Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Chelsea now find themselves 13 points clear of Tottenham at the top of the Premier League, I think it’s fair to say that even the most optimistic Spurs fans will have probably now conceded the fact that a first league title since 1961 is going to have to wait another season.
With Chelsea champions elect the focus now shifts to which three teams will fill the other Champions League places come the end of the season. As it stands there are five teams with very genuine hopes of a top four finish come May but as we know five into three simply does not go.
As the majority of that chasing pack do not play in league action this weekend it gives Tottenham the perfect opportunity to get those extra points on the board and make the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal left with playing catch up.
After Thursday’s draw with Gent in the Europa League which subsequently saw them knocked out of the competition, Mauricio Pochettino is going to require a response from his players to make sure their season is not in danger of slipping away from them.
That opportunity of a trophy has eluded them and not only the backdoor entry to the Champions League should it be required but is it top 4 or bust for the club this season? Not if you ask the fans with many feeling it would arguably be beneficial to deliver an F.A. Cup win at the end of the campaign.
With the club not winning the F.A. Cup since 1991 and a trophy of any guise since 2008, the clamour is growing for silverware to be delivered. Not only do fans obviously want something tangible to celebrate but for this squad to really kick on they need to get into the habit of winning trophies.
Whether you feel Champions League football is the be all and end all can be argued but how many great memories can a fan have from finishing 4th after a long hard season. Talking of memories Tottenham will have been doing their best to forget their last league outing.
That is because it was a woeful performance at Anfield which saw Sadio Mane run Ben Davies ragged on the way to a 2-0 win. Had it not been for a combination of Mane spurning chances and Hugo Lloris making countless saves the scoreline could have been even less pretty.
A defeat that once again had many questioning as to why Tottenham continually fail on the road especially against other clubs in the top 6. Thankfully though it is not the same story at home with the club still yet to be defeated at White Hart Lane this season.
It’s the fact that they have turned White Hart Lane into a fortress which has covered up the cracks on the road and they are going to once again need that fortress mentality later this Afternoon when they play host to Mark Hughes’s Stoke side.
Stoke have once again found themselves in the top half of the table and a win today would see them leapfrog West Ham and move back into 9th. After a slow start to the season in which they were defending goals by the bucket load they have found their stride at this stage of the campaign.
The last two seasons have bought around 9th place finishes for Stoke and you would imagine that another top half finish would be deemed a success for Mark Hughes’ men especially after aforementioned start to proceedings when it seemed as if 4-0 to the opposition was a weekly occurence.
And it was 4-0 that Tottenham ran out winners when these two sides met at the Bet365 Stadium back in September, a scoreline which was a repeat of their of their win at the same stadium back in April 2016. Stoke will be very much glad that this game is being played in North London.
Stoke’s last action before the F.A. Cup hiatus was a narrow win over Crystal Palace with Joe Allen on hand to bag the winner with a well taken second half winner. That victory continued an impressive run of form as they have only lost once in their last six league matches.
But with Tottenham looking to bounce back from Europa League disappointment on Thursday you get the feeling that Stoke’s momentum might just be halted in a few hours time. Failure to win for the home side and questions will once again be asked as a week to forget comes to a close. I think Spurs should have enough to edge this. Should
