And with one final word from the Tottenham manager, I’m signing off.

I don’t want to work with sad people, with negative people. They need to believe in myself. If I accepted to come to Tottenham now it’s because I am positive we can stay in the Premier League next season, 100%.

Now see what’s going on in Chelsea v Manchester United. Bye!

A bit more from De Zerbi:

I know we are fighting to keep in the Premier League, but we are lucky, every one of us, to work in in this club with these fans. It was an incredible atmosphere today. You could think we were fighting to qualify for the Champions League, not against relegation. If we are able to give our best, I think it’s not finished yet.

Today I [saw] signs, character, quality, organisation with and without the ball, I saw the spirit, everything we need to reach our target and to fight until the end of the season.

Here’s Roberto De Zerbi:

Sorry for the result, for the players, because they are suffering too much and today I think we deserved to win the game. Big congratulations for their style, their level of players and everything, but I think, especially in that moment of the game, we couldn’t concede that goal.

Any positives from today?

I am positive, but I am proud of my players, because they played a fantastic game. Character. Spirit. What I asked them. To deserve to play in this stadium for this club. We have to move on and to prepare the next game, and to try to win the game. Because if we are strong like today, I think we can compete again.

What did you say to the players?

I said to be strong, to follow me again and again, because I want to help them. The mentality in this moment of football is the most important part. Now it’s too easy to think negative. We have to work and find the condition to win a game. I’m positive not because I’m coach of Tottenham, but I know my players, I know their qualities and I believe in them.

Ed Aarons was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for this one, and here’s his report:

Roberto De Zerbi could only watch in stunned silence. The Italian had been a crucible of emotions as Tottenham tried to hold out against his former club after Xavi Simons scored the goal that looked like ending their long wait for a victory. But football is capable of providing the cruellest twists and Georginio Rutter’s late equaliser must have felt like a dagger to the heart for the Spurs fans.

The draw leaves Tottenham in the relegation zone having still failed to record a win in 2026 and the prospect of this magnificent stadium hosting Championship football next season is growing by the minute.

Much more here:

Tottenham’s remaining fixtures:

25 April: Wolves (a)
3 May: Aston Villa (a)
11 May: Leeds (h)
17 May: Chelsea (a)
24 May: Everton (h)

Xavi Simons has had a poor season, and I don’t think he had a fantastic game, but there were outbreaks of actual brilliance there. And then his cramp, and the fact Spurs had burned all their substitutions, were key factors in Brighton’s second equaliser.

Both Spurs goals, and one of Brighton’s, came from turnovers in their attacking third. It took excellent attacking play to convert those turnovers into goals, but they were eminently avoidable. Only Mitoma’s goal didn’t stick to that script, though I’ve no idea what kind of minibreak Tottenham’s defence was on while Brighton prepared to swing the ball in from the right.

The action isn’t over yet: Chelsea v Manchester United kicks off in 20 minutes or so, and Rob Smyth will be calling that one:

Xavi Simons put on an extraordinary, virtuoso display of guttedface after that equaliser went in. “Seeing how visibly bereft Simons is after that is almost enough to spoil the schadenfreude, eh?” suggests James Humphries. “Almost.”

The bad news for Spurs: they nearly got three points but ended with only one. The good news for Spurs: they weren’t completely shambolic. The table as it stands:

90+8 mins: They get a chance, too! The throw is actually taken shortish, worked right, changes hands a couple of times, worked back into the middle, and then there’s nearly a shooting chance for Bergvall, nearly one for Simons, and eventually an actual one for Gray, whose low effort is underpowered and easily saved.

90+7 mins: One minute to play, plus perhaps a bonus minute or two to account for the goal celebrations. Spurs have an attacking throw-in, and are going to fling it into the box.

90+6 mins: Inevitably it starts with Minteh. His low cross is intercepted by Danso but he inexplicably lingers on the ball and loses it. Just get rid for the sake of Peter! You can’t score from Row Z, etc! Anyway, it’s pulled back to Rutter, who lashes it into the net from the edge of the area!

