Roberto De Zerbi might only have 43 days to save his job at Tottenham, according to former Spurs goalkeeper Kasey Keller. The former Brighton boss was appointed earlier this year with the sole objective of saving Tottenham from an unthinkable relegation. He succeeded on the final day of last season and was backed heavily over the summer, with the north Londoners spending almost £230million on new players.
However, despite their considerable outlay, it has been a nightmarish start to the campaign. They are yet to score a single goal in the Premier League and were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Liverpool on Tuesday night. As a result, the pressure is mounting on De Zerbi and Keller believes he could be gone by November unless things dramatically improve.
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Asked how long De Zerbi will get until he faces the sack, Keller told Express Sport on behalf of Casinostugan: "November, probably. Watching the match the other day versus Everton, they should have been up 3-0 at half-time.
"And when you now go four games at the start of the season without scoring in the first time in Spurs' history, there's not going to be a lot of patience.
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"I think Spurs fans would have more patience if you lost 4-3 rather than drawing 0-0, and so I think that's the tricky part. You spent a lot of money, you were given a lot of money.
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"I think a lot of us questioned where was that marquee striker, but even in saying that, what they created at the weekend, they should have won the match comfortably, and they didn't, so something has to click quickly.
"I was just thinking about the strikers I played with. So when you're thinking where's the Teddy Sheringham, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe, and obviously we're not even talking about [Harry] Kane and Son [Heung-min], so it is a little worrying."
Tottenham have finished 17th in each of the last two Premier League seasons and will be desperate to avoid another relegation battle this time around.
They will be hoping to get a result on the weekend against Aston Villa, who are winless in the Premier League since the start of the campaign.
Victory would provide a major boost for Tottenham heading into the three-week international break and relieve some of the pressure on De Zerbi's shoulders. Defeat, however, would be disastrous, especially if Spurs draw another blank.