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Tottenham Hotspur are absolutely rolling right now with three wins on the trot to follow up a dismal start to the season in which they were winless in six straight. Roberto De Zerbi is coaching his behind off and is an early Manager of the Season candidate with the quality of football he has brought to Tottenham, one year after they were arguably the biggest eye sore in all of European football under both Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor.

As key players from Tottenham work their way back and both Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert loom large as returns in the winter, it's time to take a bit of a reset and look at the best possible Tottenham starting 11 when everyone is healthy.

Defense: GK Antonin Kinsky - LB Destiny Udogie - CB Micky van de Ven - CB Jan Paul van Hecke - RB Pedro Porro

Andy Robertson looked great against Crystal Palace, but he has a limited ceiling against Premier League opponents with better forwards taking advantage of his lack of pace. Destiny Udogie is still different gravy when healthy, and the same can be said for World Cup hero Pedro Porro, who will certainly take his job back despite Archie Gray's recent excellence at right back in his stead. As for the center backs, there is not an inkling of competition here. Marcos Senesi and Tosin Adarabioyo are both very good, but Jan Paul van Hecke and Micky van de Ven look like a legitimate top three duo in the Premier League right now.

Midfield: DM Sandro Tonali - DM Mateus Fernandes - AM Xavi Simons

James Maddison will still be important to Tottenham Hotspur as a leader, technician, and creator even when Xavi Simons returns from his ACL tear this winter, and Dejan Kulusevski should be in the mix, too, and he already looks promising in his own knee injury return. But this Tottenham midfield trio will be made up of the new blockbuster signings. Xavi was so good before his ACL tear hit under Roberto De Zerbi, while the midfield base of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes has looked like the best in the Premier League these past two weeks since they finally got to play together as the 6/8 tandem under the Italian manager.

Forwards: LW Mathys Tel - ST Omar Marmoush - RW Savio

There is going to be a lot of debate about the attack, but since De Zerbi wants inverted wingers and goals, this is probably going to be the best set up. Savio could play on the left over Mathys Tel, but then Tottenham would lose goals. Mohammed Kudus will feel hard done by being left out, but Savio was actually even better at creating chances before his injury so he should just barely get the nod over another great player. Omar Marmoush isn't the ideal No. 9 for Spurs, but he's a good bit better than Dominic Solanke, who looks like the worst player on the team.

Tottenham Hotspur fans will always have Joao Palhinha in their hearts after his heroics last season. Not only did he start the season well for the team even under Thomas Frank and all of his issues, but he was stellar under Roberto De Zerbi and played a crucial role in saving Spurs from relegation, including scoring the winning goal on Matchday 38 against Everton.

De Zerbi rode Palhinha to safety, emphasizing the veteran midfielders to right the ship for the team. But even as De Zerbi boldly proclaimed that the Portuguese international would 100 percent be staying and seemed to be pushing for him to remain at N17, he ultimately chose against keeping the veteran Premier League midfielder. Since then, Palhinha has moved back to his home country of Portugal with another European giant in Benfica.

Palhinha was one of the bright spots of Tottenham last season, and it really shows how far the club has come that fans are no longer starving to praise his grit and ball winning when they have a lot more technical quality on the ball in the middle of the park.

Joao Palhinha would not have had a place

At the time, Roberto De Zerbi going back on his decision not to keep Joao Palhinha was a controversial one, but time has proven the Itailan manager right again. Nothing against Palhinha, but the 185 million pound pivot of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali has been incredible, and they are obviously a lot better on the ball and offensivelly in terms of creation and progression than the admittedly one dimensional and highly defensive Palhinha.

The backups behind Tonali and Fernandes are an even bigger reason why there is no Palhinha regret. Sure, Palhinha could have been useful depth as a bulldog, but Spurs already have a bulldog in Conor Gallagher. And they have a couple of better midifelders, too.

Rodrigo Bentancur was amazing at the start of the season before Tonali and Fernandes revved it up, Lucas Bergvall has looked reborn in the middle of the park, and Archie Gray is playing so well at the right back position in almost a supplementary midfieid role that there should be no doubts that he will be even better than he was last season - and he was already one of Spurs best players.

Palhinha will always be honored and missed, but Spurs have an elite midfield duo starting for them and three even better backups, including two with massive upside in Gray and Bergvall who need those minutes even more. De Zerbi made a tough decision but was right again.

