Tottenham Hotspur's failure to score in their opening four Premier League matches of the season marks the first time this has happened in the club's history, and the first time in two decades they have gone four straight league games without a goal. While such a run is statistically unusual, the underlying issues point to problems that will not be resolved quickly.
A major factor appears to be the sheer volume of turnover in the squad. Only four players who featured in at least half of last season's league minutes have appeared for Spurs in 2026-27. One of them, Richarlison, has since been left out of the club's Premier League squad altogether despite producing 15 goal contributions last season - more than double any other Tottenham player. He is also the fourth-longest-serving member of the squad, behind Ben Davies, Brandon Austin and Rodrigo Bentancur, though only Bentancur is expected to feature regularly.
The starting XI that took the field in last Saturday's goalless draw with Everton had spent an average of just 1.3 years at the club, and Tottenham have fielded one of the youngest starting lineups in the league this season. Manager Roberto De Zerbi has made 12 changes to his starting lineup since the opening match - more than any other Premier League manager - averaging four alterations per game, up from 2.8 last season when the club had three different managers in charge.
Injuries have compounded the disruption. De Zerbi pointed to a troubled pre-season as part of the explanation. "Micky van de Ven suffered an injury in Australia," he said. "Domi Solanke the same. James Maddison the same. Mateus Fernandes suffered an injury in Australia. He lost 15 days and it's not so quick."
Tottenham's pre-season trip to Australia last summer was notable in that they were the only club to travel there for a second consecutive year, having also gone in 2025 alongside Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool - the four clubs that topped the Premier League's injury-days table last season, with Spurs suffering the most at 1,560 days lost according to Premier Injuries data.
Statistically, Tottenham's attacking struggles go beyond raw finishing. They lead the league with 46 completed take-ons, yet only five of those dribbles led to a shot or created a chance - far behind Manchester United, who produced nine such outcomes despite completing 17 fewer take-ons. Spurs have also recorded the fourth-most high turnovers in the league (34) but converted only two into shots, a conversion rate of 5.9% compared to the league average of 19.9%.
Even when Tottenham reach the penalty area, they struggle to convert positions into shots. Their total of 119 touches in the opposition box ranks among the league's best, but they require 3.97 touches per shot in the box - 0.47 more than any other team and well above the league average.
The composition of the squad offers further explanation. Summer signing Andy Robertson, at 32, arrived with 12 Premier League career goals, making him effectively the club's top scoring recruit of the window. Dominic Solanke, despite being one of the more expensive transfers in Europe when he joined in 2024, still has more career goals in the Championship (44) than in the Premier League (41). Mikey Moore, meanwhile, accounted for a quarter of the club's shots on target this season before being sent on loan to Cologne after just 90 minutes of action.
Where Tottenham once boasted elite finishers in Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, the current squad largely hovers around or below league-average shot accuracy. Chelsea and Bournemouth have both recorded roughly twice as many shots on target as Spurs this season from barely more attempts.
De Zerbi acknowledged the issue after Tuesday's Carabao Cup defeat at Anfield, where Tottenham's solitary goal came via a Liverpool goalkeeping error. "We have to shoot more, we have to shoot better and we have to finish better the clear situations," he said.
With a young, largely unfamiliar squad still adjusting to each other, Tottenham face a period of rebuilding cohesion before their attacking numbers are likely to catch up with their promising underlying play.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.