Tottenham Hotspur

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We asked for your views on how big a blow it is for Spurs to lose captain Cristian Romero for the rest of the season after his injury at Sunderland.

Here are some of your comments:

Deep: This team is going to benefit from the loss of Romero. He isn't a leader and his disciplinary issues have never helped. He was never crying for us (he's going to Athleti in the summer!), he was crying for his national team. He doesn't care if we go down and the team is better off without him! A solid defender like Danso, with that long throw as well, will do us the world of good. Hopefully the loss of this dreadful captain will allow someone to step up and really lead this team.

I do feel for the lad though, he might miss the World Cup.

KH: This is not a blow at all. When we needed him he got idiotic suspensions and has shown zero leadership on or off the pitch. I'd far rather have Danso playing.

Terry: It's nice to hear that Romero is out for the rest of the season. Maybe now Spurs can replace him with a better defender that really fights for the team, because Romero certainly didn't. It's a shame that when he wanted to leave earlier in the season they didn't let him go. If they had we wouldn't be in this position now.

John: The loss of Romero is no big deal, he is a yellow card waiting to happen in every match as at Sunderland. Danso, who will be his replacement, is a very good player with a long throw as well. Romero has been guilty of not leading from the front, of jogging back when the opposition break a fast attack forward. This was highlighted on Match of the Day. I'm not sad to be seeing the back of him. What is actually needed is a creative midfielder and that's something we just haven't got.

Douglas: Pity for Romero, but a blessing in disguise for Spurs. A good defender, but a poor leader. The worst discipline at the club, maybe even in the league. Spurs need to appoint a proper leader who sets the example for the rest of the team to follow and now is the perfect time to do it.

Richard: Huge loss. I know Romero is the target of much criticism but he is still critical to the team. Brobbey's unwarranted push on Romero should have resulted in a second yellow. Once again the ref failed to keep players safe from injury.

Cristian Romero's club season appears over after a partial tear of his medial cruciate ligament, reports BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel.

How big of a blow is this?

Get in touch with your views here

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Tottenham Hotspur ended the weekend sitting in the relegation zone, following their defeat at Sunderland and West Ham's win against Wolves.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney felt Spurs' performance was "a bit flat" in the north east, which prevented them being able to have a new-manager bounce in Roberto de Zerbi's first game in charge.

"Sometimes you get a bounce but I think you get that when a new manager comes in and you are front-footed and aggressive on the ball," he said on The Wayne Rooney Show. "I thought they were a bit in between."

The ex-Premier League striker added that De Zerbi "needs to find some answers quickly" and that dropping to the Championship would be disastrous for the club.

"It will be a disaster for them if they do go [down]," said Rooney. "I think that's where some of those players probably are looking at it thinking if they go down they can move on and go to a different club.

"If they don't get back in the Premier League in the first year, that will be an absolute nightmare for them."

Tottenham have not won a Premier League match in 2026 and their next game is at home to Brighton on Saturday 17:30 evening.

Rooney feels they must figure out a way to win to help boost their confidence.

"If they can do that then they give themselves a chance. The longer it goes without winning is difficult for them."

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

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Tottenham Hotspur fan Hollie Agombar says the club are in a "mess" at the moment and doesn't believe the team has it in them to "fight" in their bid to stave off a shocking drop to the Championship.

The 1-0 loss against Sunderland was Spurs' fifth defeat in six Premier League games and leaves them two points adrift in the relegation zone after West Ham thrashed Wolves to leapfrog their London rivals.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Hollie was asked about Roberto de Zerbi's first game in charge: "It's just the same old, same old, isn't it? I know I said a few weeks ago we're already going down and I think that's cemented. We can't even get a new manager bounce at the moment, either.

"It is just a mess to be brutally honest. I think he's alluding to a mentality thing as well because we've heard managers over the years say that, and I 100% get that, but I don't think they've really got it in them to fight and that's what we've seen in recent weeks.

"It's a very strange time at Spurs at the moment."

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur.

