Join The Club
The Premier League's relegation battle is heating up and it could be one for the ages.
Five points separate Tottenham, West Ham and Nottingham Forest heading into their May run-ins which could see a recent European champion demoted to the second tier.
Tottenham face a huge fall from grace
Leicester City's recent demotion to League One a decade after winning the Premier League illustrates how a club can go from champions to chumps in the blink of an eye.
But Tottenham face a greater fall from grace than the King Power Stadium's miracle men with memories of their continental exploits still incredibly fresh in the mind.
It was only seven years ago that the Lilywhites were contesting a Champions League final and just 12 months since they were crowned Europa League winners.
The latter success came at a cost of their domestic form with a 17th-place finish last season despite opening up a 13-point cushion over the aforementioned Foxes.
Injuries and upheaval tell the story of Spurs' campaign with Roberto De Zerbi their third managerial hire while treatment table woes have seen 36 cumulative setbacks.
Last weekend's win at Wolves marked their first in the league in 2026 but their form of nine points from a possible 48 since the turn of the year does not inspire confidence.
A run-in featuring Aston Villa, a resurgent Leeds United and London rivals Chelsea risks ending Tottenham's unbroken 34-year spell as one of the league's founding members.
West Ham are not out of the woods yet
The picture across the capital is hardly rosy with West Ham enduring similar managerial turmoil after the Graham Potter experiment backfired spectacularly.
Nuno Espírito Santo has managed to restore pride and principles since succeeding the current Sweden head coach in September but it still has not been without its pitfalls.
Under the Portuguese, they endured a 10-game winless streak which was only broken by putting a subpar Tottenham to the sword while discourse has raged off the pitch.
It is a far cry from David Moyes's second spell which culminated in mid-table stability and ending a four-decade silverware drought by winning the 2024 Europa League final.
A last-gasp win over their old boss, now with Everton, kept Spurs in the bottom three but the Hammers' other London rivals will have a big say in them beating the drop.
Clashes with Brentford, themselves vying for a European spot, and champions-elect Arsenal are as tough as they come for Nuno's men during the season's final weeks.
Could Forest be Champions League in the Championship?
No English team has competed in the Champions League while playing in the Championship but Forest could still become the exception to that particular rule.
Vítor Pereira's side are currently in the box seat for a place in the Europa League final after their first-leg win over Aston Villa and would be firm favourites to win the trophy.
Like Spurs last year, the Tricky Trees' extended European run has been offset by patchy domestic form with a four-manager turnover also doing little to help steady the ship.
Under Pereira, however, they have put together a formidable unbeaten run of nine games in all competitions which will invariably be tested in the season's final weeks.
Clashes with Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester United could see the five-point cushion they hold over Spurs cut down to size ahead of Bournemouth's final-day visit.
