Igor Tudor said he saw enough in Tottenham’s 3-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace to increase his belief that they can avoid relegation.
Spurs, in deep trouble after Micky van de Ven was sent off, had taken the lead through Solanke but collapsed after the red card. Tudor has now lost all three of his games in charge. Tottenham — last relegated from the top flight in 1977 — sit one point above the drop zone and travel to Liverpool next in the Premier League.
The key moments
– 29 mins: Sarr finishes off a sweeping Palace move.
– 33 mins: The goal is disallowed after a lengthy VAR check with Sarr’s nose deemed offside.
– 35 mins: Solanke puts Tottenham ahead from close range.
– 38 mins: Tottenham captain Van de Ven is dismissed for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity when he pulled back Sarr.
– 40 mins: Sarr levels for Palace from the resulting penalty.
– 45+1: Palace take the lead as Strand Larsen’s shot goes in through Vicario’s legs.
– 45+7: Sarr scores Palace’s third, prompting many Tottenham fans to leave early.
“I understand the fans, they wanted more,” Tudor said. “We also wanted more. The red card changed everything. It might sound strange, I believe more after this game than I believed before. I saw something. I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I need to go, and who is in the boat can stay, otherwise [they] can leave the boat. When the other players come back, I’m sure we’ll have a good team and come back. It’s not easy to accept the moment we are in now.”
Asked whether he would be in charge for the next game at Liverpool, Tudor replied: “No comment on that question.”
Bookmakers now put Spurs’ odds of relegation at 19/10 — an implied probability of about 35 per cent.
How long will Tudor reign?
“Could the Spurs Tudor period be over in 118 minutes?” joked Sky Sports News’ Gary Cotterill, referencing the short time Tudor has been in charge.
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones noted that the table only deals in points and that Spurs are collecting too few of them. He argued that, in a relegation scrap, clubs often reach for the manager as the quickest possible jolt, saying: “Sacking a manager after three weeks might be their only rational move. Three weeks can really be a lifetime in football.”
The latest damning Spurs stats
– Tottenham have failed to win any of their last 11 league games for the first time since October 1975 (D7 L4).
– Only in 1935 (first 15 games) has the club endured a longer winless run in league football to begin a calendar year than their 11 matches in 2026.
– They have lost five successive Premier League matches for the first time since November 2004.
– Igor Tudor is just the second Spurs head coach in Premier League history to lose each of his first three games in charge.
– Spurs have conceded 2+ goals in nine successive league matches for the first time in the club’s history.
– Only Chelsea (7) have collected more red cards than Spurs’ four this season.
Spurs’ next six fixtures
– Tue Mar 10: Atletico Madrid (A) — Champions League, 8.00pm
– Sun Mar 15: Liverpool (A) — Premier League, 4.30pm (live on Sky Sports)
– Wed Mar 18: Atletico Madrid (H) — Champions League, 8.00pm
– Sun Mar 22: Nottingham Forest (H) — Premier League, 2.15pm (live on Sky Sports)
– Sun Apr 12: Sunderland (A) — Premier League, 2.00pm (live on Sky Sports)
– Sat Apr 18: Brighton (H) — Premier League, 5.30pm (live on Sky Sports)