Tottenham Hotspur have failed to score in each of their first four Premier League games of 2026/27, a first in the club’s long history. Two points from a possible twelve leave Spurs sitting 17th, and the pressure on manager Roberto De Zerbi is building fast. Every game is shown live on Peacock in the United States.
- Points from the first four games: 2
How it started
The warning signs came instantly. Spurs lost 3-0 away at Brentford on the opening weekend, then fell 2-0 at home to Newcastle. Two goalless draws followed, 0-0 at Nottingham Forest and 0-0 at home to Everton.
The Everton stalemate carried extra weight. It was the first 0-0 result in the Premier League ever recorded at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, ending a run of 140 league games at the venue without a scoreless finish.
By the final whistle against Everton, the crowd had turned. De Zerbi was jeered off, then apologized in public, telling reporters he was sorry for the fans.
- Goals scored in 2026/27: 0
A rebuild that cost more than £300 million
None of this was supposed to happen. Tottenham spent more than £300 million in the summer window, one of the biggest outlays in Europe, and brought in ten new faces to back their manager.
Midfielder Sandro Tonali arrived from Newcastle as the marquee signing, joined by attackers such as Savio and Omar Marmoush and midfielder Mateus Fernandes. On paper the squad looked deeper than anything Spurs had fielded in years.
The results have exposed a gap between money spent and goals produced. Tottenham currently rank bottom of the league for expected goals per shot, and their draw at Forest passed without a single shot on target, their first such league display in more than four years.
How Spurs got here
To understand the panic, you have to look back two seasons. Tottenham won the Europa League in May 2025 under Ange Postecoglou, then finished 17th in the league and parted ways with him.
The 2025/26 campaign was chaos. Thomas Frank started brightly, even winning at Manchester City and sitting third by Halloween, before a collapse cost him his job in February. Igor Tudor followed as a stopgap and also failed.
De Zerbi took charge in the closing weeks of that season with the club near the relegation zone, and kept Spurs up on the final day. He signed a contract through 2031, a signal that the board wanted stability. The club also changed at the top, with long serving chairman Daniel Levy stepping down in September 2025.
Why the attack has stalled
De Zerbi has pointed to conditioning above all. He admitted his team cannot yet sustain their intensity, saying the plan was to finish games the way they begin them, and that they simply cannot do that right now.
He also cited a disrupted preseason, an injury crisis, players returning late from the summer World Cup, and the late arrivals of Savio and Marmoush. His new attackers have had almost no time to build an understanding together.
The tactical picture backs him up. De Zerbi’s 4-2-3-1 controls the ball and pins opponents deep, and against Everton his side entered the penalty area 74 times. The final ball keeps letting them down. Fourteen shots against Everton produced only two on target.
- Shots on target against Everton: 2
What it means going forward
The good news is thin but real. Two clean sheets in a row against Forest and Everton suggest the defense is solid, and Spurs have dominated territory in both draws. The problem sits at the top of the field, not the back.
The bad news is the schedule and the mood. Tottenham host a struggling Aston Villa next in the league, a game they are expected to win, and any more dropped points would turn early concern into a real crisis.
For a manager only months into a long project, the room to maneuver is already small. De Zerbi has asked for calm and patience. North London, after two seasons of survival football, is short on both.
FAQ
Why can’t Tottenham score this season? De Zerbi blames a disrupted preseason, injuries, late arriving forwards, and poor conditioning. Spurs create pressure but rank last in the league for expected goals per shot, so the quality of their chances is low.
Is this Tottenham’s worst start ever? It is their worst attacking start. The 2026/27 side is the first in the club’s history to fail to score in each of its opening four league games.
Is Roberto De Zerbi’s job under threat? Not immediately. He signed a deal through 2031 and kept Spurs up last season, but two points from four games has increased the scrutiny quickly.
Where can I watch Tottenham in the United States? Premier League games, including Tottenham, stream live on Peacock in the US.
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