Tottenham’s difficult start to the 2026/27 Premier League season continued on Saturday as Aston Villa beat Spurs 3–2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The defeat means Tottenham are still without a league win after their first five matches.
Spurs actually started the match positively and created several opportunities, but Villa took the lead in first-half stoppage time. Johan Manzambi finished from Boubacar Kamara’s cross while Tottenham captain Micky van de Ven was temporarily off the pitch receiving treatment.
Villa then increased their advantage after the break. Nicolas Jackson scored in the 67th minute before Emiliano Buendía produced a long-range strike to make it 3–0 with 11 minutes remaining.
Tottenham finally ended their extraordinary Premier League scoring drought late in the match. Conor Gallagher scored in the 87th minute before Jan Paul van Hecke headed in another goal, giving Spurs a late chance of rescuing something from the game. However, Villa held on for the victory.
The result has intensified the pressure surrounding Roberto De Zerbi. Tottenham had already failed to score in their first four league matches, and the club invested heavily in rebuilding the squad during the summer following consecutive 17th-place finishes.
Importantly, the claim in the linked headline that De Zerbi simply “blamed the fans” should be treated as the article’s characterization, rather than an established fact. Before the Villa match, De Zerbi publicly said Spurs needed to improve “in all areas”, while insisting that he had confidence in his players and that the team needed to demonstrate improvement through results.
De Zerbi had also previously defended his squad after the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool, saying Tottenham needed to shoot and finish better while acknowledging that there were defensive issues that needed correcting.
The latest defeat leaves Tottenham facing a difficult period during the international break, with increasing attention on whether De Zerbi can turn the team’s significant summer investment into improved results.
