Four games, no goals: why Tottenham's new-look attack has stalled

Four games. Zero goals. Tottenham Hotspur are stuck in front of goal.

Spurs and Coventry City are the only Premier League sides yet to score four games into the season, according to BBC Sport. The latest blank came in a 0-0 home draw with Everton on 12 September, a week after a goalless draw with Nottingham Forest exposed the same problem.

It is a strange start. Tottenham spent £320m on new talent in the summer, much of it on attackers. Their head coach is Roberto De Zerbi, a manager hired for front-foot football.

De Zerbi arrived at the end of March on a five-year contract. He took 11 points from seven matches to keep Spurs up last season. Before that he left Brighton in 2024 and managed Marseille from 2024 to 2026, where his team averaged 2.3 goals per game.

His Tottenham look very different to the side that started last season under Thomas Frank. Then Spurs built up mainly down the flanks, almost skipping the centre of the pitch. Now the shape in possession often looks like a 2-3-2-3. That means two centre-backs at the base, three players across the next line, two attacking midfielders, and three players high up the pitch.

Rodrigo Bentancur usually sits at the bottom of that midfield, anchoring in front of the two central defenders. James Maddison, back from a shoulder injury for the Carabao Cup tie at Liverpool, is one of the players asked to link the lines and feed the front three.

The structure is designed to get bodies between the lines and pin opponents back. In practice it has produced control without punch. Tottenham lost heavily at Brentford in August and have since laboured to create clean chances through the middle.

Part of the issue is personnel. Tottenham failed to sign a recognised striker despite spending more than £300m on the rebuild ahead of the 2026-27 season, Reuters reported after the Forest draw. De Zerbi left Richarlison out during the drought in September but publicly backed his attack to come good.

He struck the same note in mid-September, saying his “suffering” side will win many games and score many more goals once they finally click, according to Reuters.

For fans, this means a waiting game. The patterns are new, the players are new, and the manager is asking them to play through crowded central areas rather than around them. That takes time. It also needs a finish.

Four games is a small sample. It still matters. Spurs have the players and the system to score. They just have not yet.