Tottenham remain without a league goal after three Premier League matches following a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest, a result that handed Roberto de Zerbi his side their first point of the new campaign but did little to quell mounting questions about attacking cohesion after a summer of heavy investment.
Signs of progress but no end to the drought
Spurs were the superior side at the City Ground and created chances, but the final product was again missing. The stalemate ended a run of two successive defeats but continued a worrying pattern: Tottenham have failed to score in their opening three league fixtures for the first time since 1974-75 and have now gone three consecutive top-flight matches without a goal for the first time since November 2021.
That stat is all the more striking given the scale of Tottenham's activity in the transfer market over the summer. The club recruited heavily, with more than £300m reportedly spent on new arrivals as part of a broader Premier League spending surge that topped £3.49bn this window. Several recent signings started at Forest, including Sandro Tonali, Jon Paul von Hecke, Savio and Omar Marmoush, underlining the extent of the overhaul.
"We bought very, very good players but you can't just build the team with the names like in Football Manager,"
De Zerbi struck a measured tone after the match, urging patience and pointing to the short time many of the new faces have worked together. He stressed that organisation both with and without the ball must improve and insisted the team can be "much better in the final third." The manager also highlighted decision-making as an area for refinement, singling out finishing opportunities that were spurned.
Context and consequences
The draw will be taken as a modest step forward: it avoided a third consecutive league defeat and secured Tottenham a point they have frequently failed to collect at the City Ground in recent years. Yet it also left an unmistakable question hanging over a side that has been reassembled at great cost: when will the new personnel cohere into a reliable attacking force?
Last season’s 3-0 victory for Forest at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was the platform for their survival push, while Spurs drifted in the closing stages of the campaign. Expectations this term are higher, given the club's summer spending and recruitment. But with only a single point from a possible nine, patience among supporters will be tested if performances do not rapidly translate into goals and wins.
- Spurs have now failed to score in their first three league games for the first time since 1974-75.
- New signings Tonali, von Hecke, Savio and Marmoush all started at the City Ground.
- Premier League summer spending reached a record £3.49bn, with Tottenham accounting for over £300m of that outlay.
| Fixture | Result | Goals Scored |
|---|---|---|
| Brentford | Defeat | 0 |
| Newcastle | Defeat | 0 |
| Nottingham Forest | Draw 0-0 | 0 |
De Zerbi's assessment — that the group began working together only days before the matchweek — underscores the logistical challenge of integrating a raft of new players. Tactical familiarity, combinations in the final third and improved decision-making are the immediate priorities identified by the coach.
For now, Tottenham must balance public calls for patience with the reality of results. The manager has defended the squad's quality and the recruitment strategy, but the pressure to convert chances into goals will intensify if the drought continues. With supporters and the board having invested faith and finance, the early-season performances represent a pivotal period where signs of progress must turn into tangible returns on the pitch.
