Throughout the course of history, moral dilemmas have plagued both humans and the gods.
Should one pull a lever to divert a train destined to kill five so it only kills one? Should Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter to secure safe passage to Troy? Which of her children should Sophie choose to save?
How simple those decisions must seem now when placed alongside the ultimate quandary Tottenham supporters are having to wrestle with: do they want Arsenal or West Ham to win on Sunday?
An Arsenal victory enhances Spurs’ hopes of staying up and offers the chance to open a four-point gap on their relegation rivals with a win over Leeds but, in doing so, all-but hands their arch nemesis the Premier League crown.
A West Ham win, on the other hand, could cost Arsenal the title but puts their own survival at risk.
Talk about a rock and a hard place.
Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi faces a nail-biting afternoon on Sunday – his side will fall back into the relegation zone if West Ham beat Arsenal
The Gunners ran out 5-2 winners the last time they played at the London Stadium, and for once many Spurs fans will hope their local rivals win again this weekend
Tottenham supporters are between a rock and a hard place. Some will want their relegation rivals to win, just so they deliver a blow to Arsenal’s chances of winning the title
It’s not as if Tottenham are strangers to a little bit of self-harm in pursuit of Arsenal’s failures.
Who can forget the sight of Spurs fans ‘doing the Poznan’, bouncing with their backs to the pitch in celebration of Manchester City’s second goal in a defeat in the penultimate game two years ago – one that put Pep Guardiola’s side in touching distance of the trophy while ending not only Arsenal’s title hopes but their own chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Ange Postecoglou certainly can’t. ‘I understand rivalry – I was part of one of the biggest ones in the world with Celtic and Rangers,’ said the former Spurs boss. ‘But I will never understand if somebody wants their own team to lose. That’s not what sport is about.’
Even those supporters not actively cheering for a defeat didn’t seem too fussed when Son Heung-min missed a huge late chance that still haunts Arsenal fans.
‘I think the last 48 hours have revealed the foundations are fairly fragile,’ remarked Postecoglou pointedly afterwards.
Tottenham supporters weren’t the first culprits, though, nor will they be the last. There were plenty of Everton fans who wanted to lose to City on the penultimate weekend 10 years earlier to stop Liverpool winning the title under Brendan Rogers. Muted celebrations met Ross Barkley’s early opener for the Toffees. ‘I was furious,’ an Everton-supporting friend remarked when reminded of that day.
Aston Villa’s passage into the Europa League final on Thursday night now also leaves open the potential for Brentford to need to blur the lines of professionalism for a shot at Champions League football.
If Villa lift the trophy in Istanbul and finish fifth, sixth place will qualify, opening up the possibility that, should Brentford be sat there on the final day, they may have to lose to Liverpool to make sure they stay there and Arne Slot’s side don’t drop below Villa.
Spurs fans have faced a similar dilemma before. In 2024, their loss to Manchester City ended Arsenal’s title hopes, with some home fans even celebrating City’s second goal (pictured)
‘I think the last 48 hours have revealed the (club’s) foundations are fairly fragile,’ fumed then boss Ange Postecoglou
At least that’s understandable. And when Everton fans wanted to throw the game, their top-four hopes had essentially disappeared too.
For Tottenham, though, it’s still all on the line. When it comes to that age-old trolley problem, it’s their own top-flight status that rests on one of the tracks, should they wish to pull the lever.
Just a point separates them from the Hammers heading into a three-game shootout. There is so much at stake and yet the internal turmoil, especially online, rumbles on.
‘West Ham to win,’ posted Spurs fan Simon Cambridge on X. ‘I think we stay up anyway.’
‘I’m all West Ham on Sunday,’ wrote another fan called Luka. ‘West Ham win but we win all our remaining games and stay up anyway,’ posted another.
And so the carrot dangles because Tottenham don’t need West Ham to lose. Survival remains in their hands. Beat Leeds at home on Monday night, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and then Everton on the final day and Spurs stay up regardless. So, why not try to snatch the title from Arsenal’s clutches along the way.
