Tottenham boosted their survival hopes by beating Aston Villa away.
Tottenham Hotspur moved out of the relegation zone on Sunday following a 2-1 win over Aston Villa. First-half goals from Conor Gallagher and Richarlison secured back-to-back league victories for the Lilywhites for the first time since August.
Spurs produced one of their most dominant performances of the season to move one point ahead of West Ham and into 17th position. They knew that a win at Aston Villa would be enough to take them out of the drop zone after West Ham were thrashed 3-0 by Brentford on Saturday.
With Nottingham Forest almost securing their safety by beating Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday, crossing the magical 40-point mark in the process, it is looking increasingly likely that the fight to avoid the final relegation spot is now between Tottenham and West Ham.
Gary Lineker delivers relegation verdict after Tottenham’s win over Aston Villa
Famous broadcaster Gary Lineker has now given his verdict on Tottenham’s survival hopes after Sunday’s result. Having previously named his former club Spurs as favourites to go down, the Englishman’s tune has changed now. He thinks Tottenham are now “favourites” to survive after going through the remaining fixtures of both Spurs and West Ham.
“Let’s have the fixtures. West Ham, I mean, Arsenal at home, as tough as it gets. Newcastle away, they should get three points [he joked]. Well, Newcastle, you know, finally got a win, and Leeds at home. Leeds are probably safe, not quite mathematically yet,” Gary Lineker said on the latest episode of the Rest is Football podcast.
“And then Spurs’ fixtures, Leeds at home… big game. Well, they’re all big now, Chelsea away, and then Everton at home on the last day of the season. Both Everton and Chelsea are most likely to be chasing some kind of European football, so not easy either.
“But yes, you would look at those and think Spurs having a point advantage as well are probably favourites to stay up now.”
Tottenham have to beat Leeds United
Tottenham were good value for the win at Villa Park. The players showed the fire in their bellies and delivered one of the best performances of the campaign, blowing away Emery’s side.
Emery’s decision to rotate his squad heavily with an eye for the Europa League fixture against Nottingham Forest did work in Tottenham’s favour. However, one cannot take away the quality and approach of De Zerbi’s side from start to finish. They were clearly up for the fight, and last week’s win at Wolves clearly boosted their confidence levels.
Now, the Lilywhites have to make it three wins on the bounce when they host Leeds United next week. With Leeds mathematically not safe yet, they will come hard at Tottenham. The Whites have peaked at the right time and will look to cause problems for the home side. All in all, De Zerbi and Co. have to be focused and do their job!