Tottenham Hotspur

Beleaguered Tottenham are without a league win in 2026, so can Roberto de Zerbi inspire them to victory in his first home match in charge against his former side Brighton on Saturday (17:30 BST)? BBC Sport looks at the key themes around the fixture.

Spurs close to unwanted home record

If their situation wasn't already serious enough, a morale-sapping weekend of results brought into even sharper focus just how much trouble Tottenham are in.

West Ham's crushing victory over Wolves, Nottingham Forest's battling point against Aston Villa and Leeds United's historic triumph at Old Trafford were sandwiched by a toothless defeat for Spurs at Sunderland in which they also lost captain Cristian Romero for the season.

There were only limited signs of a "new manager bounce" for Roberto de Zerbi in his first match in charge. He's since had another week on the training ground to try to instil some belief in his fragile squad. "I can be a big brother, father, they don't need a coach," he said of his plans to lift spirits.

The only one of Spurs' last 13 managers to lose their opening home game was his much-maligned predecessor Igor Tudor. Their home form remains an ongoing issue and if they are beaten again on Saturday, the Lilywhites will equal their club record of five successive home league losses set in February 1994.

So dismal have their performances been in front of their own fans that their tally of 10 home points is just one more than Brighton have picked up in their last three league matches alone.

Overall, Tottenham's winless streak in the league of 14 matches - dating back to 28 December - is just two shy of the longest such run in their history of 16 set between December 1934 and April 1935.

They also remain one of only two top-flight sides yet to win a match after failing behind along with Wolves.

Seagulls having flying end to season

In yet further bad news for Spurs and De Zerbi, his former side Brighton proudly sit on top of the Premier League form table having won five of their last six matches.

It is as many victories at they had managed in their previous 20 top-flight league games combined and has quelled rumours that Fabian Hurzeler's job was under threat.

Another three points would give them a fourth away win on the spin for the very first time in the top flight. The last time they conceded a goal on the road was on 11 February.

Their resurgence after such a tricky winter has firmly propelled them back into the mix for European football and they are only six points adrift of a Champions League place.

They have also enjoyed an excellent recent record against Tottenham, having lost just one of their last five against the north Londoners, scoring 14 goals in those matches, including four at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the final game of last season.

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Craig Nelson
BBC Sport Journalist

Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Brighton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (kick-off 17:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• De Zerbi confirmed that Argentina centre-back Cristian Romero is out for season and said: "I am really sorry for him, for his injury. Romero, first of all, loves Tottenham, and the people have to know his suffering."

• Goakeeper Guglielmo Vicario remains out: "I am looking forward to working with him. He is another important player for us with big experience and a big personality. We are waiting for him."

• Uruguay midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is available to play, although De Zerbi does not know if he will start, while Yves Bissouma is "100%" ready to play.

• The Spurs boss said he does not want to "push" England forward James Maddison, who has not played since suffering a torn ACL in pre-season

• On Maddison's return: "It's better to lose [Maddison] for one game more than to take a risk for another injury."

• On taking the team out for a meal: "I don't know if we win the game for [this] dinner, but we ate very well. The food was amazing and if we win I am ready to pay every week one dinner."

• On facing former club Brighton: "I love Brighton, I love my former players and all people working in this club. Fabian [Hurzeler] is working very well and is credit for what they are doing."

• De Zerbi said he has not decided who will captain the side in Romero's absence, but added: "I would like all players to feel they could be a captain. We can't cry, we have to push and be stronger to come out of this situation."

Listen to full commentary of Saturday's match via BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news.

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Tottenham are prepared to sell Conor Gallagher, 26, with several Premier League clubs interested in the England midfielder, who only joined Spurs in January. (Football Insider), external

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Roberto de Zerbi's first home Premier League game in charge of Tottenham will be against his former club Brighton on Saturday.

The Italian's tenure started with defeat at Sunderland last Sunday and it was a result that dropped Spurs into the relegation zone after West Ham beat Wolves.

Only one of the previous 13 managers to take charge of Tottenham have lost their first home game and that was De Zerbi's predecessor Igor Tudor in February against Arsenal.

But Spurs' home record this campaign has been a cause for concern.

They have lost 10 of their 16 league games to date at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and four consecutively in recent weeks.

They have only ever lost five in a row once in their league history and that was in February 1994.

Brighton head to the capital having won two of their last four away league games against Spurs, including a 4-1 victory last season.

The Seagulls want points on the board to continue their quest for European football, but De Zerbi will hope to kick-start the new manager bounce and secure Spurs' first league win of 2026.

