Tottenham Hotspur

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur.

Here are some of your comments:

Sunderland fans

Adrian: Three points off fifth and a Champions League slot. Who'd have predicted that this time last year?

Robert: Another Superb performance by this young Sunderland side. Regis le Bris is, in my opinion, a good candidate for manager/head coach of the season. He has built a virtually new team in his debut Premier League campaign. He has developed a wonderful team spirit and togetherness that is excellent. Magnificent results have come thick and fast. I could not be happier. Ha'way the lads. And I'm feeling "Glad All Over" as it's the song the Crystal Palace fans sing when they score a goal and win.

Stephen: More proof that we need an "out-and-out" goalscorer. We created many more chances than Spurs yet our only goal came from a deflection.

Graham: Not the best this season but, as always, a team performance and Granit Xhaka pulling the strings - as usual.

Tottenham fans

Peter: A much better performance. Chances created but lack of quality upfront meant they weren't taken. I would like to have seen more urgency towards the end. You don't play your way out of the bottom three. As for the goal, one of those conceded by team at the bottom. We deserved a point, but that's not how football works. Still hope, three wins a minimum. COYS.

Colin: Listless. Boring. Pathetic. Big mistake not playing Xavi Simons until 95th minute. So many under performing players. Play the under-21s' side next week.

Roger: In the days when we had Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son consistently contributing over 30 goals a season we could afford to concede a few goals and still pick up the points. Unfortunately, they have been replace by very expensive flops when it comes to scoring. Likewise in midfield we have never come close to replacing the quality of Christian Eriksen, Dele Ali and Mousa Dembele. That is why we are where we are and unfortunately there are no quick fixes. Against Sunderland confirmed that hard work and effort alone will not be enough, we are going to have to rely on a lot of good luck if we are to avoid relegation.

Jeremy: I have been a fan of Tottenham since 1968 when my grandfather first took me to White Hart Lane at the age of five. Outside of the money these players get and the status it affords, where's their pride in playing for Spurs? They should be ashamed of themselves. Spurs is an iconic club and deserves to stay in the Premier League but these players don't. It doesn't matter how gifted they are individually, they are poor as a team. This is not the manager's fault. This is the responsibility of the players.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Spurs are in deep. Seriously deep. For all of the effort they made very, very few real chances in this game.

Now they are officially in the relegation zone, people are taking it seriously. It's been serious for much longer than that. It's been sitting staring at you.

We've seen teams in the past start to fall and they have faltered, they have started to lack belief. There was no lack of effort from the Spurs players at Sunderland, but was there a desperation about the desire? I'm not sure there was.

It's not like they didn't try today, but was that the desperation level that they need? I'm afraid not. Nothing feels easy. Nothing feels certain. I don't know where the points are coming from.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly told BBC World Service's Sportsworld that new head coach Roberto De Zerbi needs to get his players to believe in themselves - and fast.

"When Spurs concede, they fall off a cliff," he said.

"They have no resilience and that's a really hard thing to try to get your team to believe in themselves in a short space of time.

"And Roberto De Zerbi is known to be pragmatic and studious with how he sets up his team. He just doesn't have that time. It's going to have to be something quick and something motivating, something to get those players to have a slightly different mindset to believe they can do it. That's what it will take to get them out of it but at the moment it is looking really bleak.

"The fear amongst all the Spurs fans is 'are we going to get relegated by Chelsea?'. It is going to come down to that. West Ham seem to have got a bit of momentum. There is something about Spurs, that they have no home wins this year.

"Someone sent me a message that said Northampton Saints Rugby team have more home wins in the Tottenham Stadium in 2026 than Spurs have.

"It's really worrying."

One simple question and an answer with ugly consequences.

Hit play below and watch Match of the Day 2 in full here

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

The sight of new Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto de Zerbi watching in anguish as captain Cristian Romero walked past him in tears may yet become the lasting image of a season slowly sliding towards the Championship.

De Zerbi's hopes of a fast start after succeeding Igor Tudor, the madcap experiment of the Croat's appointment lasting only 44 days, ended brutally as Spurs failed to show any significant response to the Italian's arrival.

Amid another flatlining display, the tearful departure of De Zerbi's leader on the field with Spurs 1-0 down with 25 minutes left and on the way to deserved defeat at Sunderland was yet another harrowing chapter in this sorry tale of the fall of a giant club.