Luca Williams-Barnett turned so many heads in just two minutes off the bench for Tottenham Hotspur to put the cherry on top of their incredible 2-0 win over a 10 man Crystal Palace that he isn't just one of the main talking points around Spurs, but he is also a major talking point in the Premier League with even rival fan bases giving the young England international his props.

Of course, Tottenham fans have been earmarking LWB for future success for quite some time, and he really announced himself to the fans this preseason by being one of their top three players during the friendly fixtures, showing both quality and bravery on the ball.

But a lot of people are taking the praise for Williams-Barnett as a means to compare him to Mikey Moore and even criticize the other talented young English prospect on the wings. That would be unfair, though. Williams-Barnett is supposed to be a different level of prospect, and even then, that says nothing about Moore and his development and what he can become.

Mikey Moore doesn't deserve the negativity

Moore already proved himself at Rangers last season with a good loan spell that he can fight through adversity and be a major factor in big games, having won Old Firm Derbies with clutch goals. He is not making a huge impact for FC Koln, but this is also his first season in a top five European league; it's not an easy transition, nor is it a fair comparison.

Tottenham Hotspur should be elated that Luca Williams-Barnett looks so special and made such an impact in a short space of time against a Premier League team, regardless of the game state or even the quality of the opposition. LWB is legit, and fans could see that difference between him and Mikey Moore even during the preseason.

That does not mean Moore is a bust, progressing too slowly, or a disappointment. He is already in the Bundesliga and was a good player for Rangers last season, but fans can't forget that Moore is still only 19 years old. Moore has been doing a lot for a guy who is that young, but he is still a baby in the grand scheme of things.

Williams-Barnett and Moore are both young cracks with the potential to be key players for Tottenham in the future. The big performances from LWB and his continued success really say nothing about Moore in a negative light at all.

Tottenham Hotspur look like a completely different team these past three weeks, and they are truly dominating the opposition. After six winless games to start the season, Spurs have now won each of their last three matches, and Roberto De Zerbi's vision of exciting, possession based football has fully come to fruition. And better yet, Spurs are not just scrapping by their wins. Each of their victories over Coventry, Chelsea, and now Crystal Palace have been quite convincing.

There are many reasons why things are working out better for Tottenham, but at the crux of it all is the player De Zerbi wanted Spurs to sign the most and whom Spurs spent the most money to sign, defensive midfielder Sandro Tonali.

The regista from Serie A had honestly been out of the spotlight, for footballing reasons at least, at Newcastle United, and you could forgive someone for thinking that he was honestly underperforming since reaching the Premier League after being one of the main architects behind AC Milan's rise to the Scudetto.

As Sandro Tonali clicks, so does Tottenham

Now, he is one of the main architects of the revival of Tottenham Hotspur under Roberto De Zerbi. So much good emanates from Tonali at the heart of the Tottenham lineup. He is the one who finds the right passes, covers the spaces, and unselfishly covers and wins the ball. His best traits to start the season were his defending, and now he has become a bigger creative force and a table setter for the team, helping the wingers find the space to win their one on ones and his new midfield partner Mateus Fernandes to statistically dominate.

The whole system, though, does not work the same without Sandro Tonali. De Zerbi's buddy from Brescia is so adept at knowing exactly where to float and how to stop a counter before it develops while still being active enoguh to win possession that the defensive solidity he provides is both subtle and lasting.

And then offensively, Tonali is a great athlete who tames down his own athleticism in order to win the space battle, which is so important for a possession based team. Tonali is a player who ensures Spurs are never holding the ball just to possess it, but rather he is focused on quality progression - even if that means taking a back seat to the others. Tottenham's best play has a team is coming when Tonali is reaching his best level and familiarizing himself fully with the others, and that is no coincidence in the slightest.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi made a few controversial decisions in the summer transfer window, and one of them was the decision to sell Djed Spence for roughly 30 million pounds to Serie A champions Inter Milan, which is actually one of the best ever fees for a fullback. But despite the fact that Spence was a backup and never could establish himself as a starter for Spurs last season ahead of Destiny Udogie on the left, let alone Pedro Porro on the right, many Spurs fans were miffed at losing a character like Spence, especially after his heroics for third place finishers England at the 2026 World Cup.

On top of all that, Tottenham did not sign a backup right back to replace Spence, and they went into the 2026/27 Premier League season without an actual backup right back for Porro, knowing that the Spanish international was coming off a grueling World Cup campaign for champions Spain.

While Porro has been out for more games than he has started this season, Archie Gray has stepped in as the default right back, and after a rough adjustment period, he has become legitimately one of the top starting right backs in the Premier League this season.