Bardi
Fan writer

Image source, PA Media

It takes something special for a club to go through four managers and for nothing to change.

Four different sets of principles, four different approaches, four different game plans, yet nothing sticks. Not one idea nor concept has made a lasting impact on who we are as a football club. Tottenham Hotspur have been lacking an identity for so long that I am not sure I could tell a stranger, someone who has never heard of the club, what exactly we are.

Games pass us by, bad luck seems to wait at every 50-50 and there is such a lack of goal threat that opposition goalkeepers may as well start their summer holidays early. We are a team lacking in every department, on the pitch and off it.

With each appointment, we are promised change. Something to make us proud, something to cling to, but every new era brings the same disappointment and the same draining of our most valuable resource: time.

The new manager bounce is a fable as old as time, but at Spurs there has been no sign of it. It remains a bedtime story as we sleepwalk towards relegation. Every weekend brings another must-win game, and every weekend the line in the sand is erased and redrawn further down the beach.

On a personal level, I have gone beyond panic, fear and anger. I have arrived at acceptance. Since January, all we have needed is three wins, yet even that has proved beyond everyone involved. I do not see Spurs, with the finish line in sight, suddenly finding the energy to push on. Instead, we will continue to crawl towards it, as Nottingham Forest, Leeds and, most painfully, West Ham surge past us to safety.

In the long term, Roberto de Zerbi may prove an inspired appointment, but he has been dropped into a hole so deep and so dark that even a five-year contract may not give him enough time to find a way out.

Tottenham fans have been let down so often this season that I have no fingers left to point with. You make your own fate, and this club has created a monster.

Find more from Bardi at The Extra Inch - a Spurs podcast, external

Defender Cristian Romero may have played his last game for Tottenham Hotspur, with the club planning a squad overhaul even if they stay up. (Talksport, external)

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Two Premier League heavyweights are set to face each other this weekend at Etihad Stadium, as Manchester City host Arsenal.

Both teams go into the fixture with different targets. For Mikel Arteta's side, it is about extending their lead at the top of the table. For Pep Guardiola's side, it is about closing the gap and keeping themselves in the title race.

It is a fixture being labelled a title decider by some, so we want to know who you want to win this Sunday's match.

Will you be cheering on the Citizens or getting behind the Gunners?

Make your selection

Ali Speechly
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

As Cristian Romero made an early exit at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, I think most fans knew that his tears were for Argentina, not Spurs.

Adding to Tottenham's ridiculous injury list, Romero appeared distraught despite his team-mates' efforts to console him. This raw emotion was from a man who had just realised his World Cup dream might be over before the tournament has even kicked off, not one who is desperate to keep the club he captains in the Premier League.

Therein lies the issue at Spurs. There doesn't seem to be anyone taking responsibility for this relegation battle, nor is there any sense of panic about our plight. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting it would be helpful for our players to run around in alarm. Clearly, they need calm heads. But where is the sense of urgency?

Instead, there is an ominous air of resignation in the Spurs camp. The fans are still giving it everything we have, including those who travelled to Sunderland in the fragile, and ultimately futile, hope that we might secure our first league win of 2026.

However, the stony expressions on the faces of our board members watching on told a different story. Their final, desperate gamble of appointing Roberto de Zerbi - a decision that has divided the fanbase for good reason - has started in the worst way possible.

Any dreams of this mythical "new manager bounce" were destroyed by a cruel deflection which led to the only goal of the game and yet another defeat. If De Zerbi was under any illusion about the desperation of this situation, the scale of his task was brought into sharp focus for him in his first match in charge.

Whichever league we end up in next season, there must be a full-scale review of the club over the summer, resulting in a change of leadership from top to bottom, on and off the pitch.

For now, if we have any chance of surviving the drop, these players need more than a big brother or a father figure. They need a miracle-worker.

Find more from Ali Speechly at Women Of The Lane, external and on Instagram, external

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton says Roberto de Zerbi has gone into Tottenham "and put his coaching principles aside" in order to try and save them from relegation.

De Zerbi's reign started with defeat at Sunderland, meaning Spurs are still winless in 2026 in the Premier League.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club about the tough job De Zerbi has, Sutton said: "He is a pure coach, but he has said the team don't need to be coached and that means they are that low on confidence they are not ready for him to go in and play the De Zerbi brand of football.

"It is just about getting them over the line and I think he is doing the right thing, but it is pathetic really.

"I was looking at their bench on the weekend and it's an expensive bench, let alone the first team. How Tottenham are in this position is just incredible. The players have to take a great deal of responsibility.

