Tottenham Hotspur
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For the past few seasons, Tottenham have teetered on the cusp of greatness. They weren’t quite able to reach the upper echelons of English football in terms of talent and popularity but offered a large gulf in quality between themselves and the teams below.
The label of ‘nearly men’ surely spurred them on to achieve greatness and it is most assuredly redundant in the current climate. This team consists of a group of incredibly talented individuals with a strong English core and an envious sense of squad unity that when clicks, makes them appear seemingly unbeatable.
During the beginning of this season and the last, Tottenham often suffered from draws that should certainly have been winnable. October of 2016 alone saw them draw three of their Premier League games against an out-of-sorts Leicester City, a sturdy yet beatable West Brom and an overachieving Bournemouth side.
Once they are able to overcome their early season jitters, Tottenham are now trying to be counted amongst the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City as favourites for the coveted trophy.
Tottenham’s run-in is certainly favourable. Only two teams lie within the top half of the table with Manchester United being the stand-out game since Tottenham lost at Old Trafford earlier in the season.
Yet the feeling is that when they once more face the Manchester giants, they will find themselves as favourites. They are now showing a level of consistency as they so often do at this stage of the season for winning games comfortably, regardless of the opposition.
Their style of play is one of high-energy and aggression as they refuse to give their opponents a moment’s rest.
Like Liverpool at their free-flowing best, they can seemingly score goals for fun as Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen tear through defences with ruthless intelligence. This coupled with one of the meanest defences in the division is certainly a very real threat to any of their directed rivals.
Tottenham currently hold thirteen clean sheets and Hugo Lloris has only allowed a league best of twenty-one goals slip by him so far this season. This coupled with the fact they currently possess a second best in the league goal difference of thirty-six shows us that this is not a team of many weaknesses.
Though no team is without their flaws and a noticeable one in Tottenham is their tendency to falter at the beginning of the season as previously mentioned, and the home-stretch.
Not many teams can come third in a two-horse race like Tottenham found themselves doing last year as Arsenal were able to steal a march on their position. This is something that they will have to mentally prepare for as the race for a top-four position becomes tighter year upon year.
There is also something to be said in regards to a lack in squad depth and no strong sense of an iron-clad mentality for success. Their strongest eleven looks like a harrowing task for any opponent, yet if problems arise for Tottenham and they have to turn to their bench, it does not exactly inspire confidence compared to that of their rivals.
This is a situation that will test the mettle of the men on the pitch. They must show that if things are not going their way and they have nobody to turn to, they can turn things in their favour themselves.
Tottenham will no doubt strengthen themselves in the summer window and as the players become more experienced, so will their ability to fight for everything from the first game to the last. As it currently stands though, they are at their very least, looking towards a top-four finish and a chance of winning the FA Cup.
Chances of a top four finish - 9/10
