But he says his players have the quality to get the win they need to launch a successful survival push.
He will hope to get that win at home to Albion on Saturday.
De Zerbi and assistant Bruno saw their team lose 1-0 at Sunderland to remain in the bottom three.
Ironically. De Zerbi's first home game in charge of the Seagulls was against Tottenham.
It resulted in a 1-0 defeat as Albion went winless in their first five games under the Italian before beating Bruno’s Chelsea 4-1.
Spurs have been badly hit by injures this season and lost Cristian Romero this time.
De Zerbi said: “We have to see the next days. I hope for us it's not important a problem because he's a crucial player for us.
“A good guy, top player, big personality and we need him to finish the season and to achieve our goal.”
Asked whether he can guide Spurs to safety, De Zerbi said: “I am 46 years old. I have much more experience than the players and I’m positive, absolutely, because I know them as a guy and as players.
“For that I’m positive, not because we are Tottenham or because I have to do positive, no.
“They have quality enough to win one game. The target now, the closer target, is to win one game because if we win a game, we can see everything in a different way.”
He added: “First of all, the players of Tottenham are all good guys and they are suffering for this moment.
“They are not happy when we lose the game or they are not happy to see Tottenham at the bottom of the table. But we have to find the energy, we have to find the right spirit to be positive.
“To think during the week when they stay with me, for sure, they will see a positive coach because I believe in their qualities, just for that.
“You can’t win the game on paper, you have to win the game showing the quality on the pitch, the fighting on the pitch, you have to score the goal and not to concede a goal, for sure.
“But they are human and they are suffering maybe too much. Altogether, we have to stay close to be positive to improve in the detail, the football, but to be better as a mentality.”