Tottenham go into the November international break 11th in the Premier League table, after Sunday’s results pushed them down a place, while their next opponents Ipswich Town lost at home to Bournemouth and still haven’t kept a clean sheet in 29 top-flight games.
Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Elland Road was bad enough on its own. It ended a three-game winning run, cost Tottenham Mathys Tel to an ankle injury and earned Roberto De Zerbi the booking that keeps him out of the dugout for the next game. Sunday then did Spurs no favours either.
Aston Villa were held 4-4 at Old Trafford after Manchester United scored twice in stoppage time, but even that point lifted Villa to 13, one above Spurs. So instead of sitting in the top half for the break, De Zerbi’s team are 11th, level on 12 points with Newcastle and ahead of them only on goal difference.
Where do Tottenham sit in the Premier League table?
After ten games, Spurs have won three, drawn three and lost four, with ten goals scored and 11 conceded. Here is how the middle of the table looks going into the break.
| Pos | Team | Played | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Liverpool | 10 | +4 | 18 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 10 | +3 | 16 |
| 7 | Bournemouth | 10 | +2 | 15 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 10 | -3 | 13 |
| 11 | Tottenham | 10 | -1 | 12 |
| 12 | Newcastle United | 10 | -3 | 12 |
| 14 | Ipswich Town | 10 | -5 | 11 |
| 18 | Manchester United | 10 | -5 | 8 |
The gaps are small both ways. Spurs are six points off Liverpool in fourth and four behind Chelsea, who dropped to fifth after losing 1-0 at Sunderland. Look down instead and Manchester United, in 18th, are only four points behind. One good week moves you a long way in this league right now, and so does one bad one.
Arsenal are top on 27 points, with Brighton up to second after a 2-0 win over Brentford on Sunday.
Ipswich lose again, and the clean sheet wait goes on
The more interesting result for Spurs came at Portman Road. Ipswich Town, who visit N17 on Saturday 21 November at 3pm, lost 2-1 to Bournemouth, and they made life hard for themselves from the first whistle.
Evanilson put the Cherries ahead inside five minutes after Christian Walton tried to drag the ball away from him instead of clearing it and was robbed. Early in the second half, Ryan Christie’s shot deflected off Leif Davis to make it 2-0. Jack Clarke pulled one back from the penalty spot with 17 minutes left, but Bournemouth held on for their fourth league win in a row.
That leaves Ipswich 14th on 11 points, one behind Spurs. More importantly for De Zerbi, they have now gone 29 consecutive top-flight matches without a clean sheet, and only Manchester United have also failed to keep one this season. They have conceded 20 goals in ten games.
Gary O’Neil didn’t hide from it afterwards. “If you give the ball to the opposition number nine twice in the Premier League, it’s going to be a difficult afternoon for you,” the Ipswich boss said.
The one thing Ipswich do well
There is a warning in there too. O’Neil’s substitutes have been a real weapon: Clarke’s penalty took Ipswich’s tally of goals from the bench to five, more than any other Premier League side. Spurs can’t afford to switch off once the changes start coming in the last half hour.
Can Spurs take advantage of Ipswich’s defence?
On paper, this looks like the right opponent at the right time. Ipswich were caught cold at the start of both halves on Sunday, and Spurs badly need a fast start of their own: they haven’t won any of their last 39 Premier League games after conceding the first goal, so scoring early matters more for them than for most.
The trouble is that Spurs haven’t been scoring much at all. Ten goals in ten league games is a poor return, and at Leeds their best chance fell to a centre-back, which says plenty about where the Spurs attack is right now. Tel’s ankle injury makes that harder: De Zerbi called it a bad one at Elland Road and said medical checks would show how long he is out.
It will also be a strange afternoon on the bench. De Zerbi has a one-match touchline ban after his third yellow card of the season, so he will watch the Ipswich game from the stands, with his assistants running things in the technical area.
Verdict: two weeks to fix the final third
11th after ten games isn’t a crisis, and the table is tight enough that a win over Ipswich could put Spurs straight back into the top half. But the numbers point in one direction. Ipswich give goals away; Spurs struggle to make them. Something has to give on 21 November.
For me, the break comes at a decent time. De Zerbi gets two weeks with the players who stay at Hotspur Way to work on chance creation, and Ipswich arrive after another afternoon of defensive mistakes. If Spurs can’t score against a side that hasn’t kept a clean sheet in 29 top-flight games, the conversation about this attack will get a lot louder.
