Feb 22, 2026, 09:07 PM
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Jamie Redknapp has warned former club Tottenham to improve quickly if they want to guarantee more north London derbies in the Premier League next season.
Spurs started life under new head coach Igor Tudor with a 4-1 defeat at home to their local rivals Arsenal, who reasserted a five-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table.
The picture is much gloomier for Tottenham, who sit just four points above the bottom three and last tasted victory in the league on Dec. 28.
And Redknapp believes their plight is in serious danger of turning into a relegation battle.
"They were so much better than Tottenham, it's like two different leagues ... if Tottenham aren't careful they might be in a different league next season," he told Sky Sports after the Gunners eased to victory on the back of two goals apiece for Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres.
"They can't keep performing like this. They've not had a win in 2026. But Arsenal were fantastic, it was a brilliant performance by them, they were just too good."
Tottenham are just four points clear of the drop zone. Getty
It was a long-awaited return to scoring form for Eze, who hit a hat trick in the reverse fixture in November and has drawn a blank ever since.
His good memories from that match played a part in his selection here and former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott was glad to see the England international playing with a sense of enjoyment again.
"This is what we want to see more of from Eze, he's smiling and that's when he plays at his best," he said.
"You can see how much it meant. I'm pleased for him, he's such a smooth player to watch. The link-up with him and Gyokeres was really good, almost telepathic at times.
"Things haven't always gone to plan but it's good to see the smile back on that face. He'll know why he wasn't playing but he's just shown now, 'You can trust me, you can believe in me in these big arenas.'
"He's repaid the manager's faith today."
Walcott also feels the goalscoring duo have a crucial role to play in the title run-in, due to their lack of scars from previous unsuccessful attempts at the club.
"There's a different feeling about Arsenal this year, they have players who haven't experienced what the previous squads experienced," he said.
"Gyökeres and Eze haven't been in this situation before, it's their first day at the office in some sense."