Heading into the October international break, Tottenham Hotspur sit third in the 2025/26 Premier League table, just one point behind defending champions Liverpool and two behind eternal rivals Arsenal. Exactly how Spurs stand as a true title contender will depend on how they do in head-to-head competition with the two title favorites, but they are, as of right now, absolutely in contention.
And Spurs did prove their legitimacy as contenders on Matchday 2 this season, beating another one of the main title contenders quite handily. Tottenham destroyed Manchester City 2-0 in Thomas Frank's third overall game in charge, and the most impressive part of that game is the "0" in the scoreline - and it's only getting more impressive with time.
That's because Tottenham are still the only team to hold Manchester City superstar striker Erling Haaland goalless for a game. That's right, in Haaland's six other appearances, he has scored. The Norwegian sensation has found the back of the net nine times in those six games, including two goals against rivals Manchester United and a goal against Arsenal.
So not even Arsenal, widely regarded as having the best defense in the Premier League, were able to hold Manchester City and Haaland to a clean sheet. But Spurs were. That's massive, and it goes to show you that Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Co. still don't get nearly enough credit for being one of the elite defenses in the Premier League.
Tottenham owned the Premier League's Golden Boot favorite
Haaland is on an outrageous run right now, and with Mohamed Salah a bit slow to start the 2025/26 Premier League season, the Man City man has 100 percent been the best player in the league this season. He is the only player with double-digit goal contributions thus far and has three more goals than anyone else, as well as WhoScored's highest overall rating in the Premier League.
Statistically speaking, Haaland is the Premier League's best player right now, and he is indeed entering the peak of his career at 25. And yet for as insanely consistent as he has been at finding the back of the net this season, Tottenham were able to blank him and are the only team, to date, to stifle the world-class striker.
Again, that's a huge feather in the caps of each of the defenders for Tottenham, and even though most people view Romero as a world-class player, it still feels like people don't get how great he and especially Van de Ven are.