27 Premier League preview: Prediction, fixtures, squad, depth chart

Tottenham Hotspur's 2025-26 Premier League campaign was one of the most turbulent in the club's recent history, as three managers, a deepening injury crisis and an inability to convert Champions League momentum into domestic stability conspired to leave the club clinging to 17th place for the second consecutive season.

The appointment of Roberto De Zerbi in April 2026 changed the atmosphere if not quite the points column in the short term, and with a full pre-season and more than £237m in gross summer spending behind him, the expectation is that 2026-27 should mark the beginning of a genuine upward trajectory rather than another white-knuckle survival bid.

The club's single biggest summer statement has been the £100m capture of Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United, a signing that transforms Tottenham's midfield from a position of concern into one of the most technically accomplished units in the division.

Here, Sports Mole previews Tottenham Hotspur's 2026-27 Premier League season, including fixtures, squad depth and the expectations for their campaign.

Tottenham Hotspur 2026-27 Premier League fixtures

Tottenham open away at Brentford on August 22 in a 17:30 kickoff before hosting Newcastle the following week, a fixture that carries an unmistakable subplot given Tonali's switch from Tyneside, and the two opening gameweeks set the tone for a September run that also includes trips to Nottingham Forest and home encounters with Everton and Europa League winners Aston Villa.

The stand-out early fixture is undoubtedly the gameweek five home game against Aston Villa, who bring continental silverware to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a 12:30 Saturday kickoff on September 19, while the October run of four games in 22 days, including the derby trip to Stamford Bridge against Chelsea on October 24, offers the first real examination of De Zerbi's squad depth.

With no European competition to manage in 2026-27, Tottenham can direct their full resource toward the FA Cup and EFL Cup alongside the league, and the absence of Thursday night fixtures removes a significant scheduling burden that disrupted multiple opponents in De Zerbi's opening seven league games in charge at the end of 2025-26.

Tottenham summer 2026 transfer activity

Tottenham's 2026 summer window has been one of the most ambitious in recent memory, with the club committing a gross total of £237m to reshape the squad in a manner that reflects De Zerbi's specific requirements in midfield and central defence.

The marquee arrival is Tonali, now one of the most expensive central midfielders in Premier League history and representing the most pointed signal yet that the club intend to accelerate their recovery from consecutive 17th-placed finishes.

The departure of Cristian Romero to Atletico Madrid for £34.2m is offset by the arrivals of Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton & Hove Albion (£52m) and Marcos Senesi on a free transfer from AFC Bournemouth, while Djed Spence's £30m sale to Inter Milan and Luka Vuskovic's £46m move to Brighton & Hove Albion contribute to an overall summer income of £99m.

Guglielmo Vicario is seemingly edging closer to joining Juventus, and his potential departure would hand Antonin Kinsky the first-choice role on a more permanent basis heading into a season that will demand consistency between the posts.

> Click here for a full list of Tottenham's ins and outs for 2026

Tottenham Hotspur 2026-27 squad

Tottenham head into 2026-27 with approximately 32 senior players, a squad that has been substantially reshaped from the one that spent most of last season in the bottom three, with six summer arrivals adding tangible quality rather than speculative depth.

The midfield is now the squad's most compelling area, with Tonali bringing range, physicality and a proven ability to dictate tempo, and Mateus Fernandes arriving as one of the Premier League's most complete young midfielders after a standout 2025-26 season at West Ham United.

The striker department remains a concern, with Richarlison and Dominic Solanke representing the senior options and neither player having demonstrated the fitness consistency to warrant full confidence as a season-long solution; aspecialist No. 9 is also yet to be added in this window despite the outlay elsewhere.

Xavi Simons, who had impressed under De Zerbi before suffering an ACL injury late in 2025-26, remains on the books but is unlikely to be available until the new year at the earliest, leaving a significant creative hole that the wider forward group will need to fill collectively in his absence.

Tottenham Hotspur 2026-27 predicted starting XI

De Zerbi is expected to deploy a 4-3-3, with Tonali as the defensive midfielder anchoring the unit and James Maddison and Mateus Fernandes providing the two more progressive roles on either side, a configuration that should give Tottenham the physical and technical balance to compete across a demanding fixture list.

In defence, Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul Van Hecke are the first-choice central defensive pair, offering pace and ball-playing composure in roughly equal measure, while Pedro Porro on the right and Andrew Robertson on the left provide attacking width, with Antonin Kinsky confirmed as De Zerbi's No. 1 between the posts after signing a new long-term deal.

Up front, Dominic Solanke leads the attack, with Richarlison operating on the right and Mathys Tel on the left as the first-choice wide options, though Dejan Kulusevski and Wilson Odobert will press for minutes when fit.

Predicted XI (opening day)

Tottenham Hotspur

Tel

Solanke

Richarlison

Fernandes

Tonali

Maddison

Robertson

Van de Ven

Van Hecke

Porro

Kinsky

LW

Mathys Tel

ST

Richarlison

RW

Mohammed Kudus

CM

Mateus Fernandes

DM

Joao Palhinha

CM

Sandro Tonali

LB

Andrew Robertson

CB

Micky van de Ven

CB

Jan Paul van Hecke

RB

Pedro Porro

GK

Antonin Kinsky

Tottenham Hotspur 2026-27 squad depth

Behind Kinsky, Martin Dubravka provides reliable senior cover after joining on a free transfer from Burnley, with Brandon Austin retained as third choice in a goalkeeping group that could yet be reduced further if Vicario departs.

