15 Stats That Prove Tottenham Are About to Have One of the Best Attacks in the Premier League

On the surface, the stats look worrying for Tottenham Hotspur. Six Premier League games played, zero wins, three draws, three defeats, not to mention the nine goals conceded and only three goals scored. That puts the Lilywhites down in 19th position in the table, which would be enough to earn relegation even if Man City were handed a huge points deduction. Even Coventry, who Spurs play at home next, are now three points above the North Londoners after demolishing Newcastle 4-1. But despite all this, the stats show that Tottenham are a sleeping giant ready to explode with goals. Let’s take a look at why.

Spurs Could Soon Dribble Their Way to Tictory

The key for Tottenham comes on the wings. While the Lilywhites have consistently struggled to put the ball in the back of the net this season – which continued despite their dominance against Man United – they have looked electric at times out wide. Out of all the Premier League players to record more than 110 minutes of game time so far this season, Mohammed Kudus has completed the most successful dribbles per 90 with 5.7.

That’s an encouraging stat in isolation, but even more so when you realise that Savio (4.9), Mathys Tel (3.5), and Omar Marmoush (3.2) are second, third, and fourth on the list too. Out of over 100 attackers from 20 Premier League teams, Tottenham have the four best-performing dribblers in the division – and that has to count for something eventually.

That theme continues when you look at the list of most successful take-ons this season (when a player gets past their defender). Savio is top with 18, followed by Marmoush on 13 and Kudus on 12. Once again, Tottenham have the top three.

So, if Spurs are so good at dribbling and beating their defenders, why are they not destroying their opponents every week by raining goals galore?

Tottenham Have the Set-Up but Lack the Punchline

While Tottenham are arguably the best team in the Premier League when it comes to driving into dangerous positions, they happen to be one of the worst at converting those positions into goals. Let’s take a look at some of the teams across the Top Five leagues who have 180 or more touches in the opposition penalty area so far this season. Barcelona… who have scored 24 goals. Atletico Madrid, 18 goals. Arsenal, 10 goals. Manchester United, nine goals. Tottenham Hotspur… three goals.

180+ touches in the box and only three of those were shots that rippled the back of the net. Tottenham have used those positions to create 15 big chances but missed 12 of them, with an overall conversion rate of just 3.6% (compared to Man City on 19.3%). Spurs accumulate just 3.7 shots on target per game, the second lowest in the league, and have an overall xG of 6.6 – only Coventry have lower.

This points to two key problems for Spurs. Not only are their forwards not being clinical enough in the box, but their world-class dribblers are also not providing killer passes/crosses to capitalise on their impressive build-up play. Savio and Kudus dribbling past three defenders is no good if they can’t find Solanke in the box for the tap-in.

The Signs Are Good for Tottenham Despite Their Winless Start

Despite their poor record in front of goal, the signs are good for Tottenham Hotspur – maybe even great. After all, you would much rather see a team consistently get into dangerous positions and fail than struggle to get into those positions in the first place. The final pass will come when the team starts to gel, and Roberto De Zerbi will hope the final finish arrives once Solanke finally gets back to full fitness. It’s important to remember that Tottenham got rid of 12 players and signed 10 new ones in the summer. No one predicted the relegation zone by October, but the brand-new XI was never going to gel seamlessly overnight.

Tottenham had their best performance of the season so far away to Manchester United at Old Trafford. They created four big chances and should have been away and clear by the half-time whistle but missed three of them. But, more importantly, the Lilywhites ran further than the Red Devils, racked up more sprints, had a higher xG, had more touches in the opposition box, and had a better pass accuracy than their rivals. All of that points to a team that would ordinarily have won the game nine times out of 10.

Spurs fans will be encouraged to see that the team is running through brick walls for De Zerbi despite their league position, which wasn’t always the case during the Thomas Frank era. Not to mention the fact that their creativity and final ball should be boosted once one of James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, or Xavi Simons slots back into the number 10 role. How incredibly unlucky to have all three out with long, long-term injuries at the exact same time.

It may not be a title-challenging season for Tottenham Hotspur, but the stats show that it should be far from a relegation battle either. Once this squad full of direct, skilful, exciting dribblers finally kicks into gear and builds a sense of chemistry, they could just become one of the most frightening attacks in the Premier League. Who knows, perhaps all they need is a week in Marbella to unlock that potential.