Five things Roberto De Zerbi must immediately fix to keep Tottenham in Premier League

Roberto De Zerbi is looking to turn Tottenham's fortunes around after agreeing to replace Igor Tudor

Roberto De Zerbi's primary objective is clear, he must keep Tottenham in the Premier League.

With just seven matches to play, he must accumulate enough points to finish ahead of either Nottingham Forest or West Ham, or both, assuming Burnley and Wolves are already doomed.

The Italian will receive a lucrative survival bonus if he saves Spurs, and this summer will provide him with the opportunity to wipe the slate clean.football.london analyses five things he must do to stand a chance of avoiding relegation to the Championship.

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Revive form of Romero and Van de Ven

Among Tottenham's most-pressing issues is the form of centre-back duo Cuti Romero and Micky van de Ven.

Romero, through suspensions, has missed a considerable chunk of the campaign while Van de Ven is a shadow of his former self.

The Dutchman's performances have been notably poor while Romero's effort was scrutinised in the recent 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

There is no doubt that on their day, these are two of the best central defenders in the Premier League. But based on this season, their Tottenham reputation has been plunged into turmoil.

There is still time to fix that and Roberto De Zerbi must find a way to make the pair cornerstones of this Spurs team again because opposition attackers no longer fear them.

Unify a disgruntled fanbase

Spurs fans packed out the Tottenham High Road before the Forest defeat but were badly let down following a miserable sub-par performance.

It's going to be hard for him to win over the entirety of the club's fanbase given supporters' groups have already opposed the Italian's arrival due to comments about his former player Mason Greenwood during their time together at Marseille.

If he's not going to be wholly accepted, he must win the trust of supporters via performances and results.

That means getting off to the best possible start, starting with Sunderland on April 12.

Managing injured players correctly

Tottenham desperately need their injured stars back available but they cannot rush their returns.

Mohammed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur are among those closing in on comebacks, however, they need to rebuild their fitness gradually to avoid any potential setbacks.

There will be huge clamour for the introductions of James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, both still yet to kick a ball for Spurs this season, but throwing them into a relegation battle after months on the sidelines is not a straightforward proposition.

Maddison is on track to return this season but strengthening an ACL following surgery is a complex process and there cannot be any temptation to throw him back in too early.

Kulusevski's situation is also delicate and still, it's not yet clear whether he even has a clear chance of returning before the end of May, one year on from his patella injury.

Transform home struggles

Tottenham's last Premier League home win came against Brentford back in December and that must change immediately.

Their home record in the top-flight this season is two wins, four draws and 10 defeats, which is nowhere near good enough.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was supposed to transform the trajectory of this team and it was meant to be a fortress for Spurs.

But this season it's been arguably their biggest problem and losing 3-0 to a fellow relegation rival in Forest in absolutely unacceptable.

Turn things around at home, Spurs host Brighton, Leeds and Everton before the end of the season, and they will give themselves a real chance of survival if they also collect some points on the road.

Get forwards firing

De Zerbi's Brighton were a force to be reckoned with and in his first season at the helm, they made a habit of scoring plenty of goals against the Big Six.

They stuck three past Liverpool twice, beat Chelsea 4-1 and romped to a 3-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates.

His teams are renowned for playing exciting, front-foot football and that's what Spurs need to do to get results and beat the drop.

Spurs lack ruthless goalscorers but if he can get a tune out of Dominic Solanke, Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani there's enough firepower in the squad to cause the opposition big problems.

Tottenham have scored more goals than eighth-placed Everton yet there's still a sense they could do better in attack, which has to be a key focus moving forward.