Can Tottenham Secure A Top Four Finish?
When it comes to Tottenham you certainly cannot accuse them of being dull this season can you, if it’s not the lack of signings, then it is the issue with the stadium and if it’s not the stadium, then it’s their star striker picking up another ankle injury.
Whichever way you turn Tottenham are making headlines, headlines that usually involve whether or not Mauricio Pochettino will stay at the club past the end of the season and this decision will undoubtedly be based on whether the club qualify for the next edition of the Champions League.
Something that, although at the time of writing they find themselves sitting third in the table and with a healthy nine-point gap over Manchester United in fifth, you do still wonder if this threadbare squad will have enough to get over the line come the end of the campaign.
The club have been pushed to their absolute limit as of late, their last three league fixtures have seen them earn winning goals no earlier than the 80th minute and although it does perhaps display a never say die attitude, it does ask the question as to just how much they have left in the tank.
They may be in good recent form, but they still have to go to Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in the final third of the season and if you were a betting man you would not make the North London outfit as favourites in which to come out on top in any of those three clashes.
While one should not forget that the battle for local supremacy with Arsenal will be reignited when the two sides meet again at the start of March. A look at the English Premier League predictions from Betfair, indicates that it has been honours even across their last five meetings in the competition.
Both clubs have picked up two wins from the last five league clashes, while the Gunners have undoubtedly had the bragging rights for the past couple of months after their impressive 4-2 win at the Emirates at the tail end of last year.
Many column inches have been written about Tottenham recently crashing out of two domestic cups in the space of a week and whether or not the wheels were about to fall off this particular wagon. However, this could also be marked as a sign of the club being victims of their own relative success.
Whether the domestic cup competitions truly are a priority in the eyes of the everyone connected with Tottenham can be argued. The fact that they are not having to fight on so many fronts is something that may well end up being a blessing in disguise.
With just the Premier League and Champions League left for Tottenham to attempt to win, it means that the apparent squad rotation that was witnessed in the F.A. Cup defeat against Crystal Palace is no longer necessary, what with their schedule now looking a lot lighter.
Those aforementioned changes were made with the Watford league clash in mind and to be fair the ends did eventually justify the means, as the club earned three points. Now they have to make sure that they keep grinding out further wins, as the race for a place in the top four intensifies further.