Tottenham are better off without Djed Spence

And watching how Gray is playing on the right side in the De Zerbi system, it's clear that the Italian manager was, once again, right in his unpopular decision. Obviously, there is no replacing Pedro Porro, and he proved at the World Cup that he is one of the top three right backs on the planet right now, even outplaying PSG maven Achraf Hakimi on the grand stage this summer.

But between Archie Gray and Djed Spence, the former, with his ability to read the game, come up inside and pass as an additional midfielder, is a much better fit for what Roberto De Zerbi wants to do technically and tactically.

Spence is a better defender and scrappier than Gray, and he's also faster. But Gray is plenty fast, too, and a scrappy, solid defender in his own right, as the 2026/27 Premier League season has proven, especially as the England youth international had come into his own with familiarity with the right back position.

So far this season for Inter Milan, Spence has started just one game and been pretty lousy when he has played for the Nerazzurri. His defending has been very mediocre in Serie A, while his passing has been sloppy and his creativity non existent. Spence has been much worse than Gray in his own position, and because he does not fit De Zerbi tactically, the Italian coach's decision has been fully justified.

Tottenham Hotspur need to sign a new striker. As the shots come pouring in but the goals come trickling out with defenders outscoring forwards, Spurs are realizing that they may simply be a truly great No. 9 away from being Premier League title contenders - or they may only be a simply decent scoring striker away from that status.

Dominic Solanke was the only player on the pitch against Crystal Palace who did not have a good game, and that alone was enough for Spurs fans to come to a collective realization that he is not nearly good enough - of course, if they had not already felt that way before.

Omar Marmoush or even Dejan Kulusevski will be options at the No. 9 position in the coming months but when the January transfer window opens, Tottenham Hotspur will be looking for a striker. Eli Junior Kroupi of Bournemouth hit the ground running like he never left upon his injury return off the bench against Leeds United with a great all around game, but it is highly unlikely that the Cherries even entertain offers for a player they were not at all keen to sell this past summer either.

Serie A is worth looking into for Tottenham

So that leaves Tottenham in a tough spot, because they clearly need a new striker who can bring home the goals but there are no real options. Established strikers are hard to come by and not likely to move in the winter, so the two best options Spurs may have to gamble on before going after Kroupi hard next summer are two unproven, rising options out of Serie A.

Even without Fabio Paratici to carry on the pipe line of talent coming into N17 from Italy, Frosinone's 22 year old Italian sensation Antonio Raimondo and Monza's breakout 21 year old Portugese Gustavo Varela have been the two best scorers in Calcio and look legitimately promising.

Varela has an even 9 goals in 9 games with a key pass per game and 1.6 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game. He has been one of the deadliest scorers in European football with a much, much better all around game on paper than Dominic Solanke.

Meanwhile, Raimondo has 8 goals in 10 starts for his underdog side, and while he has no dribbles completed at all and not many key passes in the Solanke vein, he is still a big presence with 1.1 fouls drawn per game.

Between the two of them, Gustavo Varela is younger and better with more goals, better dribbling, and better chance creation, but both would be superior to Solanke. And while they are gambles like keeping Will Lankshear would have been, they are proving it in a top five league in European football and two of the rare options actually distinguishing themselves right now as both realistic and quality while being young enough to develop.

A third win on the bounce was capped off by a rather exhilarating Lucá Williams-Barnett cameo, with Tottenham's "diamond" requiring just a few minutes to showcase to a wider audience why there's such excitement surrounding the teenager's talent.

Williams-Barnett has made a mockery of youth football in recent years, and a strong pre-season suggested he was ready to at least be a part of Roberto De Zerbi's squad, despite the swathe of new additions.

The 18-year-old is an elegant but destructive playmaker who surely sees his future as a No. 10. De Zerbi thrust him out to the left late on against Crystal Palace, producing a dazzling dribbling sequence that should've earned him a first Premier League assist on debut.

Mohammed Kudus has hell to pay.

Anyway, the teenager's sparkling start at the highest level didn't go unnoticed. His Tottenham teammates flooded his Instagram comments, with Sandro Tonali writing "Talento" (no translation needed) and James Maddison reminding the kid that the "sky's the limit".

And it's not merely the Lilywhites who believe they have something special in their midst.

Steven Gerrard full of praise for Williams-Barnett after debut

It was a cameo that got the football world talking, and Steven Gerrard was particularly bullish in his praise of the Tottenham youngster.