The question of whether Spurs are too good to go down was consigned to the dustbin long ago. A team without a win in 14 Premier League games stretching back to 28 December at Crystal Palace answers that.

A more pertinent question now is - are Spurs too bad to stay up?

On the grim evidence that unfolded in the Wearside sunshine, it looks like they are.

• Read Phil's piece in full

Romero appeared to have a knee injury, although De Zerbi said "we have to see in the next few days", adding: "I hope that it is not too important a problem. He's a crucial player for us. He's a good guy and a good player with a big personality. We need him to finish the season."

Whatever the prognosis, former England goalkeeper Ben Foster questioned whether Romero's downcast manner as he left the pitch sent the right message to a Spurs team already a goal down after Nordi Mukiele's shot deflected past keeper Antonin Kinsky off Micky van de Ven on the hour.

It was a moment of misfortune, the sort that is often the fate of a team, and indeed a club, in crisis.

"Romero's probably the one player who has got a bit of character in that team, a bit of grit and determination," said Foster, a pundit on Sunday's Match of the Day. "If I was one of his team-mates there, I want him to be walking off the pitch grabbing everybody, getting everybody firing.

"They've still got 25 minutes there until full-time. But the tears, I feel, send the wrong message. As a captain you shouldn't be doing that."

Image source, Getty Images

The Telegraph's Luke Edwards believes Roberto de Zerbi will have to "oversee some turnaround" to keep Tottenham in the Premier League this season, adding that there are "huge problems" for the club to sort out.

Tottenham failed to end their run of 14 Premier League games without a win against Sunderland on Sunday afternoon, continuing their worst run in the league for 81 years and leaving themselves stuck in the bottom three.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily, Edwards said: "There is always hope because Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Leeds United haven't been truly convincing themselves all season. However, all of those clubs have a bit more upward momentum than Tottenham at the moment.

"It is some turnaround that Roberto de Zerbi has got to oversee. When he went to Brighton, he actually lost his first five games in charge. So as good a job as he did there, it actually took a while for him to get his ideas across.

"I was in his post-match press conference and I listened to him say: 'I can't be a coach, I've got to be a father and a brother - I've got to put my arm around these players' - but I'm not sure that is going to be enough.

"They can't keep clean sheets, they can't score goals, they are too easy to play through midfield - that is a pretty poisonous mix. There are huge problems.

"De Zerbi will be on a huge bonus to keep the club in the Premier League - and he will earn every single penny of it if he manages to do it from here.

"Having watched them, there is a stench of relegation around the club. I think they are doomed."

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Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are both interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Marc Casado, 22. (Tuttomercato - in Italian, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Pundits Pat Nevin and Ben Foster join host Gabby Logan to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle United

• Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa

• Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham

• Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Roberto de Zerbi has no time to waste if he is to save Spurs from the ignominy of the drop, but he was unable to make the clouds of relegation hanging over this giant club lift on another dismal day.

Spurs now have to make up that two-point gap on West Ham United with only six games left, and he witnessed a display desperately lacking in inspiration on Wearside.

Sunderland were by far the more organised and threatening side, with Dominic Solanke wasting Spurs' best chance right on half-time when he was blocked at the near post.

De Zerbi was preparing to make changes when Sunderland went ahead with a goal that often sums up the fate of the struggling team, Nordi Mukiele's routine shot taking a huge deflection off Micky van de Ven to beat Antonin Kinsky.

Spurs were also unlucky to lose key defender and captain Cristian Romero following that clash with keeper Kinsky, the Argentine in tears as he went off.

De Zerbi would have been concerned at the lack of reaction from Spurs to going behind, a clear indicator of their lack of self-belief and confidence.

There is no escaping just how serious Spurs' predicament is – and they will have to produce much better than this in their next game at home to De Zerbi's old club Brighton.

The fact that Spurs have not win in the Premier League since victory at Crystal Palace on 28 December does not inspire confidence.

Tottenham manager Roberto de Zerbi speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "Sorry because we didn't deserve to lose the game. We played a good game, maybe not enough to win but we were unlucky in a few situations in the first half.

"I cannot say anything to players because they gave their best in terms of attitude and spirit. We can play better for sure and you can feel better. We have to work on that. My work is not so much on the pitch because they are good guys and I am sorry for them. I want to give them confidence in what they need.

