Tottenham have not won a league game since the New Year. The heavy north London derby defeat to Arsenal on Sunday only confirmed what everyone already knew. Igor Tudor’s team has serious problems.
With just four points adrift of the Premier League relegation zone after a 4-1 home defeat, Spurs have a plethora of issues to solve.
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They have not won a domestic league game in 2026 and only two since October 26, 2025, meaning that – apart from bottom side Wolverhampton – 16th-placed Tottenham have the worst performance in the Premier League. .
New interim manager Tudor will have to deal with a serious injury list, as well as an upcoming Champions League quarter-final clash.
And all this while trying to implement new ideas and avoid the unthinkable scenario of being relegated to the Championship.
Since 1950, Spurs have only spent one season outside the top division, and that was back in 1977-78.
Will they have enough to survive?
In Tottenham’s 11 remaining Premier League games, they will visit Wolverhampton and have home games against teams around them in the table – Crystal Palace, Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Leeds.
But their home record at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season is simply miserable, so can they expect to turn their form around against other struggling teams?
With only two wins and only 10 points picked up out of a possible 42, only Wolverhampton have picked up fewer points at home.
While sports analytics and data experts at Opta estimate their relegation chances at just 4.84%, it is worrying for Spurs supporters that their team has picked up only 0.67 points per game since beating Everton on October 26.
And unless Tottenham can stop their slump, it would equate to another seven points, which would take them to 36 points on the final day of the season.
“I would be very surprised if they couldn’t fight their way out of it,” former Spurs midfielder Danny Murphy told BBC Sport.
“The games to come are all hugely important. I think they just want enough.
“The fact that we mention that Spurs could be relegated is incredible. It’s really completely ridiculous.
“Whether you blame player recruitment or the owners, it would be disastrous for that club. I’ve heard some fans suggest that relegation could be the best. I just don’t see it.”
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Injury-hampered team needs improved ‘mentality’
The last game Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison played together for Spurs was on May 1, 2025, against Bodø/Glimt
Tottenham finished 17th last season, but were never in real danger of relegation as then-boss Ange Postecoglou balanced an injury-prone squad with a focus on Europe.
Although their league form suffered, they still scored 64 goals, and the bright spot was a Europa League triumph over Manchester United last May, which also secured a coveted Champions League spot.
However, their offensive production this season has been underwhelming, and they would need to score an average of 2.45 goals per game in the upcoming games to match the same number as last season.
The lengthy absences of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison have hardly helped, and a thin squad was without a total of 11 players last weekend, significantly more than any other Premier League club.
Former full-back Stephen Kelly believes the “only reason” Tottenham might avoid relegation is that other teams are even worse.
“You look at the games that are coming up and feel like these are games they could have completely lost,” he said.
“They need a mentality to be able to perform at home. If you can start winning some games, it can make a huge difference, but it just doesn’t feel like it’s going to change between now and the end of the season.
“I don’t really want to admit it, and I still feel like there are teams that are really bad and won’t be able to save themselves [from relegation], but the only reason Spurs will do is because other teams will do worse.
“It’s nothing nice to talk about, but it probably will be the case. It doesn’t look good at all.”
Relegation now more than a ‘short-term’ shock
There have been a number of media reports outlining the catastrophic cost a relegation would entail for Spurs.
And the club would undoubtedly face a significant financial blow if it were to start 2026-27 in the second-highest division.
Revenues from broadcast, matchday and commercial deals would all be reduced, while the last wage cost stood at around £254 million, as opposed to the Championship average of £38 million.
There would also be a ripple effect on transfers, not only in terms of the quality of players the club could attract, but also in paying off £337 million in outstanding instalments for current players.
BBC Sport’s own analysis points to an estimated drop in annual revenue of around £261 million, and football economics expert Kieran Maguire said: “In 2023-24, Tottenham generated the most, averaging £84 per supporter per game, the highest figure in the Premier League.
“That number would face significant downward pressure, not from the size of the crowd, but from what clubs can realistically charge.
“Business customers who pay a premium price for a home game against Liverpool or Arsenal are unlikely to pay the same for a visit from Swansea.
“There is also great financial vulnerability around sponsorships. The shirt front deal with AIA, worth around £40 million a year, almost certainly includes relegation clauses that could halve its value.
“The jersey deal with Nike, estimated at 30 million punns annually, is likely to take a minor hit.
“Spurs supporters will still buy replica shirts regardless of division, but a reduction is likely. Broader sponsorships and partner agreements across the club would face similar problems.”
He added: “For a club with Spurs’ ambitions and financial size, relegation would not just be a short-term sporting setback. The economics of English football mean that a recovery is a multi-year project.”
Cloughs Forest, Newcastle and Leeds failed to avoid the fall
Brian Clough’s last act as Nottingham Forest manager was to see his team lose their top division status
The phrase ‘too good to be relegated’ was widely used to refer to the Forest team that won the first-ever televised live Premier League match against Liverpool in August 1992.
Except they weren’t.
The sale of England duo Des Walker and Teddy Sheringham had significantly weakened a group that was more used to challenging at the top of the table and in domestic cup finals.
And the two-time former European champions, with a squad that included Stuart Pearce, Roy Keane, Steve Stone and Nigel Clough, were relegated in legendary boss Brian Clough’s final season at the helm.
There have also been other high-profile clubs that have gone the same way.
Newcastle players look depressed during the 2008-09 season
Caption,
Newcastle won one and drew three of their last 11 games in 2008–09
Fabricio Coloccini, Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen, Damien Duff and Nicky Butt were part of the Newcastle squad that was relegated in 2008-09.
On paper, the Magpies also looked relatively strong in the 2015-16 season, with Aleksandar Mitrovic, Georginio Wijnaldum and Andros Townsend in the ranks.
Again, that wasn’t enough, and they joined another former European Cup winner, Aston Villa, who were also relegated that year.
The basic premise seems to be that the fight for survival doesn’t pay attention to big names – once you’re down there, anything can happen.
“If you keep losing games and your confidence drops, it doesn’t matter how many good players you have, it’s going to be difficult,” Murphy added.
Sheffield Wednesday have never returned since losing their top division spot in 2000 and their deplorable situation is well documented.
Just like the Owls, Leeds United have dropped as low as to the third tier since they were crowned English champions in 1992, while former Premier League winners Blackburn are currently fighting to preserve their Championship status.
