Credit: Imago/Premier League on X

James Barker

Fri 27 March 2026 12:40, UK

Tottenham Hotspur duo Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven both lead the Premier League in goals scored by central defenders in 2025-26.

Both Romero and Van de Ven have each had their fair share of critics this season, albeit pretty much every Tottenham player has.

However, the two centre-backs have been part of a very charitable Spurs defence this term, and have both cost the team at various points of the season.

Romero has two red cards and Van de Ven has one, whilst they’ve both made individual mistakes that have seen the opposition find the net as a result.

But, they could still have a huge say on the outcome of Tottenham’s relegation battle at the other end of the pitch.

Premier League stats Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven lead

Romero and/or Van de Ven could leave Tottenham this summer, especially if Spurs drop into the Championship.

They may well wish to seek pastures new regardless, but that’s in the future, right now, they both have a responsibility to get the Lilywhites out of the mess they’re in.

And, whilst they and Tottenham’s defence as a whole may be struggling at the back, they’ve both arguably been doing their best work in attack this season.

As detailed by Sofascore, only three central defenders in the Premier League have scored four goals this term, two of those are Romero and Van de Ven, with the other being Newcastle’s Malick Thiaw respectively.

Meanwhile, only Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes has more combined goals and assists (seven) than the Tottenham duo’s five.

Romero also leads the league among centre-backs in scoring frequency with a goal every 451 minutes, followed in second by Thiaw on 584 minutes, and then Van de Ven in third with 603 minutes respectively.

So, could these two be Tottenham’s unlikely goalscoring heroes that drag them out of relegation danger? If there’s any centre-back duo that could in the Premier League this season, it’s these two.

Tottenham’s next three games crucial to Premier League survival

They will get their chance to do so when Tottenham’s relegation run-in begins on Sunday 12 April, when they travel up to Wearside to take on Sunderland.

Indeed, these first three games after the international break are going to be vital to Spurs’ chances of staying up, as they play Sunderland, Brighton and Wolves respectively.

The Lilywhites should be targeting at least two wins from those three, which would take them to 36 points, and that might just be about enough to keep them up.

If they don’t emerge from that trio of fixtures with a decent amount of points, they’ll finish the season with games against Aston Villa, Leeds, Chelsea and Everton respectively, probably needing a miracle.

Tottenham can’t afford to go into that gauntlet of a final four needing numerous wins, as with all four of those teams either fighting for Europe or to stay up in Leeds’ case, points will likely be at a premium.