There may be players greater than the team. Tottenham Hotspur fans are thinking this as they look at Son Heung-min (34, LAFC) and Harry Kane (33, Bayern Munich), who have now left the club.
Tottenham lost 0-1 to Sunderland in an away match of the 2025-2026 Premier League round 32 at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England, on the 12th (Korea time). It was Roberto De Zerbi's debut as manager, but there was no turnaround.
With this defeat, Tottenham dropped to 18th and truly fell into the relegation zone. With 30 points, they ceded 17th place to West Ham United (32 points), who beat Wolverhampton in the same round.
Tottenham have now become the most likely relegation candidate. According to football statistics outlet Opta, Tottenham's relegation probability surged to 46.06%. Nottingham is calculated at 10.23% and West Ham at 35.56%. Excluding the two teams that are already effectively certain to be relegated, 19th-place Burnley and 20th-place Wolverhampton (relegation probability 100%), Tottenham are in the most disadvantageous position.
On top of that, injury misfortune occurred. In a squad already plagued by injuries, captain and key center back Cristian Romero also went down. In the 18th minute of the second half, he was shoved by opposing forward Bryan Brobbey, creating a dizzying moment when Romero's knee collided with goalkeeper Antonín Kinský's head.
Romero could not get up easily from the turf, and his teammates signaled to the bench that he could no longer play. Kinský, who was bleeding from his forehead, wrapped a bandage and got back up, but Romero ultimately could not continue. Romero, who left the pitch in tears toward the bench, is suspected of an injury to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of the knee.
After the match, the BBC noted, "As newly appointed manager De Zerbi watched with a pained expression, captain Romero walked past him in tears and left the pitch. This image may remain as a symbol of a season in which Tottenham are falling to the Championship."
The outlet added, "The question of whether Tottenham are weak enough to be relegated has already lost its meaning. The record of 14 winless matches since the Crystal Palace game on Dec. 28 of last year is the answer. The more important question now is, 'Are Tottenham truly good enough to stay up?' Judging by the content of this match alone, it does not appear so," it pointed out.
You can see how close to the brink Tottenham are just by looking at the records. Tottenham are currently mired in a 14-match winless streak in the league (5 draws, 9 losses). Their last win goes back to the Crystal Palace match (1-0) at the end of December last year. Tottenham are the only Premier League team that still have no wins in 2026.
According to Opta, since the start of a year, only three Premier League teams have recorded longer winless runs than Tottenham: Swindon Town in 1993 (15 matches), Sunderland in 2003 (17 matches), and Derby County in 2008 (18 matches). All three of those teams were relegated. If Tottenham fall to the Championship like this, it would be the first relegation since the Premier League's inception and the first drop to the second tier in 49 years since the 1977-1978 season.
Tottenham fans are also showing signs of despair. Under Tottenham's social media posts, comments poured in such as "Here we go, Championship," "Zero wins in 2026, you can't blame the manager anymore. This is the players' problem," and "Honestly, this team shouldn't be playing in the Premier League or the Champions League. They're just midtable Championship level."
Voices longing for "legend" Son Heung-min and Kane were also noticeable. The comment "Maybe Kane and Son Heung-min were bigger than the club" received the most likes.
Another fan also said, "Standings don't lie. Since Dec. 2025 there have been no wins and no acquisitions of players at the Premier League level, so relegation is the inevitable result," pointing out that the transfer market failed to fill the gap left by Son Heung-min.
[Photo] ⓒGettyimages (unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited), 365 Score, Tottenham social media.
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