"In De Zerbi's early days it is just about trying to lift them and keep them on side.

"He has gone in and put his coaching principles aside and will give them a good pat on the back to try and keep them up."

The Observer's Rory Smith says De Zerbi has taken a "firefighter's approach" and is being "pragmatic".

Smith said: "De Zerbi's said 'I'll put this on hold until the summer. Let's stay up and then we can do the playing out from the back stuff.'"

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Adwaidh Rajan
BBC Sport journalist

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Getting 36 points on the board should offer a huge psychological boost for Leeds.

Teams finishing on 36 or more points in each of the past nine Premier League seasons have avoided relegation.

In the 20-team Premier League era, starting from the 1995-96 season, the average number of points earned by the team finishing 18th is 35.53.

In those 30 seasons of 38 games, 36 points has ensured survival 60% of the time.

The rate of survival increases to 80% for 38 points, 90% for 40 points and 100% for 43 or more points.

So does that mean Leeds have virtually guaranteed survival this season?

Not really.

That is because this season is on track to be the toughest to survive for a decade.

According to Opta's supercomputer, Tottenham are now favourites to go down at 48.7%. But Spurs, sitting 18th, are on 30 points and projected to finish on 37 by Opta - meaning 38 points would be needed for survival.

West Ham, currently 17th, hold the record for the team relegated with the most points in the 20-team era - in 2002-03 when they picked up 42 points but still went down.

"The reality is that performance-wise we should already [have] far more than 40 points," Daniel Farke said.

"This team has performed over the whole season with unbelievable consistency.

"But we are on 36 points, a few more points are needed. For now, three points closer but nothing is achieved yet."

Read more here

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on how big a blow it is for Spurs to lose captain Cristian Romero for the rest of the season after his injury at Sunderland.

Here are some of your comments:

Deep: This team is going to benefit from the loss of Romero. He isn't a leader and his disciplinary issues have never helped. He was never crying for us (he's going to Athleti in the summer!), he was crying for his national team. He doesn't care if we go down and the team is better off without him! A solid defender like Danso, with that long throw as well, will do us the world of good. Hopefully the loss of this dreadful captain will allow someone to step up and really lead this team.

I do feel for the lad though, he might miss the World Cup.

KH: This is not a blow at all. When we needed him he got idiotic suspensions and has shown zero leadership on or off the pitch. I'd far rather have Danso playing.

Terry: It's nice to hear that Romero is out for the rest of the season. Maybe now Spurs can replace him with a better defender that really fights for the team, because Romero certainly didn't. It's a shame that when he wanted to leave earlier in the season they didn't let him go. If they had we wouldn't be in this position now.

John: The loss of Romero is no big deal, he is a yellow card waiting to happen in every match as at Sunderland. Danso, who will be his replacement, is a very good player with a long throw as well. Romero has been guilty of not leading from the front, of jogging back when the opposition break a fast attack forward. This was highlighted on Match of the Day. I'm not sad to be seeing the back of him. What is actually needed is a creative midfielder and that's something we just haven't got.

Douglas: Pity for Romero, but a blessing in disguise for Spurs. A good defender, but a poor leader. The worst discipline at the club, maybe even in the league. Spurs need to appoint a proper leader who sets the example for the rest of the team to follow and now is the perfect time to do it.

Richard: Huge loss. I know Romero is the target of much criticism but he is still critical to the team. Brobbey's unwarranted push on Romero should have resulted in a second yellow. Once again the ref failed to keep players safe from injury.

Cristian Romero's club season appears over after a partial tear of his medial cruciate ligament, reports BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel.

How big of a blow is this?

Get in touch with your views here

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur ended the weekend sitting in the relegation zone, following their defeat at Sunderland and West Ham's win against Wolves.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney felt Spurs' performance was "a bit flat" in the north east, which prevented them being able to have a new-manager bounce in Roberto de Zerbi's first game in charge.

"Sometimes you get a bounce but I think you get that when a new manager comes in and you are front-footed and aggressive on the ball," he said on The Wayne Rooney Show. "I thought they were a bit in between."

The ex-Premier League striker added that De Zerbi "needs to find some answers quickly" and that dropping to the Championship would be disastrous for the club.

"It will be a disaster for them if they do go [down]," said Rooney. "I think that's where some of those players probably are looking at it thinking if they go down they can move on and go to a different club.

"If they don't get back in the Premier League in the first year, that will be an absolute nightmare for them."

Tottenham have not won a Premier League match in 2026 and their next game is at home to Brighton on Saturday 17:30 evening.

Rooney feels they must figure out a way to win to help boost their confidence.

