Tottenham Hotspur have written themselves into the record books for all the wrong reasons, becoming the first side in their history to start a top-flight season without scoring in four consecutive league matches.
Only one other Premier League team, newly promoted Coventry City, shares that grim distinction after the opening four fixtures of the 2026/27 campaign. Coventry, navigating the challenges of life back in the top division, have their own reasons for the slow start. For Spurs, a side that has invested heavily to move on from two miserable recent seasons, the silence from their forwards has been far more alarming.
A drought stretching back 50 years
The last time Tottenham Hotspur came close to this kind of barren opening was in 1974/75, when they did not score until their fourth league game — a goal against Manchester City that came after blanks against the same opponents, Ipswich Town, and Carlisle United. That campaign, five decades ago, is the most recent historical parallel to what Roberto De Zerbi's side are enduring now.
Between 1974 and 1992, Spurs scored in the first match of every single season — a remarkable run of 18 consecutive openers. It took the inaugural Premier League season, 1992/93, to break that habit, when they went goalless through the first two matches. Until the current campaign, that remained the last time Spurs had needed to wait until game three to open their account for a new season.
The 2026/27 season is the 13th time in the Premier League era that Spurs have failed to score in their very first match, but it is the first time in the club's history that they have not scored across four opening fixtures.
De Zerbi searches for answers
Despite the drought, Spurs are not entirely without reward. Two goalless draws have yielded a pair of points, and of the five Premier League sides yet to claim a win, only Bournemouth have collected more draws than De Zerbi's outfit.
A home fixture against Aston Villa on Saturday presents an opportunity to end the goal drought and claim a first victory of the season. De Zerbi will be encouraged by the prospect of having more of his sharpest attacking players available as the squad settles in — so far, only Jan Paul van Hecke and Sandro Tonali have started all four matches among the outfield players.
With transfer deadline day falling weeks into the season, teams undergoing significant changes during the summer are rarely at full strength in the opening month. That context offers some mitigation, though whether Spurs' historically poor goalscoring start justifies patience is ultimately a question for supporters to answer.
