After Nottingham Forest’s 4-1 win against Burnley, the Premier League relegation battle looks like it’s between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.
Vitor Pereira’s side delivered a stunning performance courtesy of a hat-trick from Morgan Gibbs-White.
Tottenham, on the other hand, could only manage a draw with Brighton, while West Ham shared the spoils against Crystal Palace.
The Hammers are now two points above Spurs. And with just five games left to play, everything is at stake.
Nuno could rub salt into Tottenham’s wounds
Another intriguing subplot in the relegation battle is Nuno Espirito Santo. Currently at West Ham, he has also managed Tottenham and Forest in the past, making it quite the story for him.
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And after West Ham’s 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park, the Portuguese coach feels the relegation battle is likely to be decided on the final day of the Premier League season.
“It’s going to be a fight until the end as the table is very tight,” said the former Tottenham manager on Sky Sports.
“You can see, it’s not only us. Every day it’s important. Before and after the game, there’s always pressure. Especially with the need we have.”
State of play in the relegation battle
Leeds United already have 39 points, so they are essentially safe unless things go dramatically wrong in the coming weeks.
As for Forest, with 36 points on the board, they are in a much better position than what was the case a month ago.
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However, Pereira’s side have a European semi-final to look forward to, which could turn out to be an unwelcome distraction in terms of their survival hopes.
West Ham, on the other hand, are two points clear of the drop zone but have a tough run of fixtures coming up, so they’ll be feeling they should have made the most of the game against Palace.
The same could be said about Tottenham, who were moments away from securing all three points against Brighton.
De Zerbi’s side face Wolves next in a must-win game, after which they take on Aston Villa, Leeds, Chelsea and Everton to round up their Premier League season.
Jamie Carragher feels Tottenham need 40 points to stay up.
And for a team that hasn’t won a game in the competition since December 28th, 2025, that looks unreachable at this stage.
