Tottenham Might be Down to Ninth by Next Premier League Game
By Aaron Coe
After being in first place just six days ago, Tottenham Hotspur could be sitting in as low as ninth place when they next take the field for a Premier League match.
Tottenham Hotspur have lost all of their momentum over the last week and six points in the process. As a result, Spurs could conceivably be as low as ninth place in the table by the time they next take the field in the Premier League next Sunday at Wolverhampton. How is this possible?
Games in Hand
Teams with games in hand can play a factor in figuring out the table at times. Currently Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Burnley all have games in hand. Believe it or not Manchester United – who seemed to be going through their own crisis just a month ago – is already above Tottenham by a point with a game in hand.
Manchester City and Aston Villa will both play again before Spurs play and City could be ahead of Spurs by a point by Sunday afternoon. As for Villa, they could be ahead of Spurs on goal difference by then with a second game still in hand, as they have only played 12, but sit only 3 points behind Spurs on the same +11 goal difference.
Essentially, every team with a game in hand is really in theory ahead of Spurs, except for Burnley – who have their own issues to deal with. With all these teams sitting around Tottenham with a game in hand, the idea that Spurs are currently 5th is just an illusion.
Whole Bunch of Teams
Not only are there the two teams in theory above Spurs right now with the games in hand – City and Villa – two more teams Chelsea and Southampton can both pass Tottenham before Sunday as well. Both teams are playing bottom half clubs as Southampton take on Fulham and Chelsea travel across town to Arsenal.
To say that both teams have a legitimate chance of winning their respective games is an understatement. Factor in that Chelsea has yet to play their matchday 14 game and they could be ahead of Spurs before Christmas even comes.
Currently there are eight different teams within 3 points – one game – of Tottenham from Leicester City in 2nd on 27 points through to Villa in 9th on 22. Tottenham are smack in the middle with 25. While Liverpool may have a chance to pull away the battle for the rest of the top four is clearly going to have several teams in it and for Spurs to stay in that race they must win. As we are finding out, the drop from a loss or two can be steep.