Roberto De Zerbi pictured ahead of a Tottenham pre-season game

Roberto De ZerbiImago

Why Roberto De Zerbi has every chance to make blistering Tottenham start

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Published on:

17 Aug 2026, 4:13 pm

Tottenham Hotspur could achieve great things under Roberto De Zerbi this season and have been helped by a welcoming fixture list.

The Premier League announced the fixtures in mid-June, with Tottenham handed a trip to London rivals Brentford first up.

That contest at the Gtech Community Stadium this coming Saturday is followed by a home clash with Newcastle United.

Visits from Everton and Aston Villa then follow a trip to Nottingham Forest over the first month.

De Zerbi succeeded in his mission in keeping Spurs in the Premier League last season at the expense of West Ham United.

And the Italian has every reason to be positive of making a fast start to his first full campaign at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

How Tottenham's opening Premier League fixtures compare to other teams

Tottenham swept aside Hoffenheim in their final meaningful friendly of the summer over the weekend.

Now focus turns to the real business - that trip across London to Brentford in five days' time.

ESPN have now ranked the difficulty rating of each Premier League club's first five matches.

And Tottenham come out near the top of that list in fifth place in terms of the easiest starts on paper.

With no 'big-six' rivals to face in the first five, it is a nice way for De Zerbi's men to ease themselves into the season

That said, Villa can class themselves as the best of the rest thanks to the work of Unai Emery.

Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool are the next three teams on the list, with Leeds United deemed to have the nicest set of opening games.

Will James Maddison be available for Tottenham's Premier League opener vs Brentford?

The brilliant omen working in Tottenham's favour vs Brentford

Sure, Tottenham could have had a nicer fixture first up than travelling to last season's ninth-placed finishers in a London derby.

However, Tottenham are one of two teams - Chelsea being the other - to have played more than once at the Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League and never lost.

They are unbeaten in five there in the league since Brentford made the move.

Indeed, Spurs have only lost one of their last 10 against Brentford in the top flight - only against Arsenal have they performed as badly.

And if that was not enough, Tottenham have lost their opening game in just one of the last 10 Premier League seasons - a 1-0 defeat at home to Everton in 2020-21.

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