Tuesday might just go down as one of the worst nights in Tottenham Hotspur's 144 year history. Down by the South Coast, Manchester City could only manage a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth, which crowned Arsenal Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years, resulting in tens of thousands flooding the other streets of North London. 103 miles away up the King's Road, Spurs were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge; Richarlison's late goal unable to spark a full scale comeback.
Thus, ahead of the final day this weekend, defeat for Roberto De Zerbi's team alongside a West Ham win over Leeds would see Tottenham's 48-year uninterrupted stay in the top division come to an end. While worrying about their own status at the bottom, did the Lilywhites actually play a decisive role in the title race?
Tottenham's 25/26 results against the Premier League's top 2
- 23 Nov: Arsenal 4-1 Tottenham Hotspur. 22 Feb: Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 Arsenal.
- 23 Aug: Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham. 1 Feb: Tottenham 2-2 Manchester City.
As no Spurs fan will need reminding, Mikel Arteta's team won both North London derbies this season 4-1, with Spurs' summer transfer target Eberechi Eze scoring a hat-trick in the first meeting and then two more in N17 for good meassure.
In contrast, Tottenham picked up four points against Manchester City. At the Etihad in August, in only his second league game in charge, Thomas Frank pulled off a tactical masterclass, overseeing a 2-0 victory, thanks to goals from Brennan Johnson and then João Palhinha.
Then, towards the very end of Frank's tenure, his men were 2-0 down at home to Pep Guardiola's team by half time, seemingly on course for a usual miserable home defeat. Nevertheless, Dominic Solanke then scored twice in 17 minutes, the latter a jaw-dropping scorpion kick that looped over Gianluigi Donnarumma, to snatch a highly-unlikely 2-2 draw.
Thus, put succinctly, Arsenal earned six points against Spurs this season and Man City only one. Given that the Gunners are four points clear, it is undeniable that Tottenham were pivotal. However, of course no Spurs fan is pleased that Arsenal have won the league, but it's just as well they did pick up points against Man City, considering their own league standing with one game to go.
Tottenham's Premier League 2025/26 points by opposition
Opponent | Spurs points picked up |
|---|---|
Arsenal | 0 |
Manchester City | 4 |
Manchester United | 1 |
Aston Villa | 3 |
Liverpool | 1 |
Bournemouth | 0 |
Brighton & Hove Albion | 2 |
Chelsea | 0 |
Brentford | 4 |
Sunderland | 1 |
Newcastle United | 0 |
Everton (still to face once) | 3 |
Fulham | 0 |
Leeds United | 4 |
Crystal Palace | 3 |
Nottingham Forest | 0 |
West Ham United | 3 |
Burnley | 4 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4 |
Amazingly, should they fail to beat Everton on Sunday, Spurs would not have achieved a league-double over anyone all season long. Alongside Arsenal, they've picked up no points from games against Bournemouth, Newcastle, Fulham, Nottingham Forest and now Chelsea.
On the flip side, their four point haul against Man City is a real outlier, only picking up that many against the Citizens, Brentford, Leeds and the two already relegated clubs Burnley and Wolves. So, while many Spurs supporters would probably like to gift their four points to Manchester City to deny Arsenal the title, well their own position would be even more perilous were they able to do so.
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