"Tactically, we played a good first half. With the ball and without the ball. We don't have confidence to play great football but we did what we have been working on this week. The players can play better if they are feeling confident."

On keeping spirits high: "I can be a big brother, father, they don't need a coach. They don't need to improve football. They can play better and they will play better once we reach a different level of confidence."

On looking forward to the challenge: "Absolutely, I'm sure if we are able to win a game then everything will change."

Did you know?

• Each of the last two Spurs managers have lost their first Premier League match in charge of the club (Igor Tudor against Arsenal in February, Roberto De Zerbi against Sunderland), this after none of the previous nine Spurs managers (including caretakers) had lost their first league match in charge of the club.

• Tottenham remain one of just two teams in the Premier League this season who have failed to win a match after going behind, along with Wolves. Overall, Spurs have gone behind in 23 different matches, going on to lose 16 of those and draw the other seven.

• Aged 20 years and 31 days, Archie Gray became the second-youngest Tottenham Hotspur player to make 50 appearances for the club in the Premier League, with only Aaron Lennon (20 years and 12 days) reaching this milestone more quickly for Spurs in the competition.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Sunderland's performance

What did you make of Tottenham's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Image source, BBC Sport

Sunderland make four changes from the side that won at Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby.

Robin Roefs returns in goal in place of Melker Ellborg, while Nordi Mukiele, Reinildo and Enzo Le Fee replace Lutsharel Geetruida, Trai Hume and Chemsidine Talbi.

Sunderland XI: Roefs, Mukiele, Alderete, O'Nien, Mandava, Xhaka, Sadiki, Le Fee, Diarra, Rigg, Brobbey

Subs: Ellborg, Cirkin, Geertruida, Talbi, Mayenda, Isidor, Hume, H Jones, J Jones

Tottenham XI: Kinsky, Udogie, Romero, Van de Ven, Porro, Gray, Bergvall, Gallagher, Kolo Muani, Richarlison, Solanke.

Subs: Austin, Dragusin, Danso, Palhinha, Simons, Bissouma, Tel, Spence, Sarr.

Image source, BBC Sport

There are four games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Crystal Palace v Newcastle United - Listen on Sports Extra 2

• Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa - Listen on Sports Extra

• Sunderland v Tottenham - Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Chelsea v Manchester City (16:30 BST) - Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

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Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham will start a Premier League match in the bottom three for the first time since September 2011, when they travelled to Wolves in their third match of the 2011-12 season, having lost their first two fixtures.

They won that game 2-0 to move up to 13th place in the Premier League table.

In fairness, they had played just two games to everyone else's three games as their season-opener against Everton was postponed due to riots in Tottenham.

So, given how early on in the season that result was and the game in hand situation, what's far more relevant is the last time Tottenham were in the relegation zone beyond the first few games of a top-flight season.

The last time Tottenham started a Premier League match in the bottom three more than three games into a season was in January 2009. They started that home game against Portsmouth bottom of the table, but a 1-1 draw - thanks to Jermain Defoe's equaliser - moved them up to 16th place in the table.

It was the game where Harry Redknapp famously criticised Darren Bent for missing a late big chance to clinch all three points for Tottenham, saying: "My missus could've scored that one!"

Coincidentally, the last time Sunderland beat Tottenham came just over a year later, when they won 3-1 at the Stadium of Light in April 2010, and two of the Black Cats' goals were scored by Darren Bent (although he did also miss two penalties).

What's Roberto de Zerbi going to do with Tottenham and how will he set them up?

I've read about when he went in at Brighton and how Lewis Dunk said it took the Seagulls players a while to get up to speed and adapt to his demands.

The whole situation is just odd, with De Zerbi securing a five-year contract despite only hanging around for more than two years at one of his previous eight clubs.

Good luck to him, but this is a difficult place for him to start.

Sunderland's form at the Stadium of Light has dipped a bit since they lost their unbeaten home record against Liverpool in February, but the Black Cats will be buoyant after beating Newcastle last time out.

If Spurs are going to play the type of football we associate with De Zerbi, they will be open, expansive and take risks - but will they have the confidence to do that?

Sunderland are the team that come into this game with belief. They've had a brilliant season and their incentive now must be to stay above Newcastle in the table.

Sutton's prediction: 1-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Jordan Butler
BBC Sport journalist

Relegation-threatened Tottenham Hotspur make the trip north to Sunderland on Sunday. BBC Sport explores some of the key talking points surrounding this fixture.

