Tottenham Hotspur vs Coventry City Preview: Win Probability, Form and Head-to-Head
Tottenham Hotspur welcome Championship winners Coventry City to North London in a clash of contrasting pressures, as De Zerbi's struggling Spurs look to end their miserable home record while the in-form Sky Blues chase three successive Premier League wins for the first time since 1998.
A look ahead to a vital Premier League clash between Tottenham and Coventry...
There may be no such thing as a relegation six-pointer just seven games into a season, but the pressure on Tottenham to beat Coventry is already intense.
Roberto De Zerbi's expensively assembled Spurs side are now the only team in the Premier League still without a win, and former Chelsea player and coach Frank Lampard now in charge of Coventry, of course would love nothing more than to go to the home of one of his old rivals and take all three points back to the Midlands with his Sky Blues.
Injury Update
Tottenham are still without Pedro Porro, Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert, Savio, Lucas Bergvall and Mykhailo Mudryk, while Rodrigo Bentancur is suspended following his red card at Manchester United.
Coventry travel to N17 without Luke Woolfenden, Josh Eccles, Haji Wright and Aurele Amenda, but arrive having won back-to-back games against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.
With Fulham and Sunderland both currently below them to come next, victory here could see the Sky Blues pull well clear of the relegation zone in the space of a few weeks.
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| Recent head-to-head: Tottenham Hotspur vs Coventry City |
Coventry head to N17 without Luke Woolfenden, Josh Eccles, Haji Wright and Aurele Amenda, but come into the game on the back of consecutive wins over Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.
With games against Fulham and Sunderland both currently below them up next, three points here could leave the Sky Blues well clear of the relegation places within a matter of weeks.
Spurs Struggling In Front Of Goal
They will come up against a Tottenham side still reeling from a dismal start to the 2026/27 season.
Despite a huge summer outlay that saw them break their transfer record twice with the signings of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, hopes that the struggles of the last couple of years were finally over and a fresh start was underway have quickly faded.
MATCHDAY 🤍 🆚 Coventry City 🏟️ @SpursStadium 🏆 @PremierLeague ⏰ 8pm BST https://t.co/kGLQo0mIlw
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 19, 2026
For De Zerbi and his side, though, nothing is clicking even when they play well, they struggle to hit the target.
Tottenham have underperformed their xG by 3.6 goals, with a shot conversion rate of just 3.6% the lowest in the league.
They have scored only three goals in six games, two of them in the same match, which is the worst return in the Premier League. None have come before the 86th minute, and Spurs are yet to lead at any point in a league game this season.
Reasons For Optimism
Everyone associated with the Lilywhites will be hoping for a repeat of the last meeting between the clubs, when Spurs came out on top 2-1 in the 2024 League Cup.
De Zerbi recently took his squad to Marbella for warm-weather training and some team bonding, aiming to identify what has been behind the lack of cohesion in matches.
He said before they departed: “The target is to build the team. We are a great group of players, but we are not a team yet.”
Watch Roberto De Zerbi's Coventry City preview on the official Spurs app 🗣️ 📲 https://t.co/3JjQZSxkBk https://t.co/mPGXzNELuN
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 18, 2026
They will need to be wary of a Coventry side that is dangerous on the counter, but they can take some confidence from recent form, having lost just one of their last four matches.
What stands out is that, despite their league position, Spurs have completed 770 passes in the final third only two Premier League sides have managed more this season.
Likewise, only three teams have had more touches in the opposition box than Tottenham's 182.
Once things click, they are expected to climb the table quickly, and Spurs have certainly had the upper hand in this fixture in recent years.
Almost three decades since Coventry's last three straight Premier League wins
Prior to that League Cup victory, Spurs had won all five of the previous meetings between the sides from 2001 to 2004.
Coventry's last two trips to the capital in all competitions have both ended in 3-0 defeats.
A 2-1 win away at Spurs secured our @premierleague safety on the final day of the 96/97 season. https://t.co/gfFHgiPuuQ
— Coventry City (@CoventryCityFC) October 18, 2026
You have to go back to 1998 for the last time the Sky Blues won three Premier League games in a row, but matching that run from almost 30 years ago is now within reach.
In the five meetings before that League Cup win, between 2001 and 2004, Spurs won every single one.
Coventry's last two visits to London in all competitions both ended in identical 3-0 defeats.
The Sky Blues last won three consecutive Premier League matches back in 1998, but they now have the chance to replicate that run from almost 30 years ago.
That is partly because Spurs cannot rely on home advantage. Since November 2024, they have won just five of 36 league games, and the longer that poor run goes on, the greater the pressure becomes.
The Sky Blues could also become only the fourth top-flight side to lose their first four league games of a season and then win the next three, after Derby County in 1899/00, Arsenal in 1923/24 and Aston Villa in 1997/98.
It all sets up an intriguing contest.
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