Tottenham Hotspur have made a disastrous start to the 2026-27 season, and they have four important matches between now and October 31 to turn their fortunes around.
Two points and just two goals so far have left Tottenham bottom of the Premier League table, despite ENIC backing Roberto De Zerbi with more than £300m worth of new signings during the summer transfer window.
Spurs have been particularly poor going forward, but they have been suspect at the back too, as shown by the three goals they conceded against Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last time out.
That was Villa's first league win of the campaign, and the north London outfit will be targeting theirs when they face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Michael Carrick's men have made a similarly underwhelming start by winning one of their five Premier League matches, despite being the strongest team in the division, points-wise, in the second half of the 2025-26 campaign.
The trip north is the first of four key games for Tottenham and De Zerbi, with winnable home games against Coventry City and Crystal Palace on Halloween being sandwiched by a London derby against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Premier League's Best-Paid Managers:
Mikel Arteta (£15m)
Oliver Glasner and Xabi Alonso (£13m)
Roberto De Zerbi and Enzo Maresca (£12m)
To be fair to De Zerbi, he probably hasn't had the attacking options he wanted at his disposal for much of the campaign, with Savinho not joining until August 26 and then suffering an injury issue, while Mykhailo Mudryk has also been out after making just one substitute appearance for the club.
With Richarlison bombed out of the squad, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski still returning to full fitness, and Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert still long-term absentees, the Italian has largely been restricted to the use of Savinho, Omar Marmoush, Dominic Solanke and Mathys Tel
The latter had started three of Spurs' opening four Premier League matches, before being omitted from the squad against Villa for what De Zerbi described as a 'technical' decision.
Tottenham Need to Cash in on Tel Now
After joining on an initial six-month loan deal in January 2025, Tottenham completed the signing of the Frenchman on a six-year deal the following summer, after agreeing a £30m fee with Bayern Munich.
The 21-year-old clearly has a lot of promise and talent in his locker, but more often than not, he simply hasn't turned up in a Spurs shirt, and has left fans underwhelmed with his displays.
You could perhaps understand his struggles under Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor previously, but things have got no better for the France Under-21 international under De Zerbi either, culminating in him being left out of the squad altogether before the international break with other players preferred.
We may only be seven matches into the season, but Tottenham should already be putting Tel up for sale, with all the signs so far suggesting he has no long-term future in north London.
De Zerbi made it clear following the goalless draw against Everton that he needed more from the 21-year-old, even if he does 'love' him.
"Yes, I coached him on the pitch. The body shape of a striker. The striker can play with the shoulder on the goal. If we are playing with [James] Maddison, [Mohammed] Kudus and Savio, he has to play as a striker, and the striker has to look at the goal, no?
"Or on the cross of Robertson. He has to stay inside because he started [his career] as a striker. Now he's playing as a winger, but he started in his career as a striker."
But I love Mathys as a player, as a guy. There is not a problem.
Whether De Zerbi loves the player or not, it appears likely that once the likes of Kulusevski, Odobert and Simons are fit and available, Tel will find himself either further down the pecking order.