Archie Gray is the natural right-back cover behind Porro, having played the position regularly in 2025-26 and shown the versatility to operate across several areas of the back line, while Kevin Danso and Marcos Senesi are both capable of slotting into the central defensive partnership alongside Van de Ven or Van Hecke in the event of injury, with Ben Davies offering an experienced fallback option at left-back if Destiny Udogie is absent.

The midfield depth is the most reassuring area of the squad, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Conor Gallagher both able to step into the three with minimal disruption, and Lucas Bergvall continuing his development as a long-term first-team option at box-to-box midfielder; Pape Sarr - if he stays - adds additional cover.

Injuries to Simons, Odobert, Kudus and Richarlison have significantly hampered Tottenham's attacking squad depth for the time being, while Mikey Moore's expected loan move to Koln will further weaken an already-ravaged offensive setup.

Roberto De Zerbi: Manager profile

De Zerbi was appointed Tottenham Hotspur head coach in April, taking charge of a side sitting 16th in the Premier League table and a genuine risk of the club suffering an unthinkable demotion.

The Italian had been out of management since departing Marseille in February, and his willingness to commit to a long-term project at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium even with the theoretical prospect of Championship football was cited by the club as a defining factor in the appointment.

De Zerbi's results in those final seven league games were mixed on paper but decisive in outcome: three wins, two draws and two defeats, with the 1-0 home win over Everton on the final day the moment that secured survival and, in retrospect, may prove the most consequential result in the club's recent history.

The Italian operates a possession-dominant 4-3-3, built around intelligent positional play, high pressing triggers and overlapping full-backs who stretch play wide, and the summer additions of Tonali and Fernandes suggest the squad is being deliberately rebuilt to match those demands.

Sandro Tonali: Tottenham's star player

Tonali's arrival gives De Zerbi a player whose profile maps almost exactly onto the engine-room role the Italian most values in his system.

The 2025-26 Premier League season at Newcastle saw Tonali produce two assists and zero goals across 35 appearances and 2,543 minutes, which understates his contribution: Tonali ranked among the top midfielders in the division for defensive contributions and successful passing percentage, and his physical and tactical consistency was central to Newcastle's campaign despite the club's eventual failure to retain their Champions League status.

Tonali brings Premier League experience accumulated across three seasons and a proven ability to perform under pressure, with the EFL Cup winner's medal he collected with Newcastle in 2024-25 his most recent piece of domestic silverware and a reminder that he has already won at the highest level with AC Milan in Serie A.

Mateus Fernandes: Tottenham's one to watch

Arriving for a little less than his new midfield partner, £85m man Fernandes's statistical profile from 2025-26 suggests the fee is not as surprising as the headline figure implies.

Last season at West Ham, Fernandes registered three goals and four assists from 35 starts and 3,024 Premier League minutes, while also ranking highly for chances created and successful dribbles, a combination that explains why clubs far beyond Spurs were tracking his availability when West Ham's relegation was confirmed.

In De Zerbi's 4-3-3, Fernandes is expected to operate as the left-sided central midfielder in the three, a role that will ask him to press intensely when out of possession, drive forward into the half-space in transition and switch the play from deep positions.

At 22 and under contract until 2031, Fernandes is arguably the most significant piece of the long-term rebuild at Tottenham, and a spectacular goal on his friendly debut against MK Dons immediately set tongues wagging.

Tottenham strengths and weaknesses

Tottenham pre-season results

Tottenham completed seven pre-season fixtures with four wins and two draws, scoring 10 goals and conceding three across a schedule that took in a behind-closed-doors opener against MK Dons, a tour of New Zealand and a two-match visit to Sydney for the Sydney Super Cup before returning to North London for home games against Getafe and Hoffenheim.

The most striking result was the 2-1 victory over Chelsea on August 1 in Sydney, when Tottenham held on with 10 men to complete a win that carried a psychological edge given the context of last season's struggle; the 3-0 home success over Hoffenheim on August 15 was also notable for a double from the fledgling Moore.

Tottenham Hotspur 2026-27 season prediction

The opening five gameweeks offer a genuine early test against opponents of varying quality, but De Zerbi's squad is deeper and better organised than the one that stumbled through the equivalent stretch last season, and a haul of eight to 10 points from the first five games would represent a reasonable baseline from which to build.

The December fixtures are where the season could take shape or fracture: four league games in 28 days including the home North London derby against Arsenal on December 5, a trip to Anfield on December 19 and back-to-back home games against Bournemouth and Brighton across the festive period make that run as demanding as any comparable stretch in the fixture list, and Tottenham's squad management across that period will say much about the progress of De Zerbi's project.

The factor most likely to determine the final outcome is the fitness of Richarlison, who has repeatedly promised more than he has delivered at the club, and how quickly the new midfield three of Tonali, Maddison and Fernandes builds the collective automaticity that De Zerbi's system demands; a settled midfield reduces the burden on a forward line that carries legitimate questions about its depth.

A ninth-placed Premier League finish feels like the most realistic projection, representing a substantial improvement on consecutive 17th-placed seasons and a genuine signal of progress, with the top seven not beyond Tottenham if the key players remain fit and the system beds in at pace across the first third of the campaign.