The Athletic has live coverage of Tottenham vs. Everton in the Premier League final day.
After months of tense toing and froing, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are now just hours away from learning which of them will survive in the Premier League, and which will spend next season in the Championship.
Spurs hold a two-point advantage over their London rivals and neighbours going into Sunday’s final round of league fixtures, and their superior goal difference means that, realistically, West Ham need to win at home to Leeds United and have them lose to visitors Everton if they are to stay up.
The Athletic’s Spurs correspondent Jay Harris and West Ham counterpart Roshane Thomas set the scene…
How have these two clubs ended up in such a miserable situation?
Jay Harris: Spurs started the season positively under new coach Thomas Frank and a 3-0 win at Everton on October 26 left them in the dizzying heights of third. However, Frank’s reign unravelled in November with damaging league defeats to Chelsea, Arsenal and Fulham, which exposed a toxic disconnect between the squad and the players.
They limped on for a couple more months until Frank was sacked in February and replaced with Igor Tudor, who lasted for only five league games. The nadir of his spell was the loss at home to Crystal Palace on March 5, when Micky van de Ven’s red card triggered an astonishing seven-minute period where Spurs conceded three goals just before half-time.
A four-month winless run in the league was snapped under Tudor’s successor Roberto De Zerbi against Wolverhampton Wanderers on April 25. De Zerbi has made a few improvements but conceding costly late equalisers to Leeds and Brighton & Hove Albion has landed them in this messy situation on the final day.
Thomas Frank was sacked after Spurs lost to Newcastle in February (Sebastian Frej/Getty Images)
Roshane Thomas: It has been a miserable decline for West Ham since the 3-0 opening-weekend defeat away to promoted Sunderland. The east London side lost four of their next five games in all competitions, which led to Nuno Espirito Santo succeeding Graham Potter as head coach.
But there was no new manager bounce under the Portuguese, with West Ham failing to keep a clean sheet in his first 19 league games in charge, during which they achieved a paltry four wins. His tendency to play players out of position didn’t help matters.
Although there was an uptick in form in the early months of 2026, three straight losses, with only one goal scored, have plunged West Ham back into the drop zone.
How are the fans feeling about it all?
Harris: Tottenham’s fanbase have been furious for the majority of the season. The standout moment arrived in November’s 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea, when they loudly booed after their team recorded a measly xG of 0.05. At full time that day, Van de Ven and fellow defender Djed Spence ignored Frank when he asked them to applaud the supporters.
A few weeks later, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was ironically cheered every time he touched the ball after a calamitous earlier error led to Harry Wilson scoring for Fulham.
There was a mindset change before March’s fixture against Nottingham Forest. Fans raucously welcomed the team bus before kick-off, let off flares, waved flags and tried to generate a powerful atmosphere. The mood was punctured as Tudor’s side suffered a 3-0 loss.
The supporters have been a little bit more upbeat since De Zerbi arrived at the end of March but a dismal home record — they haven’t won on their own pitch in the Premier League since December 6 — means there is still no shortage of nerves.
Thomas: Ahead of this game with Leeds, many West Ham supporters feel frustrated, annoyed, hurt, demoralised and disengaged.
There have been so many low moments, from the 5-1 loss at home to Chelsea in August, where a young supporter attempted to invade the pitch in protest, to the back-to-back defeats to fellow relegation candidates Wolverhampton Wanderers and Forest in January, and the spurned opportunity to leapfrog Tottenham when they could only manage a goalless draw away to Crystal Palace in April…
Following last weekend’s 3-1 loss at Newcastle United, West Ham supporters chanted that the players were “not fit to wear the shirt”. Although that felt like a low, given the number of poor performances they’ve had to endure, it was not the first time this season they have voiced their displeasure.
There have been regular protests against West Ham’s ownership throughout the season. Vice-chair Karren Brady left the club last month, and chairman David Sullivan remains an unpopular figure.
West Ham fans protest against David Sullivan and Karren Brady (Jacques Feeney/Getty Images)
What would relegation mean for the club?
Harris: De Zerbi has insisted on multiple occasions that he will be in charge of Spurs next season, regardless of what division they are in, but it is not hard to think that could change. Chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange would come under fierce scrutiny. There may also need to be a rethink over plans to hire a new co-sporting director — Sebastien Kehl is among the leading contenders, having left the same job at top German side Borussia Dortmund in March.
Spurs are officially the ninth-richest football club in the world, so relegation would be a huge failure and a significant blow to their financial power. Several members of the first-team squad, including captain Cristian Romero, Rodrigo Bentancur and Spence, have signed long-term contracts in the past 12 months, but rivals in higher divisions would be keen to cherry-pick their best talents.
Tottenham might be forced to completely overhaul their squad and sell several of their stars — not that many have lived up to such billing this season. The Athletic has previously reported that the majority of the players have relegation clauses in their contracts that would prompt automatic pay-cuts in the Championship, softening some of the financial hit for the club.
Thomas: There will be huge implications for Nuno’s long-term future. The Athletic previously reported he is undecided if he will remain in charge if the club go down. Nuno, who signed a three-year contract when he replaced Potter, does at least have Championship experience if that happens and he chooses to stay, winning promotion to the Premier League with Wolves in 2017-18.
Key players Jarrod Bowen, Mateus Fernandes, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos could all potentially leave with the need to raise funds for the summer transfer window. As reported previously, the club would expect to sell four to five players.
