Spurs finally get a win, but the performance still raises questions
Tottenham’s first Premier League win of 2026/27 arrived against Coventry on Monday. The result matters; the underlying performance is less convincing. Roberto De Zerbi said afterward that Spurs had played better in other matches, and the numbers support his caution: the hosts created no big chances, and all three goals came from outside the box. Their attack still looks like a work in progress.
Spurs will take the points, especially after earlier games in which they felt they deserved more (could last week have been a win?). Defensively, though, there was more to like. Coventry’s goal was their only shot on target, and Spurs kept their expected goals down. That concession came from a mistake: Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.9m) gave the ball away high up the pitch. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (£4.8m) had a decent early opportunity, but Tottenham’s defensive numbers over the past six Gameweeks remain encouraging.
Maddison’s return is the headline, with fitness still the caveat
Omar Marmoush (£7.0m), back in the starting side, scored his first goal for Spurs. Ben Davies (£3.9m) also got on the scoresheet. But the bigger story was James Maddison (£6.2m), making his first league start since late in 2024/25 and marking it with a superb strike into the top corner. Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m) supplied the cut-back.
Maddison’s talent has never been the question. At his best, he can deliver 20 returns across a season; availability has been the problem. He has been back from his ACL injury since April, but subsequent niggles, setbacks and precautions have disrupted his progress. His pre-season was badly curtailed, and he also missed days during the international break (the latest Spurs team news). One excellent start doesn’t settle the question of whether he can stay fit for the coming run.
“Yeah, I hoped [to start]. I spoke to the gaffer about [it] this week and feeling like the right moment for me to go back into the starting XI after a bit of a stop-start start to the season. I just wanted to play well, I just wanted to show my quality and show what the team’s missed in the last 18 months, or whatever it is, from my last start. The gaffer asked me to play and said he wanted to enjoy watching me from the side, so hopefully I did that. And obviously, a goal like that is always nice.
“That’s where I operate best, in the pockets, right in between the lines. With the extra midfielders on the inside, with Archie [Gray] and Marmoush to the side of me, I had a bit of license and a bit of freedom to drop deep and help Sandro Tonali in the build-up as well, which I like to do. So, quite roaming. I was popping up on the right, the left and centrally. And that’s where I’m at my best, I feel: between the lines and being able to pick up the pockets of space where I feel I can affect the game at different moments. That’s where the goal came from.” – James Maddison
Dejan Kulusevski (£6.5m) made his first appearance in 17 months, coming on for a brief 10-minute spell. He is likely to need time before he can start regularly. De Zerbi said the substitution was partly a gesture to supporters who had waited to see him return.
“Listen, Kudus, I think he was playing well, I think he could finish the game, but I thought of Kulusevski just for the fans. Just for the fans because they waited [for] him on the pitch and in the last 5-10 minutes of extra time, we needed the support of the fans. And they are fantastic with Kulusevski, with us. They suffered too much in the last two, three, four seasons.” – Roberto De Zerbi
A back three, shaped by who was available
De Zerbi set Spurs up with three centre-backs. The attacking shape often resembled a 3-1-5-1, with Marmoush joining Maddison and Archie Gray in the spaces behind the main forward. Maddison had freedom to drift across the pitch, while the roles around him varied.
Formation image via BBC Sport
The change may say as much about Spurs’ absences as De Zerbi’s preferred system. He said injuries in midfield pushed him toward the back three, which helped his side control the match and prevent counter-attacks. That leaves a selection question for Gameweek 8: would Maddison have started if several players had trained last week?
“We played three at the back. I want to explain why: because of the injured players in the midfield position. Conor Gallagher came back two days ago, and at the beginning of the week, the medical staff told me maybe he could be not available to play. Bergvall was injured. Mateus Fernandes worked just the last two days because of his [newborn] son. I thought three at the back was the best solution to defend the counter-attack, to have more control of the game, and for that, I’m happy, because we didn’t concede a counter-attack.
“I prepared the game three at the back, one midfielder and three players in the pocket: Marmoush, James Maddison and Archie Gray. Normally, these are three totally different players: Marmoush more an attacker, Maddison more playing in the pocket, for the link with the defenders, with Tonali, and he did, and Archie Gray to go in overlapping and underlapping with Kudus. I think two players [in those pockets] they scored.
“Robertson played as a winger, and in the first half played very well. Kudus also, I liked his performance, and especially in the second half, because in the first half I think it was too difficult to find the space. Solanke played a good second half.” – Roberto De Zerbi
Substitutions eased fears, but Udogie sat out
Marmoush, Andy Robertson (£4.4m) and Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.4m) all looked to have come off with problems in the second half. De Zerbi played down the concern afterward.
“No, no, no, I think there are no injuries, nothing important.” – Roberto De Zerbi
Destiny Udogie (£4.4m) was absent. De Zerbi said he had played 70 minutes against Manchester United, then felt a knee problem; the club and medical staff chose not to take a risk (Spurs’ update).
“Destiny Udogie played 70 minutes [against Manchester United] and suffered a problem of [the] knee and we didn’t take a risk alongside the medical staff.” – Roberto De Zerbi, via the Spurs website
De Zerbi had also said on Sunday that Savio (£6.5m) and Lucas Bergvall (£5.3m) would be out for “weeks” (his earlier update).
Van Hecke finds a way to score DefCon points; Thomas keeps delivering
Jan Paul van Hecke’s clean-sheet points were gone, leaving his owners with one last route to a return: defensive contributions. He got there in added time, after two earlier attempts had fallen short.
Bobby Thomas (£4.0m) reached the same threshold, his fifth time doing so in 2026/27. He’s come close twice more, which makes his defensive output hard to dismiss at that price.
Tottenham’s change of shape also brought Sandro Tonali (£5.3m) into sharper focus. Sitting deep as Spurs’ only midfielder tasked with disrupting play, he recorded more defensive contributions than any other player.
Coventry keep their shape, but the goalkeeper question remains
“I thought from the first moment, our work, our threat, the belief within the team, how we defended low. It takes them two outstanding world-class goals to score their goals. Everybody in the stadium felt the game.” – Frank Lampard
Coventry couldn’t make it three wins in a row, but this was still a credible performance. They defended well for long spells and were beaten by three shots from outside the box. The first two Tottenham goals were impressive strikes; even so, Carl Rushworth (£4.5m) will feel he should have done better against Marmoush, and particularly against Davies.
There’s a bigger concern in the numbers: Opta rates Rushworth as the Premier League’s worst-performing goalkeeper of 2026/27 for expected goals prevented. That measure doesn’t explain every goal, but it adds weight to the doubts raised by this match.
At the other end, Coventry offered energy without much attacking control. Jack Rudoni (£4.9m) made another case for budget midfielders, scoring after van Hecke gave the ball away and Rudoni needed a second attempt to finish. He took a penalty in Gameweek 6, too, so his appeal to FPL managers looking below £5.0m now rests on both open-play threat and a possible route to spot-kicks.
Read the Gameweek 6 notes on Rudoni’s penalty duties and Thomas’s defensive contribution record, and see three low-owned Gameweek 7 picks.