A bold assumption, perhaps, for a side that have managed just two home wins all season, and have two of their remaining three matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
‘I don’t care what West Ham do, I don’t care what Arsenal do,’ former Spurs defender Graham Roberts, the double FA Cup winner who captained the side in the triumphant 1984 UEFA Cup final second leg, tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘It’s not what they do, it’s what we do. Forget about every other game.’
Graham Roberts (right), an FA Cup and UEFA Cup winner with Tottenham, insists Spurs just need to focus on themselves
That is an admirable mindset to have but not everyone is blessed with such blinkers. For many others, that temptation remains too tantalising to resist.
‘If a West Ham win guaranteed our relegation, then this would be a different conversation – but it doesn’t,’ season ticket holder Tom Quigley tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘I’d happily take a draw all day long. City get a better chance at the title and we stay above West Ham on goal difference.’
‘My head wants an Arsenal win but, in my heart, it’s 1-1,’ adds fellow season ticket holder Dave Bullock. ‘A draw would be ideal. If we then beat Leeds on Monday night, it’s three points clear and, with our superior goal difference, basically four.
‘I’ll be watching the game in my (metaphorical) West Ham shirt and if they score in the last minute, a Callum Wilson header at the back post, I’ll celebrate like I’m in BOXPARK watching England win the World Cup. If Arsenal don’t win the league and they sack Mikel Arteta, I want an open-top bus tour for that. I’ll be selling t-shirts!’
But that still only goes so far.
‘What we cannot have is a West Ham win,’ Bullock adds. ‘That is beyond the pale and any Tottenham fan who says that is an idiot.
‘The joy of staying up could be even greater than winning the Europa League. I’d resigned myself to us going down. I was only a baby the last time we did (in 1977). If a poxy team from south London wins the title, so be it, that will make no difference to my life, I’ve seen it happen before, but us going down would be a stake in my heart.’
‘I’ll be watching the game in my (metaphorical) West Ham shirt and if they score in the last minute, I’ll celebrate like I’m watching England win the World Cup,’ says one Tottenham fan
It would also be a sledgehammer to the club’s finances and long-term future. Last year, Spurs had the third-highest operating in Europe at around £260million. Relegation would cost the club just as much. Their revenue in the Championship would plummet from £609m to around £348m.
‘If Arsenal win the title, so be it, but if we get relegated it’s tragic,’ Micky Hazard, another FA Cup and UEFA Cup winning-hero, tells Daily Mail Sport.
‘There is no internal turmoil. Who cares about Arsenal? I don’t give a damn about them. What I care about is that my football club retains its Premier League status. It’s not about how much I dislike anyone else, it’s how much I love Tottenham. It’s no debate.
‘The fact is we are in a relegation battle and the most likely teams relegated are West Ham or Spurs. Until we are safe, whoever is in the dogfight with us, I want to lose. If an Arsenal win keeps us in the Premier League, so be it.’
Hazard won’t be watching the game. ‘I don’t want to put myself through the fact West Ham might win. I’m not living through that. At the end of the game, when I hear West Ham have lost, I’ll be really happy.’
That’s how many Spurs fans are framing it. It’s not that they want Arsenal to win. ‘I want West Ham to lose,’ fellow Spurs legend Gary Mabbutt tells Daily Mail Sport.
Gary Mabbutt, who made over 600 appearances for Tottenham between 1982 and 1998, says he wants West Ham to lose on Sunday
‘Of course, there is a dilemma but, with all due respect, if Arsenal win the title and we stay in the Premier League, then I think we’ll be extremely happy.’
If Arsenal beat West Ham and Spurs win against Leeds, then survival could even be confirmed before they next kick a ball if the Hammers also lose at Newcastle. They would go to Stamford Bridge with their fate decided.
‘The most important thing is for us to stay in the Premier League,’ adds Mabbutt. ‘It’s in our hands but if we slip up in any of our games, then we might need some help from other teams.
‘If that’s going to be the case, I am fully supportive of West Ham losing games and it doesn’t matter who they are playing.’
