Tottenham are in free fall and speed-running their way to an almost inconceivable relegation from the Premier League.
A 3-0 defeat to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest on Sunday extended Spurs‘ winless league run to 13 games, leaving them 17th and one point above the drop zone.
It leaves last season’s Europa League winners staring down the barrel of a maiden Premier League relegation and first since 1976/77.
Clubs of stature have succumbed to dropping to the second tier before and here, Flashscore looks at six Premier League relegations that raised eyebrows.
To say that Middlesbrough had a topsy-turvy season in 1996/97 would be an understatement.
Bryan Robson-led Boro reached the League Cup and FA Cup finals but fell short in both, while they failed to really set the Premier League alight.
The star-studded trifecta of Juninho, Emerson and Fabrizio Ravanelli helped them accrue enough points for a 14th-place finish, so how did they fall through the trap door?
Middlesbrough were handed a three-point deduction for failing to fulfil a December fixture against Blackburn due to injuries and illness, causing them to miss out on safety by one point.
Premier League winners in 1995, Blackburn became the first team to win the title and suffer relegation.
Rovers started the league campaign poorly and were knocked out of the UEFA Cup immediately in the first round.
Brian Kidd replaced Roy Hodgson as manager midway through the season, but a few too many draws sealed their fate.
West Ham had a squad packed full of talent, including Paolo Di Canio, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe after a season prior which yielded a seventh-place finish.
Three wins from their first 24 games set the stall for a tough season, which was made tougher by Glenn Roeder falling ill in April.
Sir Trevor Brooking stepped in as caretaker boss and despite losing just one of their remaining 11 games, the Hammers’ 10-year stay in the top flight ended on the final day.
West Ham ended the campaign on 42 points, which is the highest tally of any team to be relegated in a 38-game Premier League season.
Leeds were big spenders in the early noughties to the point where they managed to reach a Champions League semi-final in 2001.
They splashed out on stars like Mark Viduka, Robbie Fowler and Robbie Keane to name a few, while making Rio Ferdinand the world’s most expensive defender at the time.
Yet that spending caught up with them after missing out on Champions League football in 2002, leading to a fire-sale and inevitable dip.
Leeds’ relegation to the second tier was confirmed in May with two games remaining.
A managerial merry-go-round epitomised Newcastle’s 2008/09 season, which ended with hometown legend Alan Shearer in the hot seat.
It all started with Kevin Keegan’s resignation in September after bemoaning the club’s transfer business.
Chris Hughton had two awful spells in charge between a stint from Joe Kinnear, who was forced to step down due to ill health.
Shearer was appointed for the last eight games and he oversaw just one win as the Magpies finished 18th and a point from safety.
Leicester will always be remembered for their fairytale Premier League-winning season in 2016 and their FA Cup triumph in 2021.
They were challenging the European places, but a couple of years later, they were sucked into the relegation dogfight.
Leicester could not add to the likes of James Maddison, Jamie Vardy and Youri Tielemans pre-2022/23 due to a bulging wage bill and COVID-19 still hitting the club’s owners hard.
A terrible start set the tone early and a win on the final day against West Ham was still not enough to keep them up.
And now, they are in major danger of dropping from the Championship to League One following a points deduction.
