carragher has warned Spurs that they are on the verge of a catastrophe, pointing to their sustained struggles at home as a major worrying sign.

Tottenham took just three points from their corresponding 11 games last season

The Lilywhites have eleven league games to secure their Premier League status, but the corresponding results last season in those matches will not fill their supporters with optimism.

Collings has revealed on social media that in these 11 matches last term, Spurs only managed to get three points, courtesy of the win against Everton at home.

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In response to Tom Allnutt sharing Opta’s stats on how likely Tottenham are to go down, Collings responded on X: “Had a look at Spurs’ final 11 PL games this year – and results from corresponding matches last season.

“Leeds and Sunderland not applicable, obviously, but in the other nine games, they took three points. One win, against Everton at home, lost the other eight.”

Even if you add the two promoted teams and give Tottenham two generous predicted wins, that still only makes nine points – which would leave them on 38 total. Teams have been relegated with that score before.

Relegation could have devastating consequences for Spurs

According to reports, Tottenham have already lost a key sponsor due to their struggles in the Premier League this term.

It has been suggested that Spurs could lose tens of millions even if they stay up, as many of their commercial partners are already reviewing their contracts with the North London club.

The decision-makers at Tottenham Hotspur may be wondering if they made a mistake by recalling Yang Min-hyeok from Portsmouth and loaning the winger to Coventry City for the second half of the season.

The 19-year-old winger was playing regularly at Portsmouth and had made a big impact at Fratton Park.

Yang made 16 appearances in total for Pompey, scoring three goals and laying on an assist, but the Lilywhites chose to end his spell at the South Coast prematurely.

The Spurs teenager was loaned out to Championship leaders Coventry City last month, but things are not going well for him at West Midlands.

Tottenham youngster Yang Min-hyeok is struggling for game time at Coventry City

According to Football.London, the Tottenham Hotspur winger has only made one start for Coventry since his switch last month: the FA Cup loss to Stoke City.

Yang is still waiting for his first start in the Championship for his new club, having played just 29 minutes of league football across his three appearances.

The South Korean was not even part of Coventry’s matchday squad in their most recent victories against Middlesbrough and West Brom, which may be cause for some concern for the teenager as well as Tottenham.

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Should Spurs have allowed Yang to remain at Portsmouth?

The 19-year-old could have benefited from a full season of regular football at Pompey, but Tottenham evidently felt he was ready to play for a better team.

Perhaps the Spurs decision-makers wanted to challenge Yang in a more high-pressure environment and to compete for his place in the side.

While things are not going the winger’s way for now, it was always going to be hard to go into a settled team mid-season. While Yang may have preferred to get regular minutes, this experience will undoubtedly help him grow mentally stronger.

Micky van de Ven’s Tottenham Hotspur future appears to be hanging in the balance ahead of the summer transfer window.

Spurs’ continued struggles in the Premier League over the last two seasons have put the futures of the team’s biggest players in doubt.

It has been reported over recent weeks that there is panic at Tottenham over the prospect of losing Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero this summer.

Some sources have claimed that Spurs are desperate to keep Van de Ven and have put a massive price tag on the centre-back to scare off potential suitors.

Micky van de Ven is not keen on signing a new Tottenham deal

The Dutchman has a little over three years left on his contract, and it has been revealed by TEAMtalk that contract talks have hit a dead end for now.

Tottenham are not close to agreeing a new deal with Van de Ven, and the talks have now been shelved until the summer as the club prioritises staying in the Premier League.

The report says that while Spurs’ long-term ambition is to tie down the 24-year-old to a new contract, the player may have other ideas.

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It is said that Van de Ven ‘currently has little belief that a new deal at Tottenham is the way forward’, with sources close to the centre-back suggesting that he is weighing up his options ahead of the summer.

Real Madrid eyeing summer deal for Van de Ven

TEAMtalk say that they can ‘confirm’ that Real Madrid are keeping themselves informed of the Netherlands international’s situation.