All eyes will be on the dugout at the Stadium of Light this weekend as Tottenham's latest head coach attempts to save his new club from a disastrous relegation with only seven games of the season remaining.

"I have a big responsibility," admitted Roberto de Zerbi, who has signed a five-year contract with no relegation release clause. "For me, Tottenham, especially in this moment, is maybe the most important challenge in my career."

One of the many necessary steps towards securing safety for the Italian and his coaching staff will be to inject belief in a side lacking confidence and he will need to quickly bring an end to their 13-game winless streak in the league (D5, L8) – the club's worst run for 91 years.

The 46-year-old can perhaps lean on the fact that Spurs have been significantly better away in the Premier League than at home, with 20 of their 30 points coming on the road.

Does De Zerbi need time?

Some of the conversation around the Italian's appointment has centred on his propensity for slow starts, with time apparently needed to convey his methods to a new group of players, something that Spurs don't have. But at his past four clubs he has largely hit the ground running and he was victorious in his first league match with Sassuolo, Shakhtar Donetsk and Marseille.

The obvious anomaly is Brighton where, not only did he take over in mid-season, but he also failed to win any of his opening five in charge. He did, however, accrue eight points from his first seven games on the south coast and if that form were replicated in his current role it would likely ensure Tottenham's top-flight survival.

An average of 36 points has been enough to stay up since the Premier League switched to a 38-game season in 1995-96. The necessary total stands at 33 points across the past 10 seasons. By that yardstick, one win would potentially be enough for De Zerbi, but even with a victory this weekend his work will be far from done.

Record in reach for Sunderland?

Sunderland achieved the magical 40-point mark with victory over Leeds United in early March and, unlike Tottenham, their top-flight status is all but assured for another year.

Regis le Bris's side can now set their sights on setting a new club record for most points in a Premier League season. They require another 16 to surpass the previous highest total set by Peter Reid's men in 1999-2000. Unlikely given there are 21 points remaining, but not impossible.

Sunderland have endured a dismal recent record against Tottenham in the top flight and they are winless in 15 previous meetings (D5, L10) since a 3-1 home victory in April 2010. Four of their five Premier League victories over the north London club have come at the Stadium of Light, including a memorable 1-0 triumph on the opening day of the 2007-08 season.

Michael Chopra scored a later winner for Roy Keane's newly promoted side that day and the win proved to be very important, as the Wearside club finished just three points above the relegation zone, while Spurs placed 11th. The opposite could well be true at the conclusion of 2025-26.

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light (14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On Thursday, Spurs confirmed Mohammed Kudus has been ruled out of a return this weekend, external after suffering a setback in his come back from a quad injury picked up in January which will "potentially" require surgery.

• De Zerbi also confirmed Guglielmo Vicario is "not ready" to return yet, adding: "I hope he can come back next week, but I don't know yet." Rodrigo Bentancur is "working with us" but "not completely" and remains unavailable for selection.

• Reflecting on his appointment, the Italian said: "Proud and happy to be here. Thanks to Vinai [Venkatesham] and Johan [Lange] who have shown me a big confidence. Now I have to work. Now we have to make points. I'm sure about the level of the players - many of them in the past I was close to bringing to my former teams. They are working very well. I'm not better than Thomas Frank or Igor Tudor because I consider them very good coaches. I try and bring myself, my character, my passion."

• De Zerbi was asked if he had a message to the fans: "I haven't any message. In the last game they were fantastic before the game. The message for my staff and players is we have to deserve their support because the fans are suffering like us, like the players. There is just one club, one team. The players can change team but the fans, the club is unique. We need to make the fans happy with the right football, the right spirit and behaviour on the pitch."

• On his style of football: "My style is one part about the style of play and one part about the character and personality. I want to give organisation with and without the ball. What I want to achieve immediately is the character, the right spirit and courage to play and attack because the DNA of this club and squad is to find the goal and score."

• Asked why he has he only brought two of his former coaches with him as part of his coaching team, De Zerbi responded: "It is totally different this situation because we have no time to work like in Brighton, and I don't want to put confusion inside of the players."

• On the chances of him and players staying if the club get relegated: "For sure I don't want a player if they don't want to stay. My contract is for five years. I want to say my opinion in the transfer market because I am a coach but I want to see the players happy to work in this club."

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