Why Coventry, Tottenham and Aston Villa should not panic about their slow starts

That optimism we feel at the start of a new season can be intoxicating. Whatever happened last season, there has been a whole summer to correct things. New signings, possibly a new manager, and new possibilities. What could go wrong? Oh, everything. Terrific. We’re only in mid-September but that early optimism has melted away and been replaced by anxiety for some fans.

Coventry had every reason to look forward to the season, their first in the Premier League since 2001. They were coming off the back of a superb title-winning campaign in the Championship and were riding the crest of a wave. Now, though, they have fallen off their surf board and are frantically trying to keep their heads above water as the ferocity of the top flight becomes increasingly apparent.

Frank Lampard’s side are the only Premier League team without a point this season after four games, and they are yet to even score a goal. In fairness, two of their games have been away to the two strongest sides in the league, Arsenal and Manchester City. Coventry were pretty impressive in the latter of those matches, too, and probably deserved something from it.

However, a 1-0 defeat at home to fellow promoted side Hull and a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Brighton on Sunday have brought stark realisation that the Premier League is a tricky business. Taiwo Awoniyi’s red card in the second half against Brighton did not help, but they were already 2-0 down by then. When Lewis Dunk is bending efforts into the top corner from 30 yards, you know it isn’t going to be your day.

Coventry are the eighth promoted team to lose their first four games of a Premier League season. Only one of the previous seven avoided relegation: Southampton in 2012-13.

Looking at all of the teams that have lost their first four game in a Premier League campaign, it’s a little more comforting. Eighteen teams did that before Coventry and eight of them stayed up, the most recent of which was Everton in 2024-25.

We are not here to rub it in, though. We are here to try and provide hope. Somewhere in our sea of Premier League records, surely, we can find something to cheer up struggling teams?

For Coventry, look no further than Crystal Palace from the 2017-18 season. Under the management of Frank de Boer, they didn’t score or win a single point in their first five games. The Dutchman was sacked and replaced by Roy Hodgson, but the run didn’t quite end there. Palace went seven games without a goal or point in total.

Having said that, Hodgson ultimately turned things around. Palace not only avoided relegation, but remarkably finished 11th. We’re not suggesting Coventry sack their own Frank, by the way. He has surely earned enough goodwill after his astonishing job to get them into the top flight in the first place. Also, coaxing 79-year-old Hodgson out of retirement might be tricky (but probably not impossible knowing him).

The other joint-longest run at the start of a Premier League season without a point belongs to Portsmouth, who failed to win any of their first seven in 2009-10. They did score three times in that run but, unlike Palace, failed to improve much across the campaign. Pompey finished bottom on 19 points. They were deducted nine points for going into administration, but would have still finished bottom even without that.

Norwich lost their first six in the 2021-22 season, and finished bottom on 22 points, while a further three teams have lost their first five in the Premier League: Southampton in 1998-99, Sunderland in 2005-06, and Wolves last season. Saints stayed up, but Sunderland and Wolves both disappeared to the Championship after finishing 20th.

Coventry are not the only team struggling. Things were supposed to be different for Tottenham. After back-to-back 17th-place finishes in the Premier League, Roberto De Zerbi kept them up by the skin of their teeth last season, and the club backed him in the transfer window this summer. However, four games into the new campaign and, like Coventry, they are yet to score. They do at least have two points to their name after 0-0 draws against Nottingham Forest and Everton, but that familiar sinking feeling is already dousing pre-season optimism for Tottenham.

It is the first time in the club’s history that they have failed to score in their first four league games of a campaign and, as mentioned, only that 2017-18 Palace side have endured a longer start to a Premier League season without scoring (seven games).

In fact, it has been 407 minutes since Spurs last scored in the Premier League, and is the first time they have failed to score in four successive Premier League matches since September 2006.

Apart from Spurs and Coventry this season, there have been five previous examples of teams failing to score in their first four Premier League games of a season. As well as the aforementioned Palace campaign, there was Sheffield Wednesday in 1994-95, Newcastle in 2005-06, Swansea in 2011-12, and Aston Villa last season. Crucially, none of them were relegated. In fact, the lowest any of them finished was 13th (Sheffield Wednesday).

That should provide plenty of hope for Spurs. Villa did not score until the fifth game of the season last year and they went on to have a stellar campaign, finishing fourth and winning the Europa League. That said, Unai Emery’s squad was decimated by sales in the summer. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they have started very slowly, with just one point from their first four games, and that was from a goalless draw at promoted Hull. Defeats to Brighton, Arsenal and Forest have left them in the relegation zone, with a point fewer than they had this time last season.

It’s the fourth time Villa have started a Premier League season without winning any of their first four games, after 1992-93, 1997-98, and 2025-26. At least they have scored, though, with Alysson’s equaliser against Forest on Saturday their first league strike of the campaign. Again, though, Villa can use their marked improvement after this point last season as optimism fuel.

Fulham’s slow start was given a boost on Saturday with a well-earned draw at Liverpool, their first point of the season. Though Álvaro Arbeloa’s side remain in the bottom three, they can look to build on that performance and silence those who had started to doubt them after opening with three defeats to Chelsea, Sunderland and Palace.

Ultimately for everyone, it’s four games down, 34 to go. Coventry will want their first points as soon as possible, while something as simple as scoring a goal could unlock Tottenham’s potential. There’s plenty of time to restore positive vibes and have a great time between now and the end of May. Perhaps the teams who should be worried don’t even know it yet.