Tottenham Hotspur can cut the gap after Saturday results

One of the advantages or disadvantages – depending on one’s perspective – of the Thursday European games is Tottenham consistently plays on Sunday. This means Spurs already know the results for most of the teams before they have even taken the field. Often over the last few seasons, opportunities like this Sunday where Spurs can shrink the table and cut the gap to first place to single digits ended poorly.

Now, with Antonio Conte as the helm, can Tottenham Hotspur take advantage of some Saturday slip-ups and move up the table, and cut the deficit on the top spots Sunday against Everton?

Four out of five teams above Tottenham dropped points on Saturday

Saturday was a good day for fans that want a title race. City beat United 0-2 in the Manchester derby, while Chelsea drew 1-1 with Burnely. This left the Cityzens only three points out of first. More importantly from a Tottenham perspective, rather than being 13 points back of the top of the table, Spurs are only 11 back and can cut that lead to 8 with a win.

Besides Chelsea and United, both Brighton and Wolverhampton also dropped points. Brighton drew 1-1 against Newcastle while the Wolves lost 2-0 at Crystal Palace.  With those four dropping points, Spurs can jump them all and go as high as fifth with a win against Everton.

With teams above dropping points, earning three points against Everton guarantees Spurs will be no lower than sixth. With Arsenal yet to play and currently 2 points above Spurs in seventh, if both the Gunners and Spurs win, Arsenal would still be ahead of Tottenham.

It is not necessarily all sunshine and roses for Spurs, however. Palace’s win put them ahead of Tottenham in ninth in the table. The Eagles are unbeaten in their last six matches and have lost only once since trouncing Spurs 3-0. Further, even with a win, Spurs are likely going to be two matches out of the top four, so Tottenham has no more time to waste and must take advantage of the opportunity to shrink the table on Sunday.