Tottenham Hotspur trying to reach rarified air with 4-0 Premier League start

With a win on Saturday at Crystal Palace, Tottenham can accomplish more than just maintaining first place in the Premier League for another week because 4-0 is rare in the League. 

Since 1992/93 when the Premier League era began, only one Tottenham team has started a season a perfect 4-0, the 2009/10 Spurs. Not only is a 4-0 start in the Premier League rare for Tottenham, but it is also a relatively rare occurrence overall, as only 23 teams in the history of the EPL have started a perfect 4-0, according to Transfermarkt.com.

Perfect starts in the Premier League

Getting 12 points from the first 12 available is rare but not impossible. In fact last season, Everton started a perfect 4-0 but faded out of European competition finishing 10th in the final table. With Everton as our first example, clearly, a 4-0 start does not guarantee success throughout the season.

That said, 14 of the 23 teams (61%) have finished in first or second and eight of the teams  (35%) that have started 4-0 have gone on to win the league title. The most recent was Liverpool in 2019/20.

Alternatively, three teams finished 10 or lower, with Everton the most recent. In 2018/19 Watford started 4-0 and went on to finish 11th. And in 2005/06 Charlton Athletic started 4-0 and finished 14th on 47 points.

What is most interesting about both Charlton in 2005/06 and Watford in 2018/19 is that season those teams were both one of three different teams to start the season with four straight wins. This feat has only occurred 23 times in 29 seasons and six of those 23 times (26%) came in just two seasons.

In 2005/06 Manchester United also started 4-0 and finished second to Chelsea who was the third team with the 4-0 start. That Chelsea team went on to win their first 9 matches of the season the best start in Premier League history, under Jose Mourinho.

In 18/19 it was again Chelsea as one of the 4-0 teams but the Blues ended up finishing third. Likewise, Liverpool, who was the third team in 18/19 to start 4-0 ended up finishing second to Manchester City, who won the league by one point

Tottenham is already unique at 3-0

Even at 3-0, Tottenham is doing something, as only 43 teams in the Premier League era have started with 9 points from 9. Further, only one other team, Liverpool in 2013/14 started their season with three 1-0 wins. Liverpool would finish second that season, slipping up at the end.

Despite the fact that only 43 teams have gone 3-0, this is the third time for Tottenham, who were 2-0 in 2009/10, and in 2018/19. Both of those Tottenham team’s under Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino went on to finish the league year in fourth.

A win Saturday would show a team that is not content with a 3-0 start, which would be another positive sign. However, a win on Saturday guarantees nothing for Tottenham other than being the 24th team in the Premier League era – and second Spurs team – to start the season with 12 points from 12.  What the Spurs do from that rarified stratus will be the real story of the season.