90+4 mins: Big miss! Minteh’s cross is flicked on at the near post and it drops to Kadioglu, whose sidefoot volley from beyond the far post is, well, not as good as Mitoma’s was. Goal kick.

90+3 mins: It’s all Brighton. Can Spurs cling on?

90+1 mins: Another Minteh cross to the far post. This one gives Kadioglu a chance to head it back into a crowded six-yard box, but his header is slow, loopy and easily dealt with.

90+1 mins: Into stoppage time, and there’ll be eight minutes of it. At least!

89 mins: Minteh crosses from the left to the far post, where neither Wieffer nor Kadioglu is marked but they contrive to tackle each other.

87 mins: Simons is cramping up again. He’s still not able to go off, so instead the physios come on. The downside of which is it’ll mean the match goes on longer.

86 mins: Two crosses in quick succession from Minteh, one excellently cleared by Porro, the other going out of play.

84 mins: Now Xavi Simons is down, apparently with cramp. Teammates signal for a substitution but Spurs have none left.

84 mins: Brighton swing the ball in from the left and Kostoulas, in trying to volley it, volleys Kinsky. Free kick.

82 mins: Lovely slow-motion replay of the second Spurs goal, Verbruggen getting absolutely nowhere near it and the ball clipping the inside of the post on its way in. Unimprovable, really, which is not a word that’s been used of Spurs many times this season.

80 mins: Now Spurs have a corner. Roars from the crowd. It’s the hope that kills you, etc.

77 mins: Verbruggen rolls the ball out to Van Hecke but he isn’t given the chance to play it out – Bergvall nicks the ball from him, it goes to Simons, and he curls a beauty into the far corner from 20 yards!

76 mins: Now Spurs bring Spence on for Udogie, and Bergvall for Gallagher.

75 mins: Mitoma has to go off so two substitutions become three: Welbeck, Hinshelwood and Mitoma go off, O’Riley, Rutter and De Cuyper are on.

75 mins: Brighton want to make a couple of substitutions but can’t, because Mitoma is receiving treatment.

73 mins: A good pass to Tel, who chooses to pass to Gallagher rather than have a pop. Gallagher then runs through the penalty area, presumably in the hope of being fouled, before falling as the ball runs out of play.

71 mins: Good work from Kinsky, who in the fraction of a second between the ball being stabbed away from Welbeck and it rolling to him realised it might be construed as a back-pass, stuck out a leg and then hacked it to safety.

68 mins: And Palhinha’s already nearly scored! Simons’ shot deflects out to him, and his shot deflects on its way towards goal but not with enough power to take it beyond Verbruggen.

68 mins: Bentancur is off and Palhinha is on, surely a planned substitution with Bentancur making his first appearance since early January.

67 mins: Welbeck eventually has a shot from the free-kick, but it goes into the wall.

65 mins: Danso is booked for deliberately blocking Mitoma’s run as he tried to run onto Welbeck’s first-time pass, and Brighton have a free-kick inches outside the box.

64 mins: Brighton have dominated these 19 post-halftimely minutes, but Tottenham’s defence is yet to cave.

62 mins: Spurs have played their way out of defence with something that looks surprisingly like competence. They do it again, but the referee harshly decides Udogie used his elbow on Ayari and brings play back.

61 mins: Pascal Gross with a backheel flick volley from a throw-in that achieves precisely nothing but surely deserves its own entry.

58 mins: Brighton play the ball gradually back to the keeper, as Gallagher races around in search of the ball. He eventually throws a foot at it as Verbruggen clears and the ball smacks into him – but rebounds wide of goal.

57 mins: Spurs make those substitutions, with Bissouma and Kolo Muani going off.

56 mins: Gallagher sees Gross’s leg swinging towards him and throws himself to the ground inside the area. But Gross pulled out of the challenge, there was no contact, and Gallagher gets up apologetically.

55 mins: Spurs ready a couple of substitutions, with Gray and Tel the chosen ones.

53 mins: A booking for Roberto De Zerbi, who has been repeatedly leaving his technical area and that’s not nice.

52 mins: Some decent work on the Spurs right, but it ends with a poor cross.