Here are some of your comments:

Sunderland fans

Adrian: Three points off fifth and a Champions League slot. Who'd have predicted that this time last year?

Robert: Another Superb performance by this young Sunderland side. Regis le Bris is, in my opinion, a good candidate for manager/head coach of the season. He has built a virtually new team in his debut Premier League campaign. He has developed a wonderful team spirit and togetherness that is excellent. Magnificent results have come thick and fast. I could not be happier. Ha'way the lads. And I'm feeling "Glad All Over" as it's the song the Crystal Palace fans sing when they score a goal and win.

Stephen: More proof that we need an "out-and-out" goalscorer. We created many more chances than Spurs yet our only goal came from a deflection.

Graham: Not the best this season but, as always, a team performance and Granit Xhaka pulling the strings - as usual.

Tottenham fans

Peter: A much better performance. Chances created but lack of quality upfront meant they weren't taken. I would like to have seen more urgency towards the end. You don't play your way out of the bottom three. As for the goal, one of those conceded by team at the bottom. We deserved a point, but that's not how football works. Still hope, three wins a minimum. COYS.

Colin: Listless. Boring. Pathetic. Big mistake not playing Xavi Simons until 95th minute. So many under performing players. Play the under-21s' side next week.

Roger: In the days when we had Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son consistently contributing over 30 goals a season we could afford to concede a few goals and still pick up the points. Unfortunately, they have been replace by very expensive flops when it comes to scoring. Likewise in midfield we have never come close to replacing the quality of Christian Eriksen, Dele Ali and Mousa Dembele. That is why we are where we are and unfortunately there are no quick fixes. Against Sunderland confirmed that hard work and effort alone will not be enough, we are going to have to rely on a lot of good luck if we are to avoid relegation.

Jeremy: I have been a fan of Tottenham since 1968 when my grandfather first took me to White Hart Lane at the age of five. Outside of the money these players get and the status it affords, where's their pride in playing for Spurs? They should be ashamed of themselves. Spurs is an iconic club and deserves to stay in the Premier League but these players don't. It doesn't matter how gifted they are individually, they are poor as a team. This is not the manager's fault. This is the responsibility of the players.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Spurs are in deep. Seriously deep. For all of the effort they made very, very few real chances in this game.

Now they are officially in the relegation zone, people are taking it seriously. It's been serious for much longer than that. It's been sitting staring at you.

We've seen teams in the past start to fall and they have faltered, they have started to lack belief. There was no lack of effort from the Spurs players at Sunderland, but was there a desperation about the desire? I'm not sure there was.

It's not like they didn't try today, but was that the desperation level that they need? I'm afraid not. Nothing feels easy. Nothing feels certain. I don't know where the points are coming from.

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Former Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly told BBC World Service's Sportsworld that new head coach Roberto De Zerbi needs to get his players to believe in themselves - and fast.

"When Spurs concede, they fall off a cliff," he said.

"They have no resilience and that's a really hard thing to try to get your team to believe in themselves in a short space of time.

"And Roberto De Zerbi is known to be pragmatic and studious with how he sets up his team. He just doesn't have that time. It's going to have to be something quick and something motivating, something to get those players to have a slightly different mindset to believe they can do it. That's what it will take to get them out of it but at the moment it is looking really bleak.

"The fear amongst all the Spurs fans is 'are we going to get relegated by Chelsea?'. It is going to come down to that. West Ham seem to have got a bit of momentum. There is something about Spurs, that they have no home wins this year.

"Someone sent me a message that said Northampton Saints Rugby team have more home wins in the Tottenham Stadium in 2026 than Spurs have.

"It's really worrying."

One simple question and an answer with ugly consequences.

Hit play below and watch Match of the Day 2 in full here

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

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The sight of new Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto de Zerbi watching in anguish as captain Cristian Romero walked past him in tears may yet become the lasting image of a season slowly sliding towards the Championship.

De Zerbi's hopes of a fast start after succeeding Igor Tudor, the madcap experiment of the Croat's appointment lasting only 44 days, ended brutally as Spurs failed to show any significant response to the Italian's arrival.

