Tottenham have failed to score in their opening four league games for the first time. Two decades have passed since they last drew blanks in four consecutive Premier League matches. While these are outliers, it will take time for Spurs to improve.
Their level of player turnover, from last season to this and from week to week, is a problem. Only four men who played at least half of the league minutes last season have featured in 2026-27. One is Richarlison, who has since been omitted from their Premier League squad.
His 15 goal contributions in the league were at least twice as many as any other Tottenham player last season, but he will not be scoring or assisting any time soon. Richarlison is also the fourth-longest-serving player. Ben Davies, Brandon Austin and Rodrigo Bentancur are ahead of him, and of those only Bentancur is likely to play regularly.
Many current starters are relatively new recruits. The 11 players who began the goalless draw with Everton last Saturday had spent an average of 1.3 years with the club. Tottenham have averaged the joint-third-youngest starting XI this season too.
They have many players without too much experience, either individually or as a unit. Roberto De Zerbi has made 12 changes to his starting lineups in the league since the first match, more than any other manager in the division. At four alterations per game, the team is changing more often than it did last season (2.8), when they employed three managers.
Little wonder the new-look Tottenham are struggling to gel. Injuries have not helped, as De Zerbi has mentioned with reference to pre-season. Mateus Fernandes suffered an injury in Australia.
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