Tottenham head to Molineux on Saturday to play Wolves as they search for their first league victory of 2026 and cling to faint hopes of avoiding relegation.
The situation on the table is stark: Tottenham sit in the bottom three ahead of their trip to Wolves, are still waiting for their first league win of 2026 and have picked up one point from two games under Roberto De Zerbi. They are two points adrift of 17th-place West Ham and eight points behind 16th-placed Nottingham Forest after West Ham's 5-0 defeat of Sunderland on Friday night, with five fixtures remaining to try to climb out of trouble.
De Zerbi has laid out the stakes bluntly. "I don't want to put pressure but we have to know the situation," he said, and added, "We can't forget the table; we can't forget we need to win." He warned that even a positive result would not be decisive: "What we have done until now is not enough. If we win at Wolves, it's not finished." The match kicks off on 25 Apr 2026 at 10:00 EST and 15:00 GMT.
There are practical worries beyond the numbers. Tottenham are winless in 16 top-flight matches and have not kept a Premier League clean sheet since New Year's Day. De Zerbi has stressed preparation and calm — "We have to be able to play, not too much pressure" — while also acknowledging the mental state of his players: "These players are very good players. They have important qualities, and they play without too many problems in their head."
James Maddison will travel with the squad but remains unavailable to play. De Zerbi said: "Maddison is not available yet. He felt pain. Especially this week, he felt pain, but it's not a serious problem. Tomorrow, he's coming with us to the match, because he's important." Maddison was named on the bench for Tottenham's 2-2 draw with Brighton and has not featured since picking up an ACL injury in pre-season; he has not made a Premier League appearance for a year.
Wolves arrive at the game with nothing to lose. Their relegation to the Championship was confirmed on Monday, but recent head-to-head statistics complicate the matchup for Tottenham: Wolves have a six-game unbeaten run against Tottenham and have won the last three home meetings in that sequence. De Zerbi pointed to Wolves' recent Molineux form to underline the caution required: "The last three at home, they drew with Arsenal, and won against Aston Villa and Liverpool." He called it plainly: "It's a tough game because they have nothing to lose."
The Wolves squad has its own problems. Angel Gomes and Ladislav Krejčí went off injured against Leeds and will be assessed, while Yerson Mosquera remains suspended, leaving the hosts short-handed even as they prepare to play without the weight of top-flight survival hanging over them. Molineux is the venue for Saturday's match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.
The obvious tension is the mismatch between urgency and form: Tottenham must win to create any realistic path out of the drop zone with five games to play, but they face a side who historically frustrates them on its own turf and have shown resilience even after relegation. Roberto De Zerbi summed it up by returning to the core message of consequence and limitation: "We can't forget the table; we can't forget we need to win."
Beating Wolves will be a necessary step for Tottenham, but it will not be sufficient. As De Zerbi warned, "What we have done until now is not enough. If we win at Wolves, it's not finished." That blunt assessment is the clearest indicator of how narrow Tottenham's margin for error has become as the season reaches its final five matches.
