Spurs 2026/27 season preview: the 57-conceded problem
By Arasi Rex · Updated 12 August 2026 · 6 min read
Spurs finish 14th in 2026/27, and the season is about one column of the table. Spurs ended last season 17th with 41 points, two clear of the bottom three, and the number that explains why is 57: goals conceded, more than every club that finished above them. The attack was not good either, but it was survivable. The defence was the whole story, and the defining question is whether a back line that leaked more than any surviving side gets rebuilt or gets found out again.
Last season
Ten wins, eleven draws, seventeen losses. 41 points, 48 scored, 57 conceded, a goal difference of minus nine. The most damning column is the defeats: Spurs lost 17 games, as many as any club outside the bottom three, and only the three relegated sides lost more. They won exactly as often as West Ham, a team two points below them in the final table. The wins column is not a misprint, it is the season.
The goals against number is where it fell apart. 57 conceded was the worst defensive record of any club that survived, worse than Leeds on 56, worse than Newcastle on 55, worse than the 54 Bournemouth shipped on the way to sixth. Every single club above Spurs conceded fewer, and the gap to safety was two points, while the gap up to Nott'm Forest in 16th was three. A team that concedes 57 and wins ten games does not belong in a relegation conversation by accident. It earns the right to be there.
The squad
The minutes tell a sideways story. The most-used player in the squad was Micky van de Ven on 3,055 minutes, ahead of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario on 2,790, and the busiest defender after Van de Ven was Cristian Romero on 1,872. The minutes leader is a centre-back, which is the first sign of where the balance sat.
| Player | Position | Apps | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richarlison | FWD | 32 | 11 | 4 |
| Van de Ven | DEF | 35 | 4 | 1 |
| Tel | MID | 31 | 4 | 1 |
| Romero | DEF | 23 | 4 | 1 |
| Xavi Simons | MID | 28 | 2 | 5 |
| Sarr | MID | 26 | 2 | 4 |
| Kudus | MID | 19 | 2 | 5 |
The dependency is a single veteran forward. Richarlison scored 11 from 1,957 minutes, one every 178, and nobody else reached five. Take his goals away and the 48-goal season becomes 37, fewer than the 38 relegated Burnley managed. The creative band was the disappointment: Xavi Simons produced 2 goals and 5 assists from 1,769 minutes, Mohammed Kudus 2 and 5 from 1,545. Those two combined for four goals across a season in which the club finished two points above relegation. When your minutes leader is a defender and your attacking depth is one 32-appearance striker, 17th place stops being a surprise.
Spurs' fixture run
The opening ten rounds look forgiving, which is exactly why they matter. Four of the first five opponents finished ninth or lower last season, and the promoted side Spurs meet in the opening ten, Coventry City, arrives at gameweek 7.
| GW | Opponent | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brentford | Away | Sat 22 Aug |
| 2 | Newcastle | Home | Sat 29 Aug |
| 3 | Nott'm Forest | Away | Sat 5 Sep |
| 4 | Everton | Home | Sat 12 Sep |
| 5 | Aston Villa | Home | Sat 19 Sep |
| 6 | Man Utd | Away | Sat 10 Oct |
| 7 | Coventry City | Home | Sat 17 Oct |
| 8 | Chelsea | Away | Sat 24 Oct |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | Home | Sat 31 Oct |
| 10 | Leeds | Away | Sat 7 Nov |
The stretch that matters runs from gameweek 5 to gameweek 8: Aston Villa at home, Man Utd away, Coventry at home, Chelsea away. Two of those four opponents finished in last season's top five, and the promoted fixture sits in the middle of them, which turns gameweek 7 into the trap game of the season. The points have to be banked before November because the harder half of the run leaves no margin for a defence with 57-conceded form.
The FPL angle
Nobody in this squad is a template staple, and that is the entire case. Richarlison at £6.0m returned 119 points with 1.9% ownership, the forward value play for a club that needs his minutes. Van de Ven at £5.0m returned 116 points including four goals from a defender, and Romero at £5.0m returned 91, which makes the defensive pair the only two Spurs assets with any traction. Mathys Tel at £6.0m returned 78 points and Pape Matar Sarr at £5.0m returned 71, both at under 1% ownership. James Maddison at £6.5m returned 3 points from 62 minutes and is the trap: the name still carries 2.0% ownership while the output has gone. Antonín Kinský at £4.5m returned 20 points with 19.1% ownership, the most-owned budget route into the club. The FPL read mirrors the season read. Every Spurs pick is a differential, so the club is a punt market, not a core market.
What would count as success
The number to argue with is 57. Spurs scored 48, which was weak but not fatal, and the attack did not need to become elite for this club to survive comfortably. The defence had to stop donating games. Convert four of the 17 defeats into wins and 41 points becomes 53, a total that left a club around eighth on last season's table. That is the ceiling maths: a mid-table defensive season, not a top-four one. Success is 12th or better, matching or beating Newcastle's 49 points, a target reachable without a single new goal scorer, purely by conceding at roughly the league average instead of at the worst surviving record. The promoted trio replace three clubs that took 81 points combined, so the bottom of the table is softer by arithmetic, and the fixture run hands Spurs the soft landing. The question is only whether the defence can use it.
Key takeaways
- The projection is 14th, a mid-table rebound built on the promoted clubs replacing three sides that took 81 points combined.
- The number is 57: conceded more than every club above them, with 17 defeats and only ten wins, as many wins as relegated West Ham.
- Richarlison is the key player, 11 goals from 1,957 minutes, one every 178, and the only double-digit scorer; remove him and 48 becomes 37.
- In FPL the whole squad is a differential: Richarlison at £6.0m and Van de Ven at £5.0m are the value, Maddison at £6.5m with 3 points is the trap.
FAQ
Will Spurs be relegated in 2026/27?
The projection says no, at 14th. Last season they finished two points above the bottom three, and the three relegated clubs took 81 points combined, so the survival bar drops. But the 57 conceded and ten wins were relegation-form numbers, and the margin for error is thin if the defence repeats.
Who is Spurs' key player?
Richarlison. His 11 goals from 1,957 minutes carried the attack, and nobody else scored more than four. Without him the 48-goal season drops to 37, below relegated Burnley's 38.
Are Spurs players good FPL picks this season?
As differentials. Richarlison at £6.0m returned 119 points, Van de Ven at £5.0m returned 116, and both carry single-digit ownership. Maddison at £6.5m returned 3 points and is not worth the name price.
Why did Spurs finish 17th?
They conceded 57, more than every club above them, and lost 17 games, as many as any side outside the bottom three. The attack scored 48, weak but not the fatal flaw; the defensive record was the worst of any surviving club.