Tottenham Hotspur Performance at the Season’s Midpoint

Spurs in the Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur have had an up-and-down season in the Premier League. After falling flat on their faces in the opener against Everton, Spurs went on an 11 match unbeaten run. On the surface, it was excellent, but in reality, it was nearly an 11 match winning streak.

A phantom handball – which would certainly not be called today – cost Spurs two points against Newcastle. A complete meltdown and a miraculous rocket from distance handed West Ham a point, and then a late goal from Palace again gave away two points. While the 0-0 draw with Chelsea was a legitimate tie, the other three should have been wins and those six points dropped could really cost Tottenham.

During that run, Spurs became one of the only teams to win four straight matches this season. However, that draw with Palace led to a run of four matches where Spurs only took two points total, with back-to-back losses to Leicester City and Liverpool, followed by draws against Wolves and Fulham. In three of those four matches it was again late goals that punched Tottenham.

Lousy stretch spoiled good Spurs work

First, Liverpool scored in extra time to take all three points in a huge turn. Then Wolves scored after 80 minutes for the draw and Fulham scored with less than twenty minutes to play. The Leicester city match was the only one where Tottenham had not dropped points from a winning position. The total is now technically 11 if you include the draw with Liverpool.

Despite these 11 dropped points, the Lilywhites are somehow still in the race not only for the top four, but the title. Sure seven points is a long way to go, but they do have a game in hand. In fact the current leaders are a perfect example. Manchester United was 7 points back of then first-place Tottenham with a game in hand after matchday nine. Now just 10 matches later, Spurs find themselves 7 points behind the then 13th place Manchester United.

The point is anything can happen this season as consistency is difficult to achieve given the uncertainty surrounding so much. Spurs still have the second best goal differential, on the second fewest goals allowed, while scoring the 5th most.

We have seen Tottenham beat Manchester City 0-2 in a Mourinho masterclass and have seen them run rampant on Southampton in a 2-6 thrashing. Tottenham can throw in two abject losses – Everton and Leicester City – and then six matches they should have done much more with. The point is, Tottenham can beat anyone and anyone can beat them. If Spurs go into each game to win, they do have a chance, which is about all a team can ask for heading into the second half.