Why Tottenham Hotspur are not yet Premier League title contenders
By Aaron Coe
Reason 2: The Spurs schedule is about to pick up
Although Tottenham did have two Europa Conference League matches during the first month of the season, the real grind is when you start to do that same routine again and again. Add in a third front in terms of the Wolves and the Carabao Cup and suddenly there are a lot of matches.
Tottenham returns to action with the afternoon match on 11 September at Crystal Palace in the first of seven games over 22 days. That Palace game also happens to be the first of three straight London derbies in the league with Chelsea and Arsenal after Palace.
Between the first derby, the Spurs will travel to France to start their Conference League campaign. Then the League Cup after Chelsea, followed by a home match against Mura in the Conference League following Arsenal.
That string of matches ends with Aston Villa coming to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the October international break. Given Spurs may be without Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero for possibly the first three or even four of those matches, a relatively thin squad will be even thinner.
Different things make all the matches important for Tottenham
Other than themselves, Rennes is the best team in their group so getting points on the road against their likely biggest challengers for winning the group is important. Just like all those derbies are important. The bottom line is, absent more transfers coming in, this team is not that deep, and navigating the schedule as it picks up pace is going to get difficult.
If Tottenham is in this same position, top of the table, at the next break after Aston Villa, then maybe this conversation is different. However, even then it is just too early to think about the title.