It wasn’t a happy first outing for Roberto De Zerbi at Tottenham as they fell to a 1-0 Premier League defeat to Sunderland.
Nordi Mukiele’s deflected effort in the second half gave the home side all three points at the Stadium of Light, with the Lilywhites slipping deeper into a crisis.
Tottenham are winless in the Premier League in 2026. In fact, the last time they won a game in the competition was in late December when Archie Gray’s goal gave them a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace under Thomas Frank.
And now, a rather horrifying statistic has emerged that goes to show just how bad they’ve been since the turn of the year.
Relegation now more than a possibility for Tottenham
Tottenham started quite well against Sunderland as the players showed signs of life under their new manager.
However, they didn’t create too many chances after the first 15 minutes and started to concede cheap fouls, which led to a handful of yellow cards for their players.
Sunderland grew into the game in the second half and deservedly struck a telling blow through Mukiele, whose wicked effort from the edge of the box wrongfooted Antonin Kinsky via a Micky van de Ven deflection.
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Tottenham pushed to make things happen but fell to yet another defeat. And in doing so, they’ve now gone 14 Premier League games without a win in the competition for the first time since 1935.
In fact, they went 16 league games without a win back then, a run of form that eventually led to relegation.
Ghosts from the past are starting to haunt Tottenham and after their recent defeat, alarm bells will well and truly be going off at Hotspur Way as the prospect of dropping down to the Championship looms large at the club.
What next for Tottenham?
West Ham’s win yesterday took them two points clear of Tottenham and out of the relegation zone. To make matters worse, Nottingham Forest picked up a point against Aston Villa, taking them three clear of De Zerbi’s side.
It goes without saying that relegation is more than a possibility for Tottenham at the moment, as they are 18th in the table.
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With just six games left to play, they need to pull a rabbit out of their hats to secure safety. And judging by their performance against Sunderland, that looks a million miles away.
Things are starting to look bleak with each passing game. No Tottenham fan will admit it, but the prospect of playing Championship football – that looked unbelievable at one stage – is slowly starting to become a reality.
