Tottenham: Relegation from Premier League a real possibility after north London derby beaten by Arsenal | Soccer News

“Shock of the century?” However you frame it – relegation from the Premier League is now a very real possibility for Tottenham.

Another north London derby game at home on Sunday has dropped Spurs into 16th place, just four points above a West Ham side who edged closer to them at the weekend.

With 11 games to go, Spurs are at crisis point. The Premier League outfit have not won any of their last nine top-flight games and need a serious upturn in form to salvage their status.

Terrible form

Their recent record is miserable. While the Champions League has been a welcome distraction and provided the platform for encouraging results, Spurs’ performances in the Premier League have seriously worried their supporters.

Over the past dozen games, Tottenham have had the worst form of any team in the division. A win at Crystal Palace and a return draw against Man City is all there is to shout about during a game that saw them take just seven points.

Nottingham Forest and West Ham, the teams directly below them in the table, each scored 12 points over the same period to close the gap on Spurs to five points.

If these three teams maintain similar trajectories, Tottenham’s final two games of the season – a trip to Chelsea and then home game with Everton – could be must-wins.

Injury issues

Of course, any assessment of Spurs’ struggles requires a mention of their horrendous injury issues this season. In fact, this is the second season in a row that they have seen key players on the sidelines.

At the moment, they are missing more players than any other Premier League team, with 11 players unavailable.

Captain Cristian Romero is suspended for the derby, but the long-term absences of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison have clearly contributed to an underwhelming attacking output this season, while Mohammed Kudus and Wilson Odobert are now also missing.

Spurs’ squad is seriously stretched and will have to juggle a Champions League knockout bid in tandem with a relegation battle in the coming weeks.

Last season Ange Postecoglou was able to manage his injury squad by focusing fully on Europe and letting the team’s league form slip. Igor Tudor has no such luxury this time.

‘Bad Habits’

But perhaps his biggest problem to solve will be Spurs’ mentality issue.

“There were too many bad habits in the past,” he said after the defeat to Arsenal, reflecting a mindset at the club that has been criticized by recent managers Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank.

“Nobody can tell me we don’t have quality,” Tudor said. “But we have to change, have a mental switch and have this mental sharpness to be in the game from the first and second minutes and have the physicality.”

It won’t be easy to flip that switch, given the pressure of Spurs’ situation.

“This is a team without personality,” said the former Spurs captain and air sports pundit Jamie Redknapp. “They have to show character somehow.”

Favorable matches?

They say there are no easy games in the Premier League – and there certainly aren’t any easy games for Tottenham right now.

But the fixture list is in their favour. Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Burnley all have tougher games left to play than Spurs, based on opposition league position.

Although Spurs have taken just two points from their most recent games against the four teams below them in the league, they cannot take any game for granted.

A reason for hope…

The expert opinion suggests that alarm bells should be ringing in North London.

“If Tottenham are not careful, they might be in another league,” says Redknapp. “They cannot continue to perform like this.”

Neville said: “They’ve under-delivered for a number of years, they’ve never found the right formula to get it right and this is the second season running they’ve been in this type of position.

“It’s not a fluke anymore. It’s a pattern of what you are and it will be the shock of the century. It would be absolutely mind-boggling to think that they could disappear from this league, but I don’t think they will.”

That note of optimism from Neville is backed up by Opta’s supercomputer, which reckons there is just a 4.4 per cent chance of Spurs going down.

Spurs fans may not be feeling so confident…