5 reasons why Tottenham Hotspur are out of the title race 

#1 No squad depth

Not much to offer

It is very rare to come across title-winning teams, who are also involved in the UEFA Champions Leauge to not have a squad deep enough to cover for a range of contingencies. What Pochettino has achieved on a relatively meagre wage bill as compared to arch-rivals Arsenal and the two Manchester clubs over the past two seasons has been remarkable.

However, there is no escaping the fact that the Spurs squad is simply not deep enough to go all the way in the league. The lack of bench strength is quite visible and has affected the team on many occasions.

The central midfield resources are a bit bare and the injuries this season (as documented above) have further exposed this. Pochettino cannot call upon anyone else other than the below par record signing Sissoko, defensive midfielder Eric Dier or youngster Harry Winks to shore up the midfield.

The creativity is often missing and when he has to change a game or try something new, he simply does not have much of an option. As a result, the team has often been played off the park in the midfield battle against the best teams.

Due to the absence of attacking quality on the bench and the injury to Lamela, Eriksen has had to play each and every game in the league. Vincent Janssen's addition to the squad last year as Kane's back up proved to be disastrous, so Pochettino moved him on and bought Fernando Llorente this season.

However, that has not provided the team with the alternative edge that he might have been looking for. Overall, the Spurs squad needs a reorganisation and addition of more quality. All their competitors took care of this aspect and are sitting pretty. Spurs, however, stood still and hence find themselves out of the title race 18 games into the league season.