Credit: Tung Manh Phan

Richie Mills

Fri 24 April 2026 10:40, UK

Chris Sutton believes that Tottenham Hotspur will end their winless run at Wolves but much of this mess could have been avoided if they had stuck with Thomas Frank.

Tottenham head into their crunch clash with Wolves on Saturday knowing they simply have to come away with three points if they want to survive in the Premier League.

Spurs scraped a 1-1 draw against the Midlands outfit at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in late September, when Frank was still in charge, but when they head to Molineux, Roberto De Zerbi‘s team cannot afford any more slip-ups.

Wolves and Burnley are already relegated and now Tottenham are trying to avoid being the third team to drop down to the Championship. Spurs are two points behind 17th-placed West Ham, who host Everton on Saturday.

Sutton thinks that Tottenham can beat Wolves, in what he describes as a “ridiculous” prediction, but if they don’t, they are doomed to relegation.

‘Pressure is all on Tottenham’

Although Tottenham fans are counting on this match as a bankable three points, Wolves are unbeaten against Spurs in their last six Premier League games (four wins and two draws).

Moreover, Tottenham have lost their last three away league games at Molineux, as many as they had in their previous 16 visits to Wolves’ ground (10 wins and three draws).

As Sutton points out, Tottenham are on a 15-match winless run and haven’t won in the Premier League since 28 December. There were shoots of positivity in their 2-2 draw with Brighton but the same old frailties were writ large at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

While this will be unhelpful to Tottenham supporters, who will hope for an attacking line-up at Molineux, Sutton believes Spurs would be in a less desperate situation if they hadn’t decided to swing the axe on Frank before hiring Igor Tudor for a short and ill-fated stint.

Predicting a 1-0 away win, he said in his BBC Sport column: “Tottenham could not beat Wolves at home earlier in the season – they needed a 94th-minute equaliser to avoid defeat in September – but they simply have to beat them this time. Can Roberto de Zerbi’s side win three of their final five games and save themselves from the drop?

“Of course they can, but it has to start here. Imagine the psychological damage to the Spurs players and their fans if they don’t win this one. Wolves are officially down now, but we have known that will happen for a while.

“The pressure is all on Spurs, and for them to find a way of winning this game. If Thomas Frank had stayed in charge and maintained his record of 1.12 points per game, then Spurs would be on 37 points now, in 16th.

“Instead, they are in the relegation zone and worrying about how the teams above them are doing as well as trying to pick up points themselves. From watching them, there is nothing that suggests Tottenham will win this time after failing to win any of their previous 15 league games.

“Similarly, they have not kept a clean sheet for 14 league games, so why would they manage one now? But I am going to go against the grain here. Spurs absolutely must win this game, so I am going to say they will – and also that Wolves won’t score. I know that is a ridiculous prediction, and I don’t even really believe it will happen myself, but then nothing about Spurs’ season makes sense when you study it.”

‘Tottenham need fast start’ is a cliché

During Frank’s tenure, Tottenham won seven of their first eight league games when scoring first this season, conceding just three goals in that period.

However, they’ve since won none of their last five when going a goal to the good (three draws and two losses), shopping 11 goals.

As Tottenham appear very fragile at the moment, it seems if they can get a two-goal cushion, that may be the confidence boost they need to kick on.

And coming from behind may not be their way to success, either. Incidentally, in the last two seasons, Wolves and Tottenham have picked up just 59 and 69 points respectively, suffering 42 and 38 defeats along the way.

It’s do or die for Tottenham.