The weekend’s Premier League action may not have changed much at the bottom of the table, but there was a twist in the relegation battle with what happened elsewhere.
After Nottingham Forest’s incredible 5-0 win over Sunderland on Friday night, West Ham and Tottenham also followed it up with victories of their own, albeit both coming late on.
The Hammers scored a 92nd minute winner against Everton to claim all three points, with Joao Palhinha striking in the 82nd minute to give Spurs victory over already relegated Wolves – their first win in 2026.
It means there remain five points between Forest in 16th and Spurs in 18th with four games of the season to play.
Fixture Scheduling Could Play A Massive Role
Tottenham may have a major disadvantage now in the final few weeks of the campaign after what happened in the FA Cup.
Chelsea’s victory over Leeds United means the Blues have another fixture to add to their schedule and that will take place on Saturday, May 16. Chelsea were due to play London rivals Spurs in the Premier League on May 17, so that fixture has been postponed.
The game will have to be rearranged for a midweek slot, with the biggest likelihood of it moving to Tuesday, May 19 or Wednesday, May 20 – the final week of the campaign.
Doing that would be a disaster for Tottenham as it would hand Forest and West Ham the chance to steal a march on Spurs in the relegation battle, with their games on May 17 still going ahead as planned. The two teams would be able to lay down a marker and put the pressure on Tottenham in the battle to avoid the drop.
Getting to that stage of the season, if things to remain as they are in the Premier League standings between now and then, Forest would know a win against Manchester United that day would make them mathematically safe, while victory for West Ham over Newcastle would leave Spurs five points adrift of safety with two games to play.
The fixture could, of course, be rearranged for the next couple of weeks and Tottenham must do everything in their power to make that happen.
If they can agree a date with Chelsea and the Premier League to play the fixture in the midweek slot of the week of May 4 or May 11, Spurs would be able to turn the tables on Forest and the Hammers by getting a fixture out of the way and potential points on the board while the other two relegation rivals get games in hand.
Chelsea Will Want to Help Relegate Tottenham
That would be a huge benefit to Spurs, but, given their rivalry with the Lilywhites, might not be something Chelsea are willing to agree to. And, given they have very little to play for in the Premier League, with only Europa League football really up for grabs for this this season, sticking the boot into Tottenham may well be seen as a positive in west London.
Chelsea played a pivotal role in stopping Tottenham winning the Premier League title in 2016 when Eden Hazard got the equaliser from 2-0 down to hand Leicester City the crown. Could history be repeating itself at the bottom of the table now?
Spurs know that even if they win all of their remaining matches they could still go down, with their Premier League fate no longer in their own hands.
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It could give them an advantage in the race.