50 mins: Now Minteh nearly sets up a chance by not touching the ball, his dummy eventually enabling a couple of shots, both of which hit defenders rather than net.

48 mins: Nearly a Brighton second! Udogie completely messes up as he tries to shepherd the ball somewhere or other under pressure from Minteh. Minteh steals the ball off him and pokes it across goal, and Danso gets there just ahead of Welbeck.

46 mins: Peeeeep! The players are back out and play is back on.

Well. Towards the end of a low-quality, high-paced half we get three moments of great incision and skill and two goals, so nearly three. Throw in Spurs hitting their own post, which had it gone in would have been far more in keeping, and it doesn’t feel so bad at all. “Whatever they put in the pasta in that restaurant De Zerbi took his players to midweek seems to have put some pep in their step,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “But it’s Spurs lads, so the second have should tell us how many of them overindulged on the desserts.”

45+4 mins: Pascal Gross picks out Mitoma, lingering unnoticed beyond the far post, with a cross from the right, and he sidefoots it irresistibly into the roof of the net!

45+1 mins: Into stoppage time, and because of that Gomez injury there’ll be five minutes of it.

43 mins: Two moments of absolute quality from Xavi Simons in the space of two minutes, and if only he’d managed a third moment of absolute quality Spurs would have been two up.

42 mins: Simons checks inside Kadioglu really nicely there to completely perplex the Brighton defender and leave himself a clear shot on goal from not far out, and he calmly sidefoots against the foot of the post. It bounces out perfectly into the path of Porro who absolutely lashes it goalwards, but Verbruggen fingertips it to safety!

41 mins: Simons hits the post when he should score! And then Verbruggen savesd brilliantly from Porro!

40 mins: Simons has the ball on the edge of the area, and Wieffer gives him all the time he needs to look up and pick a pass. He picks a good ’un. chipping it into the area towards the run of Porro but close enough to Verbruggen to tempt the keeper off his line. He hares out to punch, Porro gets there first, and the ball bounces into an empty net!

37 mins: Wieffer is booked for a foul which gives me the opportunity to tell you, which I markedly failed to do at the time, that Bissouma was also booked a few minutes back.

36 mins: And again they push! A nice pass into Hinshelwood, who is sent flying in the penalty area by Van de Ven’s shoulder charge. Then Udogie gets the ball, hares across the edge of his penalty area and flings himself over the nearest Brighton leg. It seems bizarre, risky defending to me, and not even remotely a foul, but the referee gives it.

35 mins: And another chance for Brighton, who chip a free-kick into the area. Welbeck heads it goalwards, but Kinsky falls upon it.

33 mins: Spurs remarkably fail to concede! Minteh crosses from the right, it’s headed back across goal, and Van de Ven gets there just before Welbeck, from about 12in out, and with his left foot smashes it into the inside of his own goalpost, the ball then running more or less across the goalline before being cleared.

32 mins: Shots on target: 0, Corners: 7. It’s been that kind of game thus far.

30 mins: Minteh, who always seems to be involved in something, slides a low and slow cross along the edge of the area, but Van Hecke can’t quite reach it.

28 mins: A slightly wild passage of play on the Brighton right almost ends with Minteh getting past enough challenges to have a shot, but he is finally crowded out, Gallagher is brought down, and Spurs can reset.

26 mins: Another Brighton corner and a much better one, which Kinsky has to flap away and out the other side for a throw.

23 mins: Down the other end, and Brighton win themselves a corner, which Minteh curls across the six-yard box and out the other side. The play in this game has so far been very busy, but not very good.

22 mins: The next corner drops eventually to Kolo Muani, who has the wildest of left-footed thrashes at it and wallops the ball deep into the stands.

21 mins: The corner is headed to the edge of the area by Boscagli, where Simons seizes upon it and has a shot, which deflects wide.

20 mins: Gomez limps off, stopping a couple of times to feel the back of his left knee. Play will resume with a Spurs corner.

20 mins: Mitoma is getting ready to come on, with Gomez still on the ground.

18 mins: Gomez lands awkwardly after going for a header, and it looks like he might have genuinely done himself an injury. He’s full face in hands at the moment.

