Premier League hits and misses: Are Tottenham being dragged into a relegation scrap with West Ham rejuvenated?

Daunting February heightens Spurs' relegation scrap fears

Tottenham just cannot win Premier League games right now.

Saturday's last-gasp 2-2 draw at Burnley extended their winless league start to 2026 to five matches.

It is also just one win from their last eight league games, in a run which has seen them lose against two of the bottom four - West Ham and Nottingham Forest.

• Burnley 2-2 Tottenham - Match report & highlights
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They also needed a 90th-minute equaliser to rescue a 1-1 home draw against bottom-side Wolves in late September, which was Wolves' first point of the season.

And Spurs required another 90th-minute leveller to avoid defeat at second-bottom Burnley, who came so close to ending their 13-game winless league run.

Spurs' failure to beat the sides below them, combined with their abysmal form, has not only piled the pressure on boss Thomas Frank but raised concerns they could well get dragged into a relegation battle.

Last season, Spurs finished 17th but were never truly at risk of dropping into the bottom three as they focused on Europa League glory. But this season, the relegation scrap feels different.

Spurs started Saturday 10 points above the drop zone, but after the draw at Turf Moor and a second consecutive win for rejuvenated West Ham, Frank's side sit eight points clear of the bottom three.

In a Sky Sports poll, 65 per cent of users believe Spurs are in a relegation battle, while the bookmakers' odds of relegation continue to drop, with the price now at 20/1.

Maybe what is heightening these fears is Tottenham's daunting February fixtures - the hardest any team has in the next four Premier League gameweeks.

Spurs face four top-half sides next month - Manchester City (H), Manchester United (A), Newcastle (H) and Arsenal (H). Looking at those games, it is hard to see where their next win is coming from.

And with the fans once again showing their displeasure with Frank at Turf Moor, the winter of discontent could become a whole lot worse.

Liverpool are all possession no purpose

Liverpool had the ball, the territory, the familiar patterns but absolutely no menace.

A 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth will sting on the scoreline, but the performance cut deeper. This was a night that laid bare a growing problem under Arne Slot of sterile control mistaken for authority.

• Bournemouth 3-2 Liverpool - Match report & highlights
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Slot has spent much of 2026 pointing towards low blocks as the great inhibitor of Liverpool's attacking rhythm. Teams sit deep, he says. Space is denied. His players are not built for that kind of puzzle.

Except Bournemouth did not play that game.

They stepped out. They pressed. They left space in behind. And Liverpool still looked short of ideas and, most damningly, short of belief that their football could hurt anyone.

Liverpool finished with 14 shots. Those efforts amounted to just 0.83 expected goals, a figure that tells the story of their struggles. This was a team settling for the comfortable option. Shots from distance. Crosses without conviction. Attacks that slowed just as they needed acceleration.

For all the ball Liverpool had, Bournemouth always looked the more likely to land the punch that mattered. And punch they did. Bournemouth were everything Liverpool were not. Direct, decisive and daring.

This was a bad one for Slot.
Lewis Jones

Haaland rested but others step up for Man City

Erling Haaland had scored only once - a penalty - in his previous eight appearances and was showing signs of exhaustion given his workload so it was no great surprise to see him rotated for Manchester City's 2-0 win at home to Wolves. But Pep Guardiola will be encouraged.

Omar Marmoush, ostensibly his replacement up front, netted the opening goal early in the game. In fact, the Egyptian was playing as more of a wide forward mirroring the positioning of Antoine Semenyo - but he found the net too. Others stepping up for City.

• Man City 2-0 Wolves - Match report & highlights
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It was Marmoush's first Premier League goal of the season. It was Semenyo's first in the competition in a City shirt on the occasion of his home Premier League debut. That added firepower is going to be very important during the back end of this season.

But just as important is the fact that it allows Guardiola to give Haaland a break. Jarrod Bowen is the only forward in the Premier League to have started more games in the competition this season than the Norwegian - and his team are not in Europe as well.

Haaland's form is such a big factor in what Manchester City are capable of achieving. If he can be fresh for the run-in then what has been an unconvincing season for City could still have an exciting ending with them challenging in three different competitions.
Adam Bate

Where would West Ham be without 'Captain Fantastic'?

You really have to wonder just where West Ham would be right now without their skipper Jarrod Bowen, who once again led from the front with a captain's display as they recorded a massive 3-1 win over Sunderland to breathe new life into their bid to beat the drop.

• West Ham 3-1 Sunderland - Match report & highlights
• As it happened | Teams | Stats

Bowen, 29, revealed recently how he is "hating" the situation he and his Hammers team-mates find themselves as they look to move out of the relegation zone, but the forward will now be in better spirits.

After the game Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo rightly eulogised about the England international, saying: "We are very lucky to have him, he is a captain who leads by example, takes us forward, fights for every ball and is always dangerous."

Which pretty much sums up Bowen's all-action display on the right-hand side of West Ham's now dangerous-looking front three as he first created the key opener on a plate for Crysencio Summerville to nod home, before keeping his cool from the spot to soon double the hosts' lead.

And just to emphasise Bowen's growing stature at the London Stadium, not only has he now scored and assisted in 11 different Premier League games for West Ham - the most of any player for the club, overtaking Paolo Di Canio (10) - but he also became the Hammer with the outright most goal involvements in Premier League history (103 - 63 goals, 40 assists), moving clear of Michail Antonio (101 - 68 goals, 33 assists).
Rich Morgan

Could Chukwueze replace Wilson at Fulham?

Samuel Chukwueze's superbly well-taken equaliser went under the radar as Fulham earned a late 2-1 victory over Brighton.

Harry Wilson's 92nd-minute free-kick stole the headlines, but it was Chukwueze's calm finish that set Marco Silva's side on their way to a big three points that has moved them up to seventh.

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Chukwueze's introduction as a 59th-minute substitute was greeted by a big cheer from the Fulham supporters and Sky Sports' Paul Merson was soon describing the 26-year-old's equaliser as "Thierry Henry-style" after he slotted past Bart Verbruggen for his sixth goal contribution in his last six games.

Fulham had made offers this time last year for the winger before finally landing him on loan from AC Milan with an option to buy permanently for between £21.6m and £26m.

If Wilson is to depart in the summer, then Chukwueze would be a fine replacement.
David Richardson

'Brutal' Brighton run damaging European hopes

"Football is brutal," said Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler after their late defeat at Fulham.

Even Fulham's Marco Silva admitted it was "harsh" for the visitors to lose at Craven Cottage.

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But it is now just one win in 10 league games for Brighton, who have slid from fifth to 12th after their bright start to the season, and are in danger of their European hopes getting away from them.

Brighton have lost only three times during that run, but are unable to turn draws into wins. It is a worrying trend. This time, they turned a point into none when it looked like Danny Welbeck had handed them the lead just seconds after Fulham's equaliser. Hurzeler knows the margins are fine.

Their next two fixtures, winnable games against Everton and Crystal Palace, are crucial to keep their season alive.
David Richardson

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Premier League hits and misses: Are Tottenham being dragged into a relegation scrap with West Ham rejuvenated?