Roberto De Zerbi stepped into one of the most turbulent jobs in English football this season, inheriting a Tottenham side that has struggled for consistency all year long. Sitting 17th with 37 points and 3 games remaining, Spurs are not fighting for anything dramatic on paper, but De Zerbi is fighting for something arguably more important: proof of concept. Monday’s home fixture against a Leeds side placed 14th gives him another opportunity to show that his brand of football can take root at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Wins over Wolves and Aston Villa in recent weeks have offered a glimpse of what that might look like.
Roberto De Zerbi’s tactical fingerprint
De Zerbi is one of the most distinctive tactical minds in European football, known for his insistence on building from the back, positional play, and short combinations through tight spaces. His teams seek to dominate possession in a structured way, using the goalkeeper as an extra outfield player and demanding technical precision from every position. At Brighton he turned a modest squad into one of the most watchable sides in the Premier League, and his time at Shakhtar Donetsk before that earned him continental recognition. The core idea is always the same: control the game through movement, spacing, and relentless pressing when the ball is lost.
Against Leeds, that philosophy will be tested by a visiting side that has shown plenty of energy and directness in recent weeks. Daniel Farke’s team beat Burnley 3-1 ten days ago and recorded wins at Manchester United and at home to Wolves during their last five league outings. Their form reads WDWWD, which suggests a team capable of carrying a threat on the counter. De Zerbi will need his midfield block to be disciplined when Spurs are in possession, preventing Leeds from exploiting the spaces that can open up behind an aggressive press.
What the data says
Tottenham’s recent form reads WWDLL across their last five Premier League matches, with the two victories coming away at Wolves and Aston Villa sandwiching a home draw against Brighton and an earlier run of defeats. That turnaround matters for morale, even if the broader season picture remains difficult. With 37 points from 35 games and sitting 17th in the table, Spurs have scored 45 goals but conceded 54, a defensive record that underlines the work still ahead. Leeds, by contrast, sit six places and six points above them with 43 points, and their goal difference has been slightly more balanced at 47 scored and 52 conceded.
The head-to-head record between these sides heavily favours Tottenham. In eight all-time meetings in this data set, Spurs have won six compared to Leeds’ two, with no draws recorded. In the most recent encounter, back in October 2025, Tottenham won 2-1 at Elland Road. That historical edge provides some comfort for De Zerbi’s side heading into this fixture on home turf, though neither of these squads is the same as those that played earlier in the season.
The stakes for Roberto De Zerbi
With only 3 games remaining in this Premier League season, the table is largely settled around Spurs. They are not in immediate danger of relegation nor within reach of Europe, so the final weeks are about identity rather than position. For De Zerbi, who has built a reputation as a coach who transforms clubs through a clear footballing idea, the closing stretch is a chance to leave a meaningful impression before the summer. Ending the campaign with a positive run of form, particularly at home, gives him a stronger platform from which to reshape the squad and embed his methods more deeply during pre-season. The two wins over Wolves and Aston Villa were promising, and a third consecutive victory would represent his best sequence of the campaign and strengthen his case that the project at Spurs is genuinely taking shape.
Key Stats
Our Prediction
De Zerbi’s Tottenham have found some rhythm in recent away fixtures, but performing consistently at home has been harder this season. Leeds arrive with a solid unbeaten run in the league and enough quality to make life uncomfortable. Expect Spurs to control spells of the game in line with De Zerbi’s approach, but Leeds have the discipline under Farke to stay compact and hit on transitions. A narrow home win or a shared spoils outcome feels most likely, with the match reflecting the mid-table, end-of-season context it sits in.