Tottenham title hopes revived by Chelsea loss
By Ryan Wrenn
Tottenham received a renewed boost to their title chase on Sunday as Chelsea fell to a 2-0 loss against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The loss was a shock, and added to the misery stirred up just two weeks ago when the Blues succumbed to an even more troubling loss to Crystal Palace. With Tottenham sustaining their own winning streak, the gap to the top has narrowed to just four points.
Spurs fans found themselves strangely indebted to Jose Mourinho late on Sunday. The former Chelsea man led his current charges at United on a truly remarkable victory.
The key was containing Chelsea’s formidable attack while picking away for vulnerabilities on the other end. It was as masterful a result as Tottenham’s 2-0 win over the Blues in January.
That memorable result marked the first time that Spurs might have felt that their first title in over 50 years might be within reach. It snapped Chelsea’s record-equaling win streak and made Antonio Conte’s side looked thoroughly mortal.
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While Spurs have kept pace since then, the lead Chelsea earned through November and December appeared insurmountable. Mauricio Pochettino could perhaps be confident of a Champions League berth, but the title once again looked just beyond the edge of his team’s grasp.
The losses to Palace and United dramatically change all that however. With six matches left to play and only four points to make up for, Tottenham are suddenly dark horse candidates to win it all.
It won’t be easy. Though the two teams don’t play each other in the league between now and May 21st, their schedules look fairly different.
Chelsea will face three teams currently in the top half of the Premier League, with Everton looking like perhaps their biggest hurdle to overcome.
Tottenham, in contrast, face four teams in the league’s bottom half — the remaining two matches coming against Arsenal and Manchester United however.
Those represent objectively trickier tests than anything Chelsea have left on their schedule. Tottenham need to hope that they can sustain their remarkable run of good form while also praying that Chelsea drop points against relatively easy opponents.
It’s worth noting that both of those matches against Arsenal and United do come at White Hart Lane. With Tottenham unbeaten there all season, it isn’t crazy to think that they can keep that trend going even against such opposition.
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Regardless if those wins come — or if Chelsea’s bad luck continues — the fact that a route to the title can so clearly be laid out is remarkable. Pochettino is presiding over a sea of change at Tottenham, one that is seeing an also-ran team slowly grow into perennial title contenders. Maybe it doesn’t happen this year, but there is hardly anyone doubting that it will come eventually.