Tottenham open a league season with four goalless matches for the first time in history
Tottenham Hotspur entered an unwanted chapter of the club's history after a 0:0 draw against Everton in London. Roberto De Zerbi's team failed to score in their fourth Premier League match of 2026/27 as well, extending their league goalless run to 407 minutes. According to Opta, Spurs had never previously started a league season with four consecutive matches without scoring, while this is also their first run of four league matches without a goal since August and September 2006. After defeats to Brentford and Newcastle United and goalless draws with Nottingham Forest and Everton, Tottenham have only two points and a 0:5 goal difference after four rounds. At a club that extensively reshaped the squad during the summer, such a start is particularly striking because the attacking problem is no longer a matter of one bad evening, but a pattern that has continued since the opening round.
Saturday's 0:0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 12 September was historic because of the stadium itself as well. Opta states that it was the first goalless league draw at the stadium in its 140th Premier League match, while Tottenham had not played out a 0:0 home match in the competition since facing Swansea City at Wembley in September 2017. Everton, meanwhile, extended their unbeaten start to the season, while goalkeeper Jordan Pickford reached 100 Premier League clean sheets. According to Opta, the England international thereby became the fifth English goalkeeper with one hundred or more league clean sheets in the Premier League era. For Tottenham, however, the more important fact remained that the search for their first league goal carries into the fifth round.
Everton had the more dangerous chances, Tottenham lacked precision
Tottenham started the match against Everton actively and tried to press the visitors with high intensity, but their early initiative was not converted into clear chances. Jan Paul van Hecke fired over the goal following an Andy Robertson set piece, while attempts from open play mostly ended without seriously threatening Pickford. Spurs' first shot on target did not arrive until the 47th minute, when Mateus Fernandes shot from outside the box straight at the Everton goalkeeper. Opta states that this was Tottenham's first shot on target in the Premier League since the 87th minute of the match against Newcastle two rounds earlier. The team registered 14 shots in total against Everton, but only two on target, with 0.64 expected goals, while Everton generated 1.17 expected goals from 12 attempts.
The visitors found space particularly in the second half that Tottenham were unable to close down without taking risks. Thierno Barry came close with a header, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was presented with a big chance after a mistake by goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, and former Tottenham player Brennan Johnson sent the ball over the goal after a good Everton move. Kinsky had to make amends for his own or his teammates' mistakes on several occasions, while at the other end Pickford stopped a low shot from Lucas Bergvall late on. According to Opta's report, Everton created enough to seriously threaten to win, while Tottenham struggled to turn possession and territorial initiative into high-quality finishes. The draw was therefore a result that highlighted the home side's problem more than it gave them a sense of stability.
Four rounds, two points and not a single goal
The problems began as early as 22 August away at Brentford, where Tottenham lost 3:0. According to the club's official report, Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt gave Brentford a two-goal lead within just over the opening half-hour, before Michael Kayode set the final score early in the second half. Igor Thiago hit the post from a penalty, meaning the Spurs defeat could have been even heavier. Tottenham fielded numerous new players on that occasion, and De Zerbi spoke openly after the match about the team not yet having been formed into a cohesive unit and its physical preparation not being at the desired level.
A week later, in their first home league appearance of the season, Newcastle United beat Tottenham 2:0. The club's official report records that Spurs created a series of chances in the first half but were unable to beat visiting goalkeeper Lukáš Horníček. Anthony Elanga scored in the 62nd minute, and Yoane Wissa doubled Newcastle's lead ten minutes later. Tottenham finished the match with 17 shots but again remained goalless, even though their attacking performance looked better than against Brentford. After that match, De Zerbi stressed that the first goal conceded had strongly affected his team's confidence, which now fits into the broader picture of psychological pressure growing with every new league match without a goal.
The first point arrived on 5 September away at Nottingham Forest, but once again without a goal. Tottenham drew 0:0 and, according to Sky Sports, failed to register a single shot on target, the first time that had happened in a league match for more than four years. Omar Marmoush had several situations from which he could have changed the course of the match, while Forest had a Neco Williams goal disallowed after a VAR review for handball. After three rounds Tottenham had already gone without a goal for their longest period from the start of a season since 1974, and a fourth blank against Everton pushed the team one step further, to a record the club had never previously experienced at the beginning of a league campaign.
Five goals in the cup, complete blockage in the Premier League
It is important, however, to distinguish Tottenham's league problem from their overall attacking form in all competitions. Between the defeats to Brentford and Newcastle, Spurs beat Charlton Athletic 5:1 in the second round of the League Cup. According to Tottenham's official report, the scorers included Mikey Moore, Dominic Solanke, Kevin Danso and Sávio, while the final goal was credited to Ben Davies after the ball struck him on its way into the net. That result shows that the team has not completely lost its ability to create and convert chances, but it also underlines how large the difference is between a cup match and what Tottenham are producing under Premier League pressure.