Amid another flatlining display, the tearful departure of De Zerbi's leader on the field with Spurs 1-0 down with 25 minutes left and on the way to deserved defeat at Sunderland was yet another harrowing chapter in this sorry tale of the fall of a giant club.

The question of whether Spurs are too good to go down was consigned to the dustbin long ago. A team without a win in 14 Premier League games stretching back to 28 December at Crystal Palace answers that.

A more pertinent question now is - are Spurs too bad to stay up?

On the grim evidence that unfolded in the Wearside sunshine, it looks like they are.

• Read Phil's piece in full

Romero appeared to have a knee injury, although De Zerbi said "we have to see in the next few days", adding: "I hope that it is not too important a problem. He's a crucial player for us. He's a good guy and a good player with a big personality. We need him to finish the season."

Whatever the prognosis, former England goalkeeper Ben Foster questioned whether Romero's downcast manner as he left the pitch sent the right message to a Spurs team already a goal down after Nordi Mukiele's shot deflected past keeper Antonin Kinsky off Micky van de Ven on the hour.

It was a moment of misfortune, the sort that is often the fate of a team, and indeed a club, in crisis.

"Romero's probably the one player who has got a bit of character in that team, a bit of grit and determination," said Foster, a pundit on Sunday's Match of the Day. "If I was one of his team-mates there, I want him to be walking off the pitch grabbing everybody, getting everybody firing.

"They've still got 25 minutes there until full-time. But the tears, I feel, send the wrong message. As a captain you shouldn't be doing that."

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The Telegraph's Luke Edwards believes Roberto de Zerbi will have to "oversee some turnaround" to keep Tottenham in the Premier League this season, adding that there are "huge problems" for the club to sort out.

Tottenham failed to end their run of 14 Premier League games without a win against Sunderland on Sunday afternoon, continuing their worst run in the league for 81 years and leaving themselves stuck in the bottom three.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily, Edwards said: "There is always hope because Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Leeds United haven't been truly convincing themselves all season. However, all of those clubs have a bit more upward momentum than Tottenham at the moment.

"It is some turnaround that Roberto de Zerbi has got to oversee. When he went to Brighton, he actually lost his first five games in charge. So as good a job as he did there, it actually took a while for him to get his ideas across.

"I was in his post-match press conference and I listened to him say: 'I can't be a coach, I've got to be a father and a brother - I've got to put my arm around these players' - but I'm not sure that is going to be enough.

"They can't keep clean sheets, they can't score goals, they are too easy to play through midfield - that is a pretty poisonous mix. There are huge problems.

"De Zerbi will be on a huge bonus to keep the club in the Premier League - and he will earn every single penny of it if he manages to do it from here.

"Having watched them, there is a stench of relegation around the club. I think they are doomed."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are both interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Marc Casado, 22. (Tuttomercato - in Italian, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Pundits Pat Nevin and Ben Foster join host Gabby Logan to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle United

• Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa

• Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham

• Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

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Roberto de Zerbi has no time to waste if he is to save Spurs from the ignominy of the drop, but he was unable to make the clouds of relegation hanging over this giant club lift on another dismal day.

Spurs now have to make up that two-point gap on West Ham United with only six games left, and he witnessed a display desperately lacking in inspiration on Wearside.

Sunderland were by far the more organised and threatening side, with Dominic Solanke wasting Spurs' best chance right on half-time when he was blocked at the near post.

De Zerbi was preparing to make changes when Sunderland went ahead with a goal that often sums up the fate of the struggling team, Nordi Mukiele's routine shot taking a huge deflection off Micky van de Ven to beat Antonin Kinsky.

Spurs were also unlucky to lose key defender and captain Cristian Romero following that clash with keeper Kinsky, the Argentine in tears as he went off.

De Zerbi would have been concerned at the lack of reaction from Spurs to going behind, a clear indicator of their lack of self-belief and confidence.

There is no escaping just how serious Spurs' predicament is – and they will have to produce much better than this in their next game at home to De Zerbi's old club Brighton.