With David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger potentially on their way out, Los Blancos are looking for a left-sided centre-back and Van de Ven ‘is firmly on their radar’.

Tottenham Hotspur may find it difficult to win the race for Andy Robertson in the summer after coming close to signing the Liverpool left-back in January.

Robertson appeared all set for a move to Tottenham during the winter transfer window, but the deal fell through.

Liverpool blocked the 31-year-old’s switch to Spurs after being unable to recall Kostas Tsimikas from his loan spell at AS Roma.

It has been claimed by some sources over recent weeks that Spurs are expected to reignite their interest in Robertson in the summer, but a new update has suggested that they will face intense competition for the full-back.

Four clubs eyeing summer move for Tottenham target Andy Robertson

The 31-year-old is into the final few months of his deal at Anfield and could be set to leave as a free agent in the summer.

CaughtOffside have now revealed that the experienced Liverpool defender is attracting a lot of interest ahead of the summer window.

Atletico Madrid are believed to admire Robertson’s grit and his competitive edge, while there are also several Premier League clubs on his trail.

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Wolves, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are all thought to be keeping an eye on the left-back’s situation ahead of the summer window.

Spurs may have to pay a fee for Robertson this summer

Even though the full-back’s contract with the Reds runs out in June, there is no guarantee that he will be available for free at the end of the season.

Over recent weeks, some sources have claimed that Liverpool are considering offering the Spurs target a new contract.

Tottenham still haven’t won a league game in 2026, and if that run continues any longer, Igor Tudor will have some big decisions to make.

The interim manager was unable to stop the rot at the weekend, with a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal pushing Spurs closer to the relegation zone.

Igor Tudor now has a couple of huge Premier League games coming up that he will know are absolutely must-win fixtures; up next is Fulham, before a home tie against Crystal Palace.

We have a good idea of what to expect from Spurs for that clash with Fulham. But, will the Lilywhites get the win they desperately need, or will we see a nightmare scenario unfolding for Spurs and Tudor over the next couple of weeks?

Two must-win games for Tottenham that’ll impact Champions League hopes

While the odds of Spurs going down are still pretty low, they are increasing week by week. Indeed, it’s no secret that if positive results aren’t achieved against Fulham and Palace, it will well and truly be panic stations in North London.

Beyond the obvious impact losing one of, or even worse, both of these London derbies would have on Tottenham’s Premier League campaign, the knock-on effect for the Champions League would be huge.

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I think it’s safe to say most fans are not all that focused on continental football right now, but putting together a strong run in Europe would still be desirable.

However, if Spurs do drop points against Fulham and/or Palace, we can surely expect Tudor to write-off the Champions League and devote all his and the players’ energy into Premier League survival. And to be honest, could we blame him?

This season can still end on a positive note for Spurs

Still, there is still a tiny bit of hope that this season could end up being ever-so-slightly positive for Spurs.

As we said, there’s the Champions League knockout stages to look forward to. Let’s be optimistic here: results in Europe have been great so far, and there’s every chance that can continue. Wouldn’t it be nice to get to the latter stages of this competition, regardless of what’s happening domestically?

Turning our attention to the league, Spurs still have 11 games to play. While fans don’t fancy Tottenham to pick up that many points, there are still a massive 33 points on offer.

I’m not saying Spurs will get that many, or probably even close to that, but they could. Even a haul of 20 points, roughly speaking, would take Tottenham to 49 points for the season.

That would be 11 more than last year’s points tally, and would have been enough to finish 13th in 2024/25. It’s obviously not good enough, but all things considered, that would be relatively acceptable – as long as this kind of season never, ever happens again.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League campaign has provided rare encouragement this season, and now their route through the knockout stages is beginning to take shape after developments elsewhere in the competition.

While Tottenham’s Premier League campaign continues to falter, their Champions League performances have offered some hope.

Spurs managed a top-five finish in the league phase of the Champions League and have since booked their spot in the round of 16.

However, their opponents have yet to be decided, with the round of 16 play-off ties currently taking place.

