Tottenham will only stay up because Forest and West Ham are worse, Stephen Kelly

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Former Tottenham Hotspur right-back has revealed whether he expects the Lilywhites to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

Being in a relegation battle was almost unthinkable at Spurs for over two decades, but the club are now at the very real risk of being relegated from the Premier League for the first time since the competition’s inception.

Only four points separate West Ham in 18th and Tottenham in 16th, and worringly, the East London side are looking more capable of getting results than the Lilywhites.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
14	BrightonBrighton	27	8	10	9	36	34	2	34
15	LeedsLeeds	27	7	10	10	37	46	-9	31
16	TottenhamTottenham	27	7	8	12	37	41	-4	29
17	Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest	27	7	6	14	25	39	-14	27
18	West HamWest Ham	27	6	7	14	32	49	-17	25

With some tough fixtures coming up, the North Londoners could easily find themselves in the bottom three over the coming weeks.

Stephen Kelly reveals only reason he expects Tottenham to stay up

Kelly does not expect Spurs to be relegated this season, but not because he has any faith in his former side.

The former Republic of Ireland international believes that Tottenham will be able to preserve their Premier League status, only because the sides below them are even poorer than they are.

When asked about the fact Spurs have games coming up against Fulham, Crystal Palace and Liverpool, Kelly told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast: “You look at the fixtures coming and you feel like they are ones they could absolutely lose.

“The worrying part is the gulf in class between Spurs and Arsenal [on Sunday]. It was just enormous. You are looking at it and going ‘we are so far off that side’. They were so far off Arsenal in everything – pace, power, passing – and there was just a sense of dejection.

“They need a mentality to be able to perform at home. If you are struggling in front of your own fans and you don’t have the mental strength to be able to turn that around at home and get them back onside, because if you can get back to winning some games that can make a huge difference, but it just doesn’t feel like that is going to change between now and the end of the season.

“I don’t really want to admit it, and still feel there are teams that are really poor and won’t get themselves out of it [relegation], but the only reason Spurs will be OK is that other teams will do worse. Which is not a great thing to be talking about but is probably going to be the case, but it is not looking very good at all.”

Pundits have issued stark warnings to Spurs

Not every pundit is as confident as Kelly that Tottenham will still be in the top-flight next season.

Jamie Carragher has warned Spurs that they are on the verge of a catastrophe, given that they are struggling to get results at home.

Meanwhile, Harry Redknapp believes that it is a complete toss-up between Tottenham, West Ham and Nottingham Forest for the final relegation spot.

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