Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham Hotspur have endured another miserable start to the Premier League season after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs started brightly and created several opportunities in the first half, with Pedro Porro, Mathys Tel and Omar Marmoush all threatening, but they failed to turn their dominance into a goal. Newcastle improved after the break, with Anthony Elanga opening the scoring in the 62nd minute before Yoane Wissa doubled the Magpies’ advantage 11 minutes later.
The result leaves Tottenham without a point or a goal from their opening two Premier League matches. More worryingly for De Zerbi, Spurs have now made unwanted club history.
Tottenham Make Premier League History for the Wrong Reason
Tottenham have lost their opening two games of a Premier League season without scoring a single goal for the first time ever in the competition.
Spurs began their campaign with a 3-0 defeat away to Brentford, producing a performance that raised immediate questions about whether De Zerbi's expensively rebuilt squad was ready to compete.
The Newcastle defeat has now made the situation considerably worse.
Interestingly, Tottenham had previously lost their first two Premier League matches in the 2011/12 season, but they had at least managed to find the net in those games. Their failure to score in either of their opening two fixtures this time around represents an entirely new low in the Premier League era. Before the Newcastle match, Spurs had last failed to score across their opening two league fixtures in the 1992/93 Season.
For a club that has spent heavily during the summer, the statistic is particularly embarrassing.
De Zerbi’s Attack Still Searching for Answers
The biggest concern for De Zerbi will be Tottenham's lack of cutting edge.
Against Newcastle, Spurs enjoyed promising spells, particularly during the first half, but their inability to convert pressure into goals ultimately proved costly. Once Elanga put Newcastle ahead, Tottenham struggled to produce the response required to get back into the contest.
The manager has been backed heavily in the transfer market, with Spurs bringing in several major additions during a record-breaking summer rebuild. Yet the early performances suggest that simply adding expensive talent has not immediately solved the structural problems that plagued the team last season.
The pressure will therefore continue to build on De Zerbi. Tottenham narrowly avoided relegation last season, finishing 17th, and the expectation was that significant investment would help them move decisively away from another relegation battle. Instead, they currently sit at the bottom of the table without a goal or point.
Tottenham Face Another Major Test
De Zerbi’s Spurs will now travel to face Oliver Glasner’s Nottingham Forest next week in the Premier League.
That game could already become a crucial one for the Italian manager. After being backed by Tottenham's owners with a record-breaking transfer window, losing two consecutive Premier League matches without scoring has created enormous pressure.
Anything other than a victory against Forest will only increase the scrutiny surrounding De Zerbi. Tottenham have invested heavily to change their fortunes, but after two games, the results suggest that the same old problems are still haunting Spurs.