Speaking on The Overlap Daily, the Liverpool and England legend said: “I loved one moment from the game. Williams-Barnett, a name I’ve heard mentioned to me through the England ranks a few times.

“But he came on for a little cameo, and if I’m a Tottenham fan, I’m going away buzzing with the result, and Spurs are obviously in this new place, but this young kid is going to be a player.

“I’ve seen enough in the 10-minute cameo. He came on around the 80th minute; he went on this little jinky run down the left and put a ball across like Declan Rice [assist vs. Liverpool on Sunday].

“I just thought, ‘They’ve got their own little Rio Ngumoha’. So look out for this boy, I really like him.”

High praise indeed.

It's hard not to be utterly insufferable regarding the talent at our disposal. Those who have tracked Williams-Barnett's development in recent years were hardly caught off guard by Saturday's showing. He boasts the confidence of a star and the swagger of a performer who knows he's just that little bit better than the rest.

We're allowed to get carried away, and if there's one thing holding this Tottenham team back, it's a lack of creativity when James Maddison isn't around. However, with the fearless and extraordinarily gifted Williams-Barnett, Spurs have unearthed a popular solution.

Omar Marmoush was not able to score or assist for Tottenham Hotspur in their otherwise dominant 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, but he was not the only midfielder or attacker who failed to make their mark on the final score line directly with both goals coming from headers by right back Archie Gray and star center back Jan Paul van Hecke.

But while many Tottenham fans were a bit underwhelmed by Marmoush even in the 10 role behind Dominic Solanke, there is no question that he was a superior player to Big Dom and has been the better player of the two when looking at their all around play.

With James Maddison presumably ready to resume being the starting No. 10 next weekend against underdogs Leeds United, Roberto De Zerbi will be back to choosing directly between Solanke and Marmoush for the starting striker job. And between the two of them, even if neither are really bringing the goals, Marmoush has earned himself a pretty clear advantage over the incumbent starter.

Omar Marmoush can at least destabilize the defense

Even though Solanke signed with Tottenham Hotspur for a whopping 65 million pounds from AFC Bournemouth after registering a career high 19 goals in the 2023/24 Premier League season, he came into Spurs with more of a reputation for being an all around striker rather than a top scorer.

But the thing is, Dominic Solanke isn't actually a good all around striker at all for Tottenham. He isn't creating chances, assisting goals, or beating his man. He does none of it, and he does none of it while still not scoring goals, which hurts everyone around him, including the wingers.

Omar Marmoush, on the other hand, at least creates and beats his man. Whereas Solanke had one key pass and no dribbles completed against Crystal Palace when Tottenham totally dominated the Eagles as a team with multiple players with at least three key passes, at least Marmoush came in guns blazing with three dribbles completed and three key passes.

On the season, Marmoush is averaging 0.9 key passes and 2.1 dribbles completed per game. Solanke is averaging 0.4 key passes and 0.2 dribbles completed per game. Marmoush is a great dribbling striker and a respectable passer. Solanke is one of the worst dribblers around and a below average passer. When the equation is boiled down there, at least Marmoush is making others better and doing what Solanke was supposedly signed by Daniel Levy to do for Spurs.

Luca Williams-Barnett became the latest Tottenham Hotspur academy graduate to make his Premier League debut in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace. The 18-year-old's introduction marked another milestone for the club's academy, which has produced a number of players to feature in the first team over recent years.

But what happens after that first taste of Premier League football? Famous examples include recent Ballon d'Or winner Harry Kane and former Spurs manager Ryan Mason, while others have never added to their sole Premier League appearance.

Here's a look at Tottenham's last 10 academy graduates to make their Premier League debuts, and where they are now.

The 18-year-old came off the bench to replace Mathys Tel in Saturday's win over Palace and almost provided a brilliant assist for Mohammed Kudus just minutes after coming on.

The attacking midfielder joined the club at Under-10 level and is arguably the hottest prospect in Tottenham's academy right now.

The defender came on as a stoppage-time substitute at Anfield and helped defend a late Liverpool counter-attack to ensure a 1-1 draw.

A versatile right-back, Rowswell is the current captain of the Under-21 side and has made eight appearances for them this season, recording one assist.

Also introduced at Anfield by Igor Tudor, Olusesi followed up appearances in the Europa League and Champions League with his Premier League debut last season.

He has been named on the bench twice for the senior team this season and has made two Premier League 2 appearances so far this campaign.

The 17-year-old defender made his Premier League debut in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City earlier this year, adding to his two Champions League appearances for the club.