16 mins: That leads to a corner, at which Kolo Muani touches Wieffer’s arm – with both hands, to be fair, but I didn’t see anything I would describe as a grip - Wieffer throws himself to the ground, and the referee buys it.

15 mins: Kadioglu midjudges a left-wing cross, which bounces over his head and nearly to Kolo Muani.

13 mins: Brighton haven’t really accomplished much yet. Gomez tries to find Minteh but Porro gets ahead of him, gives him a bit of a shoulder-barge, and then belts the ball into touch.

10 mins: Udogie goes down in the area after nipping in front of Minteh. He wants a penalty, but again the referee is happy for play to continue and VAR isn’t going to overrule him. Looks like there’s a brief tug of his shorts as he breaks into the area, but it would have been an extraordinarily generous penalty decision if given.

7 mins: Absolutely excellent what-me-guv innocentface from Gomez after he concedes a free-kick. Beautiful technique.

5 mins: A big punt forward from Kinsky towards Solanke, who seems to pretty deliberately take out van Hecke. They both go down and the ball bounces forward, with Simons haring after it. He’s not far away from getting it, either, but Verbruggen comes out to huff it away in the nick of time. Again, the referee lets play continue.

3 mins: Lots of people running around as the game starts with a high tempo. But then Danso stops Minteh completing a one-two and thereby concedes a free-kick on halfway.

1 min: Peeeeeep! Action time! Brighton kick off, with at least one Spurs player several yards into their half. The referee lets it go.

Right then. Action time (almost).

The players are on their way out. The home fans have been given flags to wave, and they are doing so enthusiastically. It’s quite a sight. Now they need their players to show similar commitment.

Fabian Hurzeler has a chat!

It’s very important, I just said to the group, it’s not about being in form it’s about habits, it’s about showing the right habits today. I expect Tottenham to have a clear style of play, Roberto is known for that. He did a brilliant job here but today it’s Brighton against Tottenham, it’s a focus on trying to get three points and that’s the only focus we’ve got.

The relegation trapdoor is ready to swing into action: Wolves’ defeat today means they will go down if Spurs win today. Roberto de Zerbi has had a quick chat, and this is what he said about Maddison’s return:

James is one of the leaders, of the most important players in the squad. I think he can give us energy, quality, because when he is available to play his quality is amazing, and in this moment we need everyone. We need all players focused on Tottenham, and especially an important player like James.

Hello world! And welcome to today’s episode of Who Wants to Win a League Game in 2026!

Spurs are very close to using all their lifelines and they’ve still had no lucky, but with the two teams immediately above them, West Ham and Nottingham Forest, playing on Monday and Sunday respectively today is an opportunity to turn up the heat in the relegation dogfight, or indeed to deflate the pressure in the relegation dogfight balloon, depending how it goes.

The bad news for Spurs is that, well, they’re rubbish. Since that last league win, a 1-0 success at Crystal Palace on 28 December, they have taken a shameful five points from 14 games, by a massive margin the worst record in the division, while in the same period and also playing 14 times Brighton have 22 points, the fifth-best record in the land (above Everton on goal difference).

The good news is that Brighton begins with the letter B. Even while letting Bournemouth do the double over them Spurs have overperformed against B-sides this season, averaging 1.29 points per game, the record of a solidly mid-table side. Against non-B-sides they’ve taken just 0.84 points per game. But Brighton have won their last three and five of their last six, and ride into this reunion with their former coach Roberto De Zerbi on a wave of form.

Here’s what De Zerbi had to say about this game:

I’m positive. I’m ready to fight. I believe to keep the Premier League, I believe in my words, what I said the last week was the focus is to win one game. I don’t know if tomorrow we are able to win, I hope and I think we have the quality enough to win a game.

I think it’s crucial to win a game, not just for the table - OK, one part for the table for sure - but because we have to feel again what is nice to win a game and what they can do, because I have no doubt about the qualities of the players. OK, now is a tough moment, but to achieve the great target you have to pass through difficult times.

So here’s to a fun couple of hours, and an end to difficult times.