But the greater concern is whether West Ham could seal promotion at the first time of asking. It happened previously, when they beat Blackpool in the 2012 play-off final. But after relegation in 2003, it took them two years to return to the top flight.
Some fans fear an even worse outcome than that — potential back-to-back relegations, which recently happened to Luton Town.
Other sides, such as Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City have struggled to return to the Premier League after relegation. West Ham will hope not to endure the same difficulty if Sunday doesn’t go their way.
Any reason to be positive ahead of Sunday’s matches…?
Harris: Spurs looked like they had suffered a knockout blow with that 3-0 loss to Forest before the international break. Then there was a brief moment during that fixture against Wolves a month ago when they were four points behind West Ham and rapidly circling the drain. Back-to-back wins there and against Aston Villa propelled them out of the bottom three and, despite losing to Chelsea in midweek, they retain the power to decide their own fate. Avoid defeat on Sunday and they can start ‘celebrating’ a second successive 17th-placed finish.
James Maddison’s recent cameos off the bench following a long injury absence have provided the team with a creative spark that has been desperately missing this season. Richarlison keeps finding a way to score scrappy goals and was a hero for Everton when they dramatically avoided relegation in the 2022-23 season. Hopefully, England striker Dominic Solanke will be fit enough after a hamstring problem to feature at some point this afternoon.
Spurs tend to start games brightly under De Zerbi and then fade. If they come out of the blocks quickly today, they might be able to make it a relatively stress-free afternoon…
Roberto De Zerbi has picked up eight points from six games so far (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Thomas: The short answer is no. The long answer is also no.
The only real flicker of encouragement is that West Ham are in with a shout of survival on the final day at all. But expectations and hope have ebbed since the 3-0 loss at Brentford on May 2. On three successive matchdays, with further losses to Arsenal and Newcastle, West Ham squandered the opportunity to apply more pressure to Tottenham.
There is no momentum heading into today’s game. To compound matters, West Ham have not beaten Leeds this season, after a 2-1 away league defeat in October and a loss on penalties last month in a home FA Cup quarter-final where they trailed 2-0 before a dramatic late rally forced extra time.
Nuno and the players have often referred to the season’s last few games as being like cup finals, but they have not risen to the occasion.
…and what’s the biggest reason to worry it will all go wrong?
Harris: Spurs’ injury list features the names of most of their best attacking players. Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons and Dejan Kulusevski will be watching helplessly from the sidelines, while Solanke is only just battling his way back having not played for a month.
Tuesday’s defeat at Chelsea exposed the lack of quality options De Zerbi has on the bench to switch things up. Relying on Randal Kolo Muani to produce a moment of magic feels like an endeavour which is destined to fail — he has only scored once in 29 Premier League appearances since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain on loan last summer.
All of the pressure is on Spurs. They have struggled to cope with expectations for the past two seasons. The fans will do their best to support their team, but it could be an anxious and fraught atmosphere.
Thomas: West Ham could be toast if they make another slow start, as happened in recent weeks against Brentford and Newcastle. Nuno’s side conceded three times in the opening 19 minutes across those two defeats. The players have not coped well with the pressure, but there can be no excuses against a Leeds side with nothing to play for, given Nuno’s plea for the team to show respect and dignity.
Relegation is the worst-case scenario but given the built-up frustration, some in the crowd may take matters into their own hands when it comes to showing disdain for the board.
A March 2018 home loss to Burnley was marred by ugly scenes, with many gathering in front of the directors’ box. There is a chance things could turn similarly mutinous on Sunday.
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen reacts to the defeat at Newcastle last weekend (Rob Newell/Getty Images)
Who is most likely to get them out of jail?
Harris: The romantic answer is Maddison, who has returned from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury suffered in pre-season to try to drag Spurs over the line to safety. He should have earned a penalty in the recent draw against Leeds and Jorrel Hato’s remarkable block prevented him equalising in the defeat to Chelsea. The England midfielder is only fit enough to play around 25 minutes against Everton, according to De Zerbi, but the hope is he will not be needed as an emergency option in the second half.
Mathys Tel would be a fitting saviour, too. The France Under-21 international has endured a mixed season. He was left out of the Champions League squad by Frank and went from hero to villain with his wild overhead kick at home to Leeds, which led to the visitors being awarded a penalty after he had opened the scoring. Tel’s attitude has been fantastic throughout the season and he has never given up. The forward’s development has been one of the only positives for Spurs in the current campaign and scoring the goal to secure their top-flight status would be a fitting finale.
Thomas: It has been a tough week for Bowen after not being named in England’s World Cup squad. Despite him having registered eight goals and 10 assists in the league this season, England coach Thomas Tuchel felt Noni Madueke, of Arsenal, was a better backup for his club colleague Bukayo Saka on the right wing.
Tuchel later admitted West Ham’s relegation battle has not helped Bowen’s chances. The 29-year-old has faced criticism for his role as the captain, almost clashed with a supporter after the Carabao Cup loss at Wolves in August and has had to bear the brunt for most of West Ham’s struggles.
Bowen has not scored a league goal since the 3-2 defeat to Chelsea in January. Today is the perfect occasion to prove Tuchel wrong, redeem himself in front of the London Stadium faithful and play a leading role in ensuring West Ham’s Premier League survival.
