It felt like a huge result for Tottenham on Sunday night.
Their 2-1 victory at Aston Villa moved Spurs out of the Premier League relegation zone – and marked two wins in a row for the first time since the second weekend of the season.
With three weeks remaining of the 2025-26 campaign, it looks like the battle to avoid the drop will go down to the wire.
Wolves and Burnley have already been consigned to the Championship for next season, but one more relegation place is still to be decided.
West Ham‘s 3-0 defeat by Brentford on Saturday opened the door for Tottenham to climb out of the bottom three – and Roberto de Zerbi’s side took full advantage.
Former Man City defender Micah Richards told BBC Match of the Day: “That’s a huge result for Spurs. I didn’t see that coming.
“Villa were poor, but right from the start Spurs absolutely made the most of it with their desire and intensity. They were exceptional in how they set up, they were really brave.
“Every time we make a prediction, we get it wrong – but West Ham have got it all to do.
“Spurs have maybe got a bit of momentum and they have set their standard. De Zerbi deserves a lot of credit. None of his players hid and he has given them that confidence.”
Former England striker Alan Shearer added: “They won every single tackle, every single second ball and they took the risk out of their game by not playing from the back in certain circumstances.
“You need every single player at it when in desperate trouble and Spurs had that. It has been a terrible weekend for West Ham.”
Nottingham Forest in 16th have played one game fewer than both Spurs and West Ham, and could go six points clear of the drop zone with a win against Chelsea on Monday (15:00 BST).
Leeds are 14th in the table with 43 points and Crystal Palace are just below them on goal difference but with a game in hand, so it looks like it will be a three-way battle between Forest, West Ham and Spurs.
