Tottenham Hotspur have not scored a Premier League goal this season. Not one, across three matches, which is something no Spurs side has managed since 1974. They sit bottom of the table with no points, and Roberto De Zerbi keeps being asked whether he is worried. His answer has not changed. "I am not angry, we are working well and were unlucky today with the result," he said after the latest defeat. "There is no panic."
The numbers and the manager are telling different stories
De Zerbi is not entirely wrong about the underlying picture. Against Newcastle at home, Spurs had seventeen attempts and put six of them on target. Newcastle had two shots on target and scored with both. That is the kind of afternoon that flips with better luck.
The trouble is that it keeps happening. Brentford won 3-0 at their place a week earlier. Three matches, no goals, five conceded, and a manager insisting the process is fine. Supporters have heard versions of that speech from four different men in four years, and patience at Tottenham is not what it was.
More than £300m and still nothing at the top end
This was supposed to be the summer Tottenham stopped being a punchline. The club spent heavily, bringing in Savio from Manchester City for a reported £75m, taking Mykhailo Mudryk on loan from Chelsea and signing Tosin Adarabioyo permanently in the same deal. Reported outlay across the window ran past £300m. Richarlison, meanwhile, has agreed terms with Trabzonspor and looks set to leave.
Savio has already shown what he can do, scoring and setting one up on his debut in a 5-1 Carabao Cup win over Charlton. That is the frustrating part. The talent is there in flashes. It has just not arrived on a Saturday afternoon against a Premier League defence yet.
Two seventeenth-place finishes are the context
Spurs finished seventeenth in 2024-25 and seventeenth again in 2025-26, staying up on the final day. That is the backdrop to every conversation about this squad. De Zerbi was hired to end that, and Micky van de Ven was handed the captaincy on 21 August to give the dressing room a different voice.
The international break arrives at a useful moment. It gives De Zerbi a fortnight to work with the players who are not away, and it gives everyone else a fortnight to stop looking at the bottom of the table. What it does not do is buy him much beyond that. Tottenham need a goal, and then they need a win, and the longer both take the louder this gets.
Season so far: Tottenham Hotspur, 20th in the Premier League. Played 3, lost 3, 0 goals scored. Defeats include Brentford 3-0 Tottenham and Tottenham 0-2 Newcastle United. Head coach: Roberto De Zerbi, appointed summer 2026. Captain: Micky van de Ven. Reported summer spend: in excess of £300m.
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