Vicario surgery and reliance on Kinsky raise fresh questions over Spurs’ ability to stay up
One of the more surreal subplots to this season is the possibility that Arsenal could end it lifting the Premier League while Tottenham Hotspur are relegated.
With Arsenal heading into a cup final this weekend against Manchester City, one of their four chances to win silverware this season, Spurs have struggled to win a game in 2026.
As it stands, they are only a single point ahead of Nottingham Forest, who are 17th, and level on points with West Ham United, who sit in the relegation zone, with Spurs facing Forest this weekend in what is massive a six-pointer.
If they thought things were bad now, after this match, Spurs will be without their first choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who is set for hernia surgery. That means they have to turn to Antonin Kinsky, the keeper Igor Tudor hauled off after just 17 minutes in their Champions League first leg shambles against Atletico Madrid.
Kinsky came to most people’s attention during that game but I’d seen him a couple of times before, and each time he’d made a massive mistake. For Tottenham’s hopes of survival, this is not good.
Vicario’s omission from the Italy squad was swiftly followed by Spurs confirming that he has been playing through an injury and now needs a hernia operation next week.
The Italian will be available for Saturday’s relegation clash against Forest and the club hope he will be back within a month, but even that best case scenario underlines how tight their margin for error has become.
For Arsenal supporters watching from the top end of the table, the contrast could hardly be more stark.
While Mikel Arteta’s side juggle a title race and multiple cup runs, their north London rivals are pinning their safety on a deeply unconvincing understudy, with the season’s most surreal subplot still very much alive.