Tottenham Hotspur's nightmare start to the season continued on Saturday as they fell to a 3-2 defeat at home to Aston Villa, a result that leaves them in the Premier League relegation zone.
Spurs have now gone five league games without a win and dropped to 18th in the table.
It is a damning indictment of a club that spent £325 million on new signings in the summer to push for a top-six finish. Spurs must now adjust those expectations to make sure they simply don't find themselves in the same situation as last season when they needed a win on the final day just to preserve their top-flight status.
Chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" from visiting Villa fans aimed at Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi before the final whistle didn't feel at all ironic. Given how bad they have started the season, the Italian may spend the international break nervously wondering if he can pull off a repeat of last season's rescue act or if the Spurs board will decide he is not up to the task.
In De Zerbi's defence, the 3-2 scoreline is misleading on many fronts. Spurs actually started brightly, and Villa were indebted to goalkeeper Zion Suzuki for keeping them in the game.
The Japanese international pulled off four stunning saves – twice denying Savio, while also keeping out efforts from Archie Gray and Sandro Tonali. It felt like only a matter of time before Spurs broke their duck and scored in the league for the first time in 2026/27.
Then Villa did what Tottenham couldn't. The opening goal was against the run of play and was entirely preventable. Johan Manzambi, handed a first league start by Unai Emery, stabbed home from close range when Villa recycled the ball after Andrew Robertson made a hash of things trying to keep the ball in play.
Spurs captain Mickey van de Ven was off the pitch at the time after receiving treatment for a facial wound and required to change his blood-stained shirt, but Spurs' downfall was entirely of their own doing.
The Dutch defender was then part of a collective failure for Villa's second. Weak challenges from Jan Paul van Hecke and then Van de Ven allowed Nicolas Jackson to volley home on 67 minutes. Questions can also be asked of Anton Kinsky's positioning and effort to keep the ball out.
Emi Buendia then rifled in a long-range effort in the 79th minute. Many Spurs fans had seen enough by that point and headed for the exits en masse.
A double change seemed to inject some life into the home team. Substitute Conor Gallagher pulled a goal back shortly after coming on, and Van Hecke's header with virtually the last touch of the game gave the scoreline an air of respectability.
Spurs can argue they deserved more from the game, but the reality is a team that has recorded successive 17th-place finishes must again consider themselves as relegation contenders.
“I think we could score the first half many, many times,” De Zerbi told TNT Sports. “We concede the goal [with] 10 players, but we had to stay more focused to defending that situation in extra time in the first half.
"In the second half, we concede a goal directly from the goal kick. Before then we score but it’s offside. The third goal, a great goal of Buendia. But I have to say, we played well in the first half; we didn’t score but too fragile.”
Spurs' home form has been woeful, with just five wins in their past 36 games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“I can’t speak before my time; I can speak just for my work," De Zerbi added. "We have to, like I said, improve the quality of the play, but to be stronger, no? Otherwise, the game is not 90 minutes in ball possession, 90 minutes in the last third during the game; there are situations when we have to stay closer, we have to stay stronger, we have to defend better, ball on ball, and we didn’t, or we didn’t in the right way.”
Villa began the afternoon below Spurs in the table, having also failed to win any of their opening four games.
Captain John McGinn described getting their first victory as a "huge relief" and credited his team for their second-half showing.
"Leading up to the international break, you don't want to be in the bottom three," McGinn told TNT Sports.
"I thought we were really poor first half; we showed nothing going forward, but the second half we stood tall and deserved the win.
"The manager was quite happy with it being 0-0 at half-time; normally we are a lot more organised than what we were. Before the game, he spoke to us in detail on how we could win the game.
"You start to think if the new players believe in what made us successful in the past few years. The new players are buying into it; it takes time. It's not easy, but it's rewarding."
