Roberto De Zerbi hopes Tottenham’s warm-weather training camp in Marbella has strengthened the collective spirit required to revive their Premier League season.
Tottenham remain without a league victory after six matches and are bottom of the table with three points. They showed resilience in their latest fixture, recovering from a goal down to draw with Manchester United despite Rodrigo Bentancur being sent off for headbutting Luke Shaw.
The squad travelled to Marbella before Coventry City’s visit to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday, with De Zerbi believing the time together has created a positive atmosphere.
“It’s more about the players being with each other, because okay, I’m a coach, I take responsibility, but the responsibility is on everybody, from the boss down to the players,” he said.
“They have to feel that they are a team. I think in Manchester, especially in the toughest moment after the red card, we showed we have character.
“So, we have to show character from the beginning at home with our fans, because if we want to, we can change the history of this season – and last season as well.”
Coventry began life back in the top flight with four consecutive defeats, but have since responded with a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest and a 4-1 victory against Newcastle United.
Manager Frank Lampard accepts Tottenham will carry strong expectations into the match, but says Coventry can challenge them if they reproduce the standards shown in their recent games.
“When I look at them play, they have a lot of quality with a very good coach,” Lampard said of Tottenham.
“We worry about ourselves and from the start we had on paper, to where we’ve got to with these two wins, that makes us feel good, so it’s not the time for comparisons.
“As we’re a promoted side, I’m sure they’ll have a feeling of confidence against us. That’s fine.
“We have to believe in ourselves and go there with our own confidence and play with the same purpose we did against Newcastle.”
Players to watch
Dominic Solanke’s late equaliser at Old Trafford secured Tottenham’s point, but he has failed to win any of the last eight Premier League matches in which he has scored, drawing two and losing six.
Only Steven Fletcher, with 10 matches between December 2011 and September 2012, and Abdoulaye Doucoure and Zian Flemming, with nine each, have endured longer such sequences. Doucoure’s run was from September 2017 to March 2019, while Flemming’s came in 2025-26.
Coventry’s Sidiki Cherif scored on his first Premier League start against Newcastle. Only John Williams in August 1992, Mick Quinn in November 1992 and Dion Dublin in September 1994 have scored in their first two Premier League starts for the Sky Blues.
Match prediction
Coventry’s two recent victories followed four opening defeats. Only Derby County in 1899-00, Arsenal in 1923-24 and Aston Villa in 1997-98 have lost their first four matches of an English top-flight campaign and then won three in succession.
The Sky Blues are also on their longest top-flight winning run since January and February 1998, when Gordon Strachan’s side won five consecutive matches.
Tottenham have had 182 touches in opposition penalty areas, more than all but three Premier League teams, and have completed 770 passes in the final third, a total exceeded by only two sides.
However, their shot-conversion rate is the league’s lowest at 3.6%. They have scored three goals from 6.6 expected goals, underperforming that figure by 3.6 goals.
Opta gives Tottenham a 51.3% chance of victory, compared with 23.9% for Coventry City and 24.8% for a draw.