In the league, the quality of the chances is noticeably poorer. In an analysis before the match against Everton, Sky Sports stated that after the opening three rounds Tottenham were bottom of the league for expected goals per shot, while also having the third-lowest total xG. The same source pointed out that the team had been outrun by their opponents in each of their first three league matches, although during the final stages of the previous season under De Zerbi they had generally been more competitive in that area. Such figures point to a problem that is not limited only to the final shot: Tottenham simultaneously need to improve their tempo, creativity, decision-making quality in the final third and physical ability to maintain such intensity throughout the entire match.
De Zerbi speaks of a "mental block" and insufficient physical fitness
Roberto De Zerbi did not hide after Everton that the attacking drought is beginning to have a psychological effect as well. According to his comments reported by The Guardian, four matches without a win and without scoring have created a mental block from which the team must free itself, although the coach still believes the squad possesses quality. De Zerbi stressed that Tottenham played well for roughly the first thirty minutes against Everton, but that the intensity then dropped and some players began to lose confidence. He identified decision-making in the final third, the final pass and players' willingness to shoot more often when space opens up as areas for improvement.
The Italian coach also links part of the problem to the pre-season period. He cited injuries suffered by some players during the summer tour of Australia and New Zealand, the later return of some internationals after the World Cup, and the fact that Sávio and Omar Marmoush arrived late in the transfer window. Among the players whose preparations were disrupted, he mentioned Micky van de Ven, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Mateus Fernandes. According to De Zerbi, the whole group only began working seriously together relatively recently, which is why the team is still not at the desired level of physical fitness. That explanation does not remove the pressure for results, but it provides context for why performances during matches often change after promising opening periods.
More than 300 million pounds of investment increased expectations
The summer reconstruction of the squad adds particular weight to the poor start to the season. Immediately before the match against Everton, Sky Sports estimated that Tottenham had spent around 332 million pounds during the summer and signed ten new players. The club changed a large part of its starting lineup during the transfer window, while De Zerbi frequently altered combinations in attack and throughout the rest of the team in the opening rounds. According to Opta, after the match against Everton Tottenham had already made 12 changes to their starting lineup across four league rounds, illustrating how much they are still searching for a stable structure.
Such a scale of change can explain some of the problems with automatisms, but it cannot completely ease expectations. Tottenham secured their Premier League survival at the end of last season only by beating Everton in the final round, and the new investment was intended to form the basis of a significantly more stable campaign. Instead, after four rounds the team sits in the lower part of the table with two points, no league goals and a very limited number of high-quality chances. De Zerbi therefore has to develop a new team while at the same time quickly finding a result that would reduce the pressure. In the Premier League, where form and mood can change over the course of just a few matches, the first goal now carries greater weight than an ordinary statistical figure.
Spurs are close to a record nobody wants to chase
Tottenham's run is particularly unusual in the modern Premier League. According to Opta, the only team in the Premier League era to wait longer for its first goal at the start of a season was Crystal Palace in 2017/18, who failed to score in their first seven rounds. With four opening matches without a goal, Spurs have therefore reached a run exceeded in the Premier League only by Palace, while their current record is also the longest wait for a first goal of the season in the club's history across the top four levels of English football. That does not mean the season is already lost, but it shows how far the start of 2026/27 has moved away from the club's usual standards.
The next league opportunity to end the run comes on 19 September, when Tottenham host Aston Villa at their stadium. The club's official schedule lists the kick-off time as 12.30 British time. Until then, De Zerbi will have the task of finding a balance between patience with a new and physically still insufficiently integrated team and the need for an immediate result. A first goal will not automatically solve all the problems in attacking build-up, but it could remove the psychological burden that the coach has already publicly acknowledged. After 407 league minutes without a goal, Tottenham's most important step at present can be expressed in the simplest terms: convert at least one of their chances into a goal and end a record that becomes harder to bear with every new round.
Sources:
- Opta Analyst - statistics from the Tottenham - Everton match, the 407-minute goalless run, historical records, xG and the fact that Jordan Pickford reached 100 Premier League clean sheets (link)
- Tottenham Hotspur - official report on the 3:0 away defeat to Brentford in the opening round of the Premier League (link)
- Tottenham Hotspur - official report on the Tottenham - Newcastle United 0:2 match (link)
- Tottenham Hotspur - official report from the Nottingham Forest - Tottenham 0:0 match and data on Spurs' problems in front of goal (link)
- Tottenham Hotspur - official report on the 5:1 League Cup win against Charlton (link)
- Sky Sports - analysis of Tottenham's start to the season, estimate of summer spending, number of new players, and attacking and physical indicators (link)
- The Guardian - De Zerbi's comments after the draw with Everton about the mental block, physical fitness, injuries and late arrivals of players (link)
- Tottenham Hotspur - official schedule and confirmation of the home match against Aston Villa on 19 September 2026 (link)