Widely regarded as a talented defensive prospect in north London, Byfield has recently returned from injury and has made three Under-21 appearances so far this season.

Austin joined the club in 2007, aged eight, and had to wait until January 2025 to make his Premier League debut, when he started against Newcastle United after spending much of his time at Spurs as a third-choice goalkeeper.

The Englishman remains with the club and added two Europa League appearances to his Premier League outing during Tottenham's triumphant 2024/25 campaign.

Dorrington's only senior Spurs appearance came when he replaced Djed Spence in the 5-0 win at St Mary's, having joined the club at Under-13 level.

He has since made more than 40 senior appearances on loan with Salford City and Aberdeen, and remains part of Spurs' academy, making eight appearances in 2026/27.

The striker made his debut off the bench in the draw against Fulham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium nearly two years ago, one of six senior appearances for Spurs.

Lankshear enjoyed loan spells with West Bromwich Albion and Oxford United before joining Middlesbrough permanently in the summer. He has already scored 15 goals in 16 appearances for Boro this season, making him the Championship's top scorer.

Moore came off the bench against eventual 2023/24 champions Manchester City to become Spurs' youngest-ever Premier League player, aged just 16 years and 277 days.

He has since established himself around the first-team squad, making 24 appearances, while also featuring 47 times on loan at Rangers. He is currently with Bundesliga side 1. FC Koln, where he has recorded one assist in eight appearances.

The Northern Ireland international made his debut in the dramatic 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium in 2023 and has made four competitive senior appearances for Spurs to date.

Donley is currently on loan at Luton Town, where he has registered seven goal contributions in 11 games, following previous loan spells with Stoke City, Leyton Orient and Oxford United.

Abbott made his first-team debut in Tottenham's 4-1 victory over Leeds United on the final day of the 2022/23 season, alongside fellow debutant Matthew Craig.

The midfielder remains with the club and is currently on loan at Mansfield Town, following previous spells with Notts County and Wycombe Wanderers, where he amassed more than 60 EFL appearances.

Who Will Be Next?

The list features plenty of highly rated talents who have broken into the first-team set-up. Some have since moved on or enjoyed loan spells while remaining on the club's books, while others are still with the Under-21 side and will be hoping to impress Roberto De Zerbi this season.

Players such as Tye Hall, Malachai Hardy and Rio Kyerematen featured regularly during pre-season and could be the next to find themselves in a Premier League shirt in north London.

After Williams-Barnett's impressive cameo against Palace, Spurs fans will be hoping the club can uncover another young star capable of breaking into the first team and following in the footsteps of those who came before them.

Former Tottenham Hotspur striker prospect Will Lankshear had another brilliant game for Middlesborough over the weekend, scoring twice in his club's 3-0 EFL Championship drubbing of Charlton Athletic to now make it 13 goals in an even 13 league games.

While the Championship to the Premier League is a major step up and the regret Spurs have over selling Lankshear to Boro this summer may not change in the minds of fans who rightfully want a Premier League proven No. 9 to lead the Tottenham line in 2026/27, there is always the prospect that the 21 year old really makes Spurs regret the move even more in the future.

Because even if Spurs are not the ones to buy him back, someone in the Premier League will. And even if Lankshear isn't a Tottenham or Premier League level striker right now, at this rate of development and with the sheer quality he is showing in getting into scoring positions and finishing them off, it's not impossible for him to be at that level in a few years.

Will Lankshear could become a direct Tottenham opponent

Tottenham Hotspur have a right of first refusal for any sale of Lankshear as well as a sell on clause, but they do not have a clear buy back clause. Lankshear is free to go wherever he or Boro please, whether that is Spurs or otherwise.

With how well he is playing this season, someone in the Premier League is going to buy him next summer. It may not be Spurs and it certainly won't be another Big Six club, but it could very well be a team coming up from the Championship or a team in the middle of the league table looking to take a punt on a highly promising young English striker with a great scoring record.

And thus, WIll Lankshear could very easily become an opponent of Tottenham's in the second half of the 2026/27 season or in the 2027/28 Premier League campaign. If watching Lankshear score game after game on this never ending hot streak in the Championship while Dominic Solanke can't hit a barn door is painful enough, then it would be doubly painful to watch him score against Spurs and their rivals in the actual Premier League, especially if Tottenham cannot finally solve their own striker conundrum in the era after selling Harry Kane to Bayern Munich. And that's something for Johan Lange and Co. to chew on deeply.