Tottenham finally have something to show for 2026. Joao Palhinha's close-range finish in the 82nd minute secured a 1-0 win at Wolves on Sunday, and with it, Spurs' first Premier League victory since December. It's a thin lifeline, but it's real - and with four games remaining and two points separating them from the third relegation place, Roberto De Zerbi's side needed it badly.
The Opta supercomputer currently gives Tottenham a 57% chance of going down. That's not quite doom, but it's not comfortable either. Wolves and Burnley are already relegated. One more club is heading down. Right now, Spurs, West Ham, Leeds, and Nottingham Forest are all fighting to avoid being that club.
What the Wolves win actually means
It means Spurs are alive, and De Zerbi's message is finally landing. The Italian manager arrived in January and talked about winning every remaining game. That sounded like bravado - Spurs had been dreadful - but he backed it up by getting a response from a squad that had looked checked out under his predecessor.
The Wolves result mainly shifts pressure onto the clubs around them. West Ham's form has been inconsistent. Leeds and Forest are scrapping. No one is running away from anyone else, which is exactly the kind of situation where anything can happen in the final four rounds.
The injury problem
Spurs are not healthy. Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons, both key to De Zerbi's attacking system, are injured alongside Cristian Romero and Mohammed Kudus. That is a lot of quality missing. De Zerbi has managed results with a reduced squad, but a team missing four significant players is vulnerable in any fixture.
The manager believes his side can win all four remaining matches. That would almost certainly be enough to survive, but it assumes consistency this team hasn't shown. The more realistic path to safety is three wins and one draw - achievable, but only if injuries don't spread further.
The four games that decide everything
The remaining fixtures include a mix of winnable and dangerous matches. The timing of each result will matter as much as the result itself. Tottenham have been here before - last-day survival, all-or-nothing situations - and they know how these things go. Whether this squad has enough to make it through is genuinely uncertain. But at least they go into the final stretch with a win behind them.
Match context: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, April 2026. Scorer: Joao Palhinha (82'). Tottenham position: 17th, 2 points above drop zone. De Zerbi appointed Spurs manager, January 2026.
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