3 talking points from the Premier League weekend
Tottenham's fears of a ruinous relegation from the Premier League deepened after a 3-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest as Aston Villa took control of the race for a place in the Champions League this weekend.
With Arsenal and Manchester City facing off in the League Cup final, the focus was on the battle for Europe and to stay in the lucrative English top flight.
Villa re-established a cushion in the battle for Champions League riches as they beat West Ham 2-0 to take advantage of defeats for Liverpool and Chelsea.
West Ham's defeat also meant Spurs avoided dropping into the relegation zone for now, but they have just seven games to arrest an alarming slide and avoid dropping out of the top tier for the first time in nearly 50 years.
AFP Sports looks at three talking points from the Premier League weekend:
Spurs sink ever closer to abyss
Tottenham fans issued a rallying call for the relegation six-pointer against Forest, descending en masse before kick-off to greet the team bus amid a sea of white.
But it made little difference when it came to matters on the field.
Spurs are the only side without a Premier League win in 2026 and remain just one point above the relegation zone.
For the second time this season Forest strolled to a 3-0 victory over the Europa League winners.
Igor Tudor missed his post-match duties due to news of a family bereavement..
But the Spurs hierarchy have a huge decision to make over the Croatian's future in the three weeks before they play again.
Hired to bring an immediate lift, Tudor has collected just one point from a possible 15.
Slot lacks solutions to Liverpool slide
The defending champions slumped to a 10th league defeat of the season as Danny Welbeck struck twice in Brighton's 2-1 win over Liverpool.
Any hope that Arne Slot's men had turned the corner in a dominant 4-0 victory over Galatasaray to reach the Champions League quarter-finals proved short-lived.
A flat performance lacking intensity, creativity and riddled with individual errors was a familiar feeling for a fan base who have begun to question Slot, less than a year after he delivered the club's 20th league title.
"I could come up (and) tell you all the reasons why we've lost 10 times this season," said Slot, referencing Liverpool's lengthy injury list.
Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Alisson Becker were among those missing from the trip to the south coast, while Hugo Ekitike limped off inside the opening 10 minutes.
"It's not my job to find excuses," added Slot. "My job is to find answers."
World champions Chelsea hit wall
A bright start for Liam Rosenior as Chelsea boss has been swiftly forgotten after a run of four consecutive defeats.
After a humbling 8-2 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, the Blues were soundly beaten 3-0 at Everton to miss the chance to climb back into the top five.
Rosenior is hoping the upcoming international break will provide a much-needed rest for his shattered squad.
Chelsea's success at the Club World Cup in July meant they had barely any break between last season and this.
"I don't want to be seen to make excuses because that was not good enough. The last week hasn't been good enough," said Rosenior.
"I think if you're a logical-thinking person and you look at the workload and the amount of games that the players have played it's a pretty simple conclusion to come to."
Everton's victory further tightened the battle for a Champions League place, particularly with a tough run-in to come for Liverpool and Chelsea.
Only seven points separate Liverpool in fifth from Bournemouth in 13th.
But Villa opened up a six-point lead on Chelsea after their first win in five league games.