Tottenham’s Title Hopes Takes a Huge Hit
Missed opportunities in both halves helped Tottenham let a slim 1-0 lead escape their grasps as West Brom take another point from Spurs once again this season.
There’s many things to consider following this 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion for the second time this season.
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The first thought of course, is that Tottenham’s title hopes have definitely taken a hit with Leicester City on the verge of clinching the trophy against Manchester United this Sunday. While Spurs must wait until Monday night once again when they travel to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea.
Other thoughts include the possible absence of Eric Dier due to injury and maybe Dele Alli being suspended because of a punch to Claudio Yacob’s stomach in the first half.
Should Dier suffer any head injury he might not play against Chelsea.
For Alli, if the FA decides to intervene in this situation with a replay that wasn’t shown on the live feed, Dele Alli could miss as many as three games for violent conduct that referee Mike Jones never saw.
For as bad as the situation is right now after dropping two points and quite possibly the Premier League title, this is a young Tottenham team that should and can continue to fight for silverware in future seasons.
This draw will no doubt take a while to get over — and it’s never easy when the game could have been won on numerous occasions throughout the 95 minutes — but there’s some positives to take from this draw.
One, the White Hart Lane faithful now expects Spurs to be a team on the rise. Two, when Tottenham are on their game, they came become very dangerous. And in only two years under Mauricio Pochettino’s guidance, there’s no reason why Tottenham can’t get even better.
Still, even with tonight’s draw, Tottenham are guaranteed to finish in the top four and secure Champions League football. Should they claim at least another win, they would automatically qualify for the group stage.
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Beating West Brom would have given Spurs a good chance to potentially win the Premier League title and be the cherry on top of a very good season in which Spurs have the league’s best offense and defense.
Then again, looking back at the matches where Tottenham had their opponents on the ropes and points were obviously dropped, the nail on the coffin prior to tonight’s draw was losing to West Ham United and Arsenal in back-to-back fixtures in March.
That was enough to give Leicester some breathing room in which they made Tottenham pay. Since then, Spurs did their best to catch up but now it seems they have finally gotten tired after a massive departure from their first half performance.
With three games remaining, the only thing to look forward to is still seeing if the Foxes will slip up — which is still improbable at this rate even after Jamie Vardy will miss the game against Manchester United.
And, securing automatic qualification into the Champions League’s group stage for next season with Manchester City trailing Spurs by just five points for second place. Arsenal sit at fourth and are also five points behind.
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Other than that, Spurs’ early season expectations had always been a top-four finish.
But with them reaching second and a shot at the Premier League title, a shift in expectations happened and while it’s understandable to be upset, Leicester have been the better team all-year long and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Not only that, but sooner or later, the amount of draws that Tottenham accumulated to begin the season came back to bite Spurs back in the end.