What Igor Tudor must do to save his job at crisis-torn Tottenham Hotspur

Igor Tudor is seen as a dead man walking following a disastrous run of four straight defeats since he took interim charge of Tottenham Hotspur.

After Tuesday’s 5-2 Champions League hammering at Atletico Madrid, focus switches back to their fight to stay in the Premier League with a daunting trip to Liverpool next up.

Ahead of Sunday’s Anfield showdown, DAZN News reporter Ross Heppenstall analyses what Tudor must do to try and stop the rot and keep his job – for the time being at least.

Get a performance at Anfield

Those Tottenham fans with half-full glasses will be hoping that the midweek surrender at the Metropolitano was rock-bottom for their team.

But the fact is that things could get worse – much worse – very quickly if Tudor does not get to grips with their disastrous run of results and form.

Tuesday’s thumping in the Spanish capital, in the first leg of their Last-16 tie, was the first time in Tottenham’s history that they had lost six games in succession.

Next up is Liverpool away and, for all the inconsistencies of Arne Slot’s deposed champions this season, winning at Anfield remains a mountainous task for any visiting team.

Tudor must at least conjure a performance from his men at Liverpool’s fabled home, though, or else his job will surely become untenable.

Ramming home the seriousness of the situation to his players is the approach he has taken this week.

"Not an easy situation, not an easy moment. [It's a] big challenge to change things," Tudor told the media on Friday.

"Like everything in life, you can choose how to see the situation. You can cry or you can fight. You can be the victim or you can change something. This is the message I communicated to the players.

"The bottle is either half empty or half full. Here there is nothing full, there are a lot of empty things.

"But difficult moments don't last forever. It will pass. I believe the players who take this as an opportunity, who stand up with the courage to change these things, will become better people and players afterwards."

This is a Spurs side who could go down and had better start realising it.

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Pick the right team

Tudor came under heavy fire on Tuesday night after picking rookie goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky ahead of regular No.1 Guglielmo Vicario, yet he lasted just 17 minutes before being substituted.

Kinsky was hauled off with Spurs 3-0 down and with his costly errors, which had led to two of Atletico’s goals.

Vicario, who had been dropped following recent poor displays, replaced a visibly distraught Kinsky, the 23-year-old Czech who Tudor failed to even acknowledge as he trudged off the field.

Getty Images

That lack of empathy drew widespread criticism of Tudor’s cold management style from pundits and ex-Spurs players and added to the view that Tottenham’s players simply aren’t having the Croat.

But Tudor, as he battles to stay in position, has confirmed he will start the more experienced Vicario against Liverpool.

Micky van de Ven, who has been heavily linked with a switch to Anfield this summer, is suspended this weekend and highly-rated Archie Gray could be an option to slot in at centre-back.

Conor Gallagher and Dominic Solanke both came off the bench at half-time against Atletico and look set to start at Anfield.

But Spurs remain decimated by injuries, as they have been for much of the season, and it will be a patched-up side who take to the field against Liverpool.

• Read next I  Premier League Power Rankings: Top three unchanged as final stretch begins

Avoid another humiliation against Atletico

Presuming Tudor is able to deliver some kind of performance – and dare it be said, result – on Merseyside this weekend, then his focus will immediately switch to Wednesday's Champions League Last-16 second leg against Atletico.

Tottenham at least have home advantage against Diego Simeone's side , but nobody will give them much hope of overturning the Spaniards’ advantage and reaching the quarter-finals.

Spurs have fared well in the Champions League this season, finishing a creditable fourth in the league phase, but right now it is all about Premier League survival.

Bowing out of Europe with some pride restored would be a hugely welcome, and much-needed, tonic for Tudor as Tottenham prepare for a seismic home clash with relegation rivals Nottingham Forest.

Beat Forest at home

Tudor was brought to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to keep Spurs in the Premier League and the visit of Forest on Sunday week could go a long way to determining their fate.

Tottenham suffered a 3-0 stuffing at the City Ground in December and need to win this one on home soil.

Getty Images

It is a match of monumental importance to Spurs’ hopes of avoiding falling into English football’s second tier for the first time since 1977/78.

Whether or not Tudor will still be around to see it remains to be seen as Tottenham’s plight grows increasingly desperate.

After the relegation six-pointer at home to Forest, Spurs face away games in three of their next four matches, underlining the importance of getting a result against Vitor Pereira's side.

 

How to watch the Premier League in Canada

Soccer fans in Canada can watch every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season on DAZN.

With Fubo Sports on DAZN, Canadians can catch Premier League action as well as Serie A. Additionally, DAZN is the home of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Bundesliga, and more.

For pricing information and to sign up to watch, click here.