A dreadful league campaign last season saw Tottenham finish in 17th position, their worst-ever Premier League finish. Despite this, there was a strong sense over the summer that this season’s effort could not possibly be any worse. While such a low finish seems increasingly unlikely, improvements in north London have not come as quickly as expected.
Spurs were tipped by many to re-establish themselves as top-six contenders, as they have done so often in recent years, but that promise has yet to properly materialise. After 18 league matches, they sit in 11th place, a position that arguably paints a kinder picture than performances deserve. With an underwhelming start to his reign, the question now is whether Thomas Frank can spark a revival, or if Tottenham are drifting towards a second consecutive bottom-half finish.
How Much Better Are Tottenham This Season?
The simple answer is not much. Compared to the same stage last season, Tottenham are only two points better off. Here are the stats comparing the first 18 games of both seasons:
| Stat | 2024/25 | 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|
| Goals For | 39 | 27 |
| xG | 37.5 | 19.9 |
| Goals Against | 26 | 23 |
| xGA | 31.7 | 24.5 |
| Points | 23 | 25 |
Looking at these figures, Thomas Frank’s style of play has sacrificed a huge deal of attacking threat for fairly modest improvements in defence. This is evident when watching Tottenham in action, as they do not launch players forward like they did when playing fluent Angeball.
To be just two points better off compared to last season is disappointing, especially when the club registered a net spend of over £150m in the summer transfer window. Yes, they have had to juggle Champions League football with their league commitments, and there have been quite a few injuries, but even so, you would expect more from them.
Continuing at this exact pace, Tottenham would finish the season on 53 points. Last season, this points tally resulted in a 12th-place finish, so the Londoners will likely need some improvements if they are to secure a top-half finish this time around.
More Goals Needed
If Tottenham are going to avoid back-to-back bottom-half finishes, they need to carry much more threat in attack. So far, they have relied heavily on goals from corners (9), which accounts for nearly 40% of all their league goals. While Frank deserves credit for making Spurs such a danger from set-pieces, they generally carry little threat from open play. Their open-play xG sits at just 11.16, the sixth lowest figure in the division.
Speaking of goals drying up, there is a very real risk of this as Tottenham are outperforming their xG more so than any other team this season. In the past, their xG overperformance was easily explained by having two extremely clinical players in Harry Kane and Heung Min Son, but the current Tottenham side has no such players. Richarlison, who is currently boasting a 2.59 goal overperformance, is not a clinical finisher and will be unlikely to maintain this rate.
Having said that, Richarlison represents Tottenham’s only credible goal threat. The only player with more than two league goals is centre-half Micky van de Ven. It is not as though teammates have simply been wasteful, either. Tottenham’s second-highest player on the league xG chart is Mohamed Kudus with a mere 2.2. Last season, for contrast, Tottenham had five players with seven or more league goals, and the player with the second-highest xG was Brennan Johnson on 11.1.
Home Showings Must Improve
Spirits were fairly high when Frank took over, even among fans who did not want Ange to leave, but the atmosphere at the Tottenham Stadium quickly turned toxic. A rather turgid style of play, combined with some poor results and high ticket prices, has led to a nasty environment inside the 62,580 capacity ground. There are regularly boos at half/full-time, groans for misplaced passes and frustrated roars when players are slow to get the ball forward. It has proved something of a vicious cycle because this atmosphere is negatively impacting the players and making it less likely that they achieve victories.
Only Wolves and West Ham have collected fewer points than Tottenham at home this season, so the room for improvement is huge. Typically, clubs struggle to collect points on the road, and sorting this out can be a big ask. For Thomas Frank, though, it will only take a couple of exciting performances to improve the home atmosphere and encourage further positive results.
Solanke and Kulusevski Returns Will Make a Difference
Tottenham are expecting to welcome back both Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski in the coming weeks. The pair have been a big absence given that, combined, they contributed 23 league goals/assists last season. Having them back will be a huge boost to the Tottenham attack and bring some much-needed quality to their attacking options. Given the length of their respective absences, they may need a bit of time to return to their old selves, but expect significant contributions from them once they regain full sharpness.
With these two back in action, Tottenham should have just enough firepower to sneak into the top half of the table. But it is likely to be tight, as they have shown little in the way of progress since the start of Frank’s reign.
Editor