During the play-off draw, Spurs found out that their round of 16 opponent could be one of four sides – Juventus, Galatasaray, Club Brugge or Atletico Madrid.

Tottenham Champions League draw: Atletico Madrid confirmed as possible round of 16 opponent

Tottenham now know that Atletico Madrid could be their last 16 opponent following the Spanish side’s play-off win over Club Brugge.

Diego Simeone’s side secured an emphatic 4-1 win over the Belgian outfit in the second leg of the play-off tie, after the two sides drew 3-3 in the first leg.

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That result means Atletico Madrid will face either Spurs or Liverpool in the round of 16, although the exact opponent will be confirmed during the draw.

Spurs await draw as Champions League round of 16 picture clears

The Champions League round of 16 draw takes place on Friday, 27 February, while the ties will be played on 10-11 March and 17-18 March.

Should Tottenham avoid Atletico Madrid, their next opponent will be one of Galatasaray or Juventus, who are set to play the second leg of their own play-off tie on Wednesday.

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has revealed what Lucas Bergvall’s stance is on his Tottenham future amidst interest from some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League.

According to reports, both Aston Villa and Chelsea had enquiries for Bergvall knocked back by Spurs during January.

It has been reported over recent days that Liverpool could also enter the race for the Tottenham midfielder during the summer transfer window.

Spurs have been warned they would have a hard time hanging onto Bergvall if they miss out on European football next season.

Lucas Bergvall does not want to leave Tottenham

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has now revealed that the 20-year-old is happy at the North London club and wants to stay.

He adds that Spurs see the youngster as a key part of their long-term future and would not consider a summer sale.

O’Rourke told Football Insider: “Bergvall definitely comes in to that reckoning as one of Tottenham’s best players. Obviously, he’s out with a long-term injury, so he’s been a big miss for Tottenham in the fight they find themselves in for survival as well.

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“He’s highly regarded at Tottenham, he’s under a long contract until 2031 and there was no surprise that they rebuffed those inquiries from Chelsea and Villa in the January window.

“Bergvall, for his stance as well, he is happy at Tottenham and wants to do his best for them. As I said, Tottenham see him as a key part of their long-term future at the club as well so they don’t want to even consider letting Lucas Bergvall leave.”

Spurs fear losing two more key men in the summer

Bergvall is not the only Tottenham player whose future has become the subject of speculation ahead of the summer.

Reports indicate that there is panic at Spurs about losing both Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero in light of their continued struggles in the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur have expressed interest in a centre-forward who has played alongside Cristian Romero for the Argentine national side.

Although Randal Kolo Mauni started and scored his first Premier League goal against Arsenal on Sunday, the Frenchman is not expected to make a permanent switch to Tottenham in the summer.

There are also doubts over Richarlison’s future at Spurs beyond this summer, which is why the Lilywhites may need to enter the market for another striker in the upcoming transfer window.

It has now emerged that the North Londoners are turning their attention to an experienced striker who is impressing in South America.

Tottenham battling three clubs for Flaco Lopez

According to journalist Diego Firmino, Tottenham Hotspur have now entered the race to sign Palmeiras striker Flaco Lopez.

The 25-year-old has found the back of the net 62 times and provided 18 assists in 190 appearances for the Brazilian club, who own 70 per cent of his economic rights.

The report reveals that Palmeiras would demand €40m-€45m (£35m-£39.3m) for the striker after this summer’s World Cup.

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Tottenham could face competition from Fulham, West Ham, and Atletico Madrid, who are all monitoring Lopez.

Spurs are one of the leading contenders to sign Serbian striker

Lopez is not the only centre-forward on Tottenham’s radar, with the Lilywhites allegedly keeping tabs on a Juventus star, who is in the final few months of his contract.

Spurs and Chelsea have been deemed Dusan Vlahovic’s most likely destinations in the summer, with the striker now able to agree a pre-contract agreement with non-Italian clubs ahead of a free move in the summer.