League Wrap Up: Tottenham Jump to Second
By Ryan Wrenn
For the first time in the history of their time in the Premier League, Tottenham occupy second place with thirteen matches left to play.
What’s more, the five points that separate them from top-of-the-table Leicester City is less than the seven points that separate them from fifth placed Manchester United. Arsenal and Manchester City are both breathing down Tottenham’s neck with only goal difference and a single point distinguishing them respectively. Even still, the air around Tottenham has only thickened with title talk, and it seems more and more that the absolute minimum qualification this term is Champions League qualification.
How Tottenham got to such historic heights is as much about their own win over Watford as it is about the results of the teams around them.
It took until Kieran Trippier’s goal in the 63 minute for Tottenham to break through a stubborn Watford defense, but a win felt like an inevitability from the opening stages of the match. Watford couldn’t get out of their own half and one of Tottenham’s many shots on goal was bound to break through.
The team might have felt a bit of pressure to get that goal though based on what had happened earlier in the day, and what was due to happen the next day.
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Leicester City visited Manchester City for Saturday’s early match and left the Etihad with all three points. In many ways it was a win that should serve as a template for Tottenham’s trip there this coming Sunday. As they have all season, Claudio Ranieri’s side mixed a reliance on quick transitions forward – usually in the form of long balls – and set pieces to keep City on their heals for the duration of the match. The 3-1 scoreline doesn’t quite do justice to how well that worked out for Leicester.
For Tottenham it worked out even better. It meant that a win against Watford would propel them above City and thus secure second for the weekend. Even Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Bournemouth couldn’t knock Tottenham off their perch due to Spurs’ vastly superior goal difference.
How easy will it be to maintain second? As it happens, the best answer we can get to that query is probably this upcoming weekend’s set of matches.
Improbably, all of the Premier League’s top four teams are playing against one another on Sunday. Arsenal host Leicester City in the day’s early game, meaning that Tottenham will yet again know just what a win against City will earn them.
If the reverse fixture of these games in the first half of the season is any indication of what we can expect here, then Tottenham might have good reason to be optimistic coming into this weekend. Arsenal were the only team to convincingly beat Leicester all season when they met on the same day Tottenham hosted City last September. They left King Power Stadium with a 5-2 win under their belts. Tottenham, of course, earned their own domineering victory that day by making a stunning comeback against City in a 4-1 win.
If both teams can muster performances even half as good as those, then Tottenham might be able to hold their grip on second while also narrowing the distance between themselves and Leicester to a mere two points.
Past meetings aren’t always the best gauge to go by though. The stakes are significantly higher for these matches, with each team needing any advantage at all, however small they might be. There’s still a lot of football left to play, but matchdays like the next are absolutely pivotal.