The fact that Spurs have not win in the Premier League since victory at Crystal Palace on 28 December does not inspire confidence.

Tottenham manager Roberto de Zerbi speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "Sorry because we didn't deserve to lose the game. We played a good game, maybe not enough to win but we were unlucky in a few situations in the first half.

"I cannot say anything to players because they gave their best in terms of attitude and spirit. We can play better for sure and you can feel better. We have to work on that. My work is not so much on the pitch because they are good guys and I am sorry for them. I want to give them confidence in what they need.

"Tactically, we played a good first half. With the ball and without the ball. We don't have confidence to play great football but we did what we have been working on this week. The players can play better if they are feeling confident."

On keeping spirits high: "I can be a big brother, father, they don't need a coach. They don't need to improve football. They can play better and they will play better once we reach a different level of confidence."

On looking forward to the challenge: "Absolutely, I'm sure if we are able to win a game then everything will change."

Did you know?

• Each of the last two Spurs managers have lost their first Premier League match in charge of the club (Igor Tudor against Arsenal in February, Roberto De Zerbi against Sunderland), this after none of the previous nine Spurs managers (including caretakers) had lost their first league match in charge of the club.

• Tottenham remain one of just two teams in the Premier League this season who have failed to win a match after going behind, along with Wolves. Overall, Spurs have gone behind in 23 different matches, going on to lose 16 of those and draw the other seven.

• Aged 20 years and 31 days, Archie Gray became the second-youngest Tottenham Hotspur player to make 50 appearances for the club in the Premier League, with only Aaron Lennon (20 years and 12 days) reaching this milestone more quickly for Spurs in the competition.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Sunderland's performance

What did you make of Tottenham's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Image source, BBC Sport

Sunderland make four changes from the side that won at Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby.

Robin Roefs returns in goal in place of Melker Ellborg, while Nordi Mukiele, Reinildo and Enzo Le Fee replace Lutsharel Geetruida, Trai Hume and Chemsidine Talbi.

Sunderland XI: Roefs, Mukiele, Alderete, O'Nien, Mandava, Xhaka, Sadiki, Le Fee, Diarra, Rigg, Brobbey

Subs: Ellborg, Cirkin, Geertruida, Talbi, Mayenda, Isidor, Hume, H Jones, J Jones

Tottenham XI: Kinsky, Udogie, Romero, Van de Ven, Porro, Gray, Bergvall, Gallagher, Kolo Muani, Richarlison, Solanke.

Subs: Austin, Dragusin, Danso, Palhinha, Simons, Bissouma, Tel, Spence, Sarr.

Image source, BBC Sport

There are four games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Crystal Palace v Newcastle United - Listen on Sports Extra 2

• Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa - Listen on Sports Extra

• Sunderland v Tottenham - Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Chelsea v Manchester City (16:30 BST) - Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Sunderland v Tottenham" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Chelsea v Manchester City".

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Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

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Tottenham will start a Premier League match in the bottom three for the first time since September 2011, when they travelled to Wolves in their third match of the 2011-12 season, having lost their first two fixtures.

They won that game 2-0 to move up to 13th place in the Premier League table.

In fairness, they had played just two games to everyone else's three games as their season-opener against Everton was postponed due to riots in Tottenham.

So, given how early on in the season that result was and the game in hand situation, what's far more relevant is the last time Tottenham were in the relegation zone beyond the first few games of a top-flight season.

The last time Tottenham started a Premier League match in the bottom three more than three games into a season was in January 2009. They started that home game against Portsmouth bottom of the table, but a 1-1 draw - thanks to Jermain Defoe's equaliser - moved them up to 16th place in the table.

It was the game where Harry Redknapp famously criticised Darren Bent for missing a late big chance to clinch all three points for Tottenham, saying: "My missus could've scored that one!"

Coincidentally, the last time Sunderland beat Tottenham came just over a year later, when they won 3-1 at the Stadium of Light in April 2010, and two of the Black Cats' goals were scored by Darren Bent (although he did also miss two penalties).