Premier League: The relegation battle more like a title race
Nottingham Forest beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday and extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to seven matches.
This moved them six points clear of 18th-placed West Ham and restored their five-point advantage over 17th-placed Spurs.
Although not mathematically justified, three points would be enough to cement Forest’s place in the Premier League next season.
After a season marred by three management changes at the City Ground, Forest will be indebted to Vitor Pereira if they survive.
The 57-year-old has lost just two of his nine Premier League games in charge since replacing Sean Dyche in February.
Pereira’s team remained unbeaten in matches against Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Chelsea.
Forest have scored 12 goals in their last three games and conceded just two, increasing their goal difference from -12 to -2. It can effectively act as an extra point at the end of the season.
Spurs, on the other hand, secured their first Premier League win of 2026 last week by claiming a vital victory against a much-changed Aston Villa side on Sunday night.
After three matchdays in the relegation zone, the win meant last season’s Europa League champions Spurs moved out of the bottom three and ahead of West Ham.
Speaking on Monday Nightclub, former Manchester City and Newcastle United goalkeeper Shay Given said: “It’s very tight at the moment. Realistically, it’s between the two. The rest are home and dry. Maybe not mathematically, but it’s done and dusted.”
“It’s a huge week for Tottenham. Forget the tactics, forget the managers, forget the boardroom. What matters is the result. What matters is the three points, the advantage that will give the youngsters.
“Imagine them training today. A few weeks ago, the Spurs stadium was almost empty towards the end of the games. Yesterday you could see them away from home; the atmosphere was rocking.
“It’s just a human feeling, ‘We’ve won a game in football. We’re out of the relegation zone. We’re left alone with West Ham’.”
However, despite their precarious position, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Hammers.
In fact, they have made significant progress in the last three months and have lost just four of their last 14 Premier League games since back-to-back defeats in January.
But if any club is aware that sometimes this can be too little, too late, it is West Ham.
The East Londoners have the undesirable record of picking up the most points (15) in the final eight games of the season among any team destined to be relegated from the Premier League.
More recently, Newcastle United, the last team to be relegated from the Premier League with 36 points or more, hold the record for the longest unbeaten run at the end of the season (six games) by a team relegated to the Championship.
If Forest, Spurs and West Ham maintain their current form, one of these three teams could finish the season with an unwanted place in the Premier League record book.