"If they can do that then they give themselves a chance. The longer it goes without winning is difficult for them."

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

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Tottenham Hotspur fan Hollie Agombar says the club are in a "mess" at the moment and doesn't believe the team has it in them to "fight" in their bid to stave off a shocking drop to the Championship.

The 1-0 loss against Sunderland was Spurs' fifth defeat in six Premier League games and leaves them two points adrift in the relegation zone after West Ham thrashed Wolves to leapfrog their London rivals.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Hollie was asked about Roberto de Zerbi's first game in charge: "It's just the same old, same old, isn't it? I know I said a few weeks ago we're already going down and I think that's cemented. We can't even get a new manager bounce at the moment, either.

"It is just a mess to be brutally honest. I think he's alluding to a mentality thing as well because we've heard managers over the years say that, and I 100% get that, but I don't think they've really got it in them to fight and that's what we've seen in recent weeks.

"It's a very strange time at Spurs at the moment."

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur.

Here are some of your comments:

Sunderland fans

Adrian: Three points off fifth and a Champions League slot. Who'd have predicted that this time last year?

Robert: Another Superb performance by this young Sunderland side. Regis le Bris is, in my opinion, a good candidate for manager/head coach of the season. He has built a virtually new team in his debut Premier League campaign. He has developed a wonderful team spirit and togetherness that is excellent. Magnificent results have come thick and fast. I could not be happier. Ha'way the lads. And I'm feeling "Glad All Over" as it's the song the Crystal Palace fans sing when they score a goal and win.

Stephen: More proof that we need an "out-and-out" goalscorer. We created many more chances than Spurs yet our only goal came from a deflection.

Graham: Not the best this season but, as always, a team performance and Granit Xhaka pulling the strings - as usual.

Tottenham fans

Peter: A much better performance. Chances created but lack of quality upfront meant they weren't taken. I would like to have seen more urgency towards the end. You don't play your way out of the bottom three. As for the goal, one of those conceded by team at the bottom. We deserved a point, but that's not how football works. Still hope, three wins a minimum. COYS.

Colin: Listless. Boring. Pathetic. Big mistake not playing Xavi Simons until 95th minute. So many under performing players. Play the under-21s' side next week.

Roger: In the days when we had Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son consistently contributing over 30 goals a season we could afford to concede a few goals and still pick up the points. Unfortunately, they have been replace by very expensive flops when it comes to scoring. Likewise in midfield we have never come close to replacing the quality of Christian Eriksen, Dele Ali and Mousa Dembele. That is why we are where we are and unfortunately there are no quick fixes. Against Sunderland confirmed that hard work and effort alone will not be enough, we are going to have to rely on a lot of good luck if we are to avoid relegation.

Jeremy: I have been a fan of Tottenham since 1968 when my grandfather first took me to White Hart Lane at the age of five. Outside of the money these players get and the status it affords, where's their pride in playing for Spurs? They should be ashamed of themselves. Spurs is an iconic club and deserves to stay in the Premier League but these players don't. It doesn't matter how gifted they are individually, they are poor as a team. This is not the manager's fault. This is the responsibility of the players.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Spurs are in deep. Seriously deep. For all of the effort they made very, very few real chances in this game.

Now they are officially in the relegation zone, people are taking it seriously. It's been serious for much longer than that. It's been sitting staring at you.

We've seen teams in the past start to fall and they have faltered, they have started to lack belief. There was no lack of effort from the Spurs players at Sunderland, but was there a desperation about the desire? I'm not sure there was.

It's not like they didn't try today, but was that the desperation level that they need? I'm afraid not. Nothing feels easy. Nothing feels certain. I don't know where the points are coming from.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly told BBC World Service's Sportsworld that new head coach Roberto De Zerbi needs to get his players to believe in themselves - and fast.

"When Spurs concede, they fall off a cliff," he said.

"They have no resilience and that's a really hard thing to try to get your team to believe in themselves in a short space of time.

"And Roberto De Zerbi is known to be pragmatic and studious with how he sets up his team. He just doesn't have that time. It's going to have to be something quick and something motivating, something to get those players to have a slightly different mindset to believe they can do it. That's what it will take to get them out of it but at the moment it is looking really bleak.

"The fear amongst all the Spurs fans is 'are we going to get relegated by Chelsea?'. It is going to come down to that. West Ham seem to have got a bit of momentum. There is something about Spurs, that they have no home wins this year.

"Someone sent me a message that said Northampton Saints Rugby team have more home wins in the Tottenham Stadium in 2026 than Spurs have.

"It's really worrying."