Tottenham’s Next Three Games Will Be Critical
Tottenham Hotspur have an opportunity to climb higher up the table in their next three games. So long as they continue to win that is.
If Mauricio Pochettino and his squad live by the mantra of “the next game is the most important game” then surely all three upcoming fixtures are important. It’s critical to get three points when you look at how the league table is shaping up for fourth place heading into the Christmas period and then the New Year.
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A loss to either Norwich City, Watford, or Everton — heck even a draw — might be enough to jeopardize Tottenham’s chances of getting through a difficult part of the season with three teams trailing them for the final Champions League spot.
Manchester United and Crystal Palace trail Tottenham on goal difference while a single point separates Watford from all three teams. Now this is just the Premier League only. When you include the FA Cup in January as well as the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League then things get even tougher and more hectic for all the clubs taking part in European football.
Take a look at the race for fourth place below to get a good idea at what’s at stake.
Battling for Fourth Place in the Premier League:
4. Tottenham Hotspur | 17 GP | 7W-8D-2L | +14 GD | 29 points
5. Manchester United | 17 GP | 8W-5D-4L | +8 GD | 29 points
6. Crystal Palace | 17 GP | 9W-2D-6L | +7 GD | 29 points
7. Watford | 17 GP | 8W-4D-5L | +5 GD | 28 points
Interestingly enough, Man United, Palace and Watford all have more wins than Tottenham. Which says a lot about Spurs’ missed opportunities early in the year to put away some games to pull further ahead and sit around second or third heading into the Christmas period which would have been nice.
But whatever, that’s been talked about too many times; the fact that Tottenham have drawn too much. What Pochettino has to focus on now, is how they’ll match up against Norwich City first, then Watford and Everton last.
Each opponent will be a challenge that’s for sure.
For Norwich, they will feel confident that they could head to White Hart Lane and produce another upset that Newcastle United did after they beat Liverpool before their game against Spurs. With the Canaries coming off of a big win over Manchester United, this game cannot escape from Tottenham’s hands and Mauricio Pochettino will most likely warn his players ahead of time.
Against Watford, they’re flying high at the moment. The Hornets have won their last four games and their last win was their biggest win of the season so far, a 3-0 victory over Liverpool. While Watford have to play against Chelsea before taking on Spurs, if they do good against the Blues especially if they win, it will give Watford even more confidence to stand toe-to-toe with Tottenham.
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Lastly, Everton is no slouch with Roberto Martínez as manager. And you can’t forget about Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku who has been on a scoring tear lately. Although Everton had their eight-game unbeaten streak snapped by Leicester City, they’ll still pose a problem and can’t be taken lightly.
Looking back at these teams it seems like Tottenham has their work cut out for them doesn’t it?
Well according to James Kilpatrick of Sky Sports he conducted some research into which teams have the toughest Christmas schedule in their next three fixtures. For Tottenham, they came out with the 13th toughest schedule out of all 20 Premier League clubs. So, middle of the table. But it’s not going to be easy of course.
Here’s how Kilpatrick came up with this data and offering a quick thought on what he thinks of Spurs’ chances in their next three games.
"Norwich City, December 26 (Home): 16thWatford, December 28 (Away): 7thEverton, January 3 (Away): 10thAverage opponent position: 11Tottenham currently sit in fourth place but Manchester United and Crystal Palace are breathing down their necks with just goal difference separating the three clubs. Spurs’ second game of the Christmas period is against Watford, who are just one point behind. It will make for interesting viewing to see if Tottenham’s young side can thrive under the pressure."
Pressure is something that Tottenham have been battling this entire season because the goal has always been to make it into the top-four. But this kind of pressure, to keep a hold of their current position is different.
It’s one thing to be the hunter when you’re trying to take something that you want. But when you’re the hunted, defending what’s yours is harder to do.
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The last time Tottenham’s young squad was dealt with immense pressure. Was when they had to go against a veteran and experienced Chelsea team when they battled it out for the Capital One Cup on March 1, 2015. Last March, Spurs weren’t that young like they are now. But they were still ill-equipped to handle that amount of pressure of playing in a huge cup game at Wembley Stadium.
Heading into Boxing Day and then the New Year, the pressure will rev up again to see if Tottenham can maintain fourth place until the end of the season and bring Champions League football back to White Hart Lane after a five-year absence. No pressure right?