Tottenham face acid test of Premier League title credentials at Chelsea
Unbeaten in the Premier League so far this term, Spurs travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday aiming to claim three points away to Chelsea for the first time since February 1990.
Last season's trip to west London, when Tottenham's title hopes died on May 2 last season as they surrendered a two-goal first-half lead to draw 2-2, offers a glimpse into the psychological battle that Pochettino's team must overcome this weekend before they can even focus on beating Chelsea on the pitch.
But the trip to Chelsea is only the first staging post of three games -- assuming they make easy work of bottom club Swansea at White Hart Lane on Dec. 3 -- which culminate in the Dec. 11 encounter with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Four days prior to the clash with Jose Mourinho's team, Spurs must negotiate a Champions League game which now means nothing against CSKA Moscow at Wembley, fully aware that the only result which works in their favour against the Russians would be a defeat that would ensure they avoid having to honour Europa League commitments in the second half of the season.
Win or draw, and Spurs must then prepare for the unwanted burden of Thursday night football, just as their pursuit of the Premier League title will be entering its most crucial phase.
Europe has become a major problem for Spurs in the wake of their Champions League elimination at the hands of Monaco in midweek.
Juggling Premier League and Champions League commitments has, predictably, drained Tottenham's resources and perhaps played a central factor in their inability to turn any of their six league draws into victories.
Despite remaining unbeaten, six draws from 12 games is why Spurs go into their clash with Chelsea lying outside the top four. They are already having to play catch-up, so the distraction of the Europa League is hardly going to help in that regard. But it is likely going to be a problem they are simply going to have to deal with.
Yet how they fare against Chelsea and United will tell us how Spurs are likely to proceed for the remainder of the season, with or without the Europa League. Quite simply, it is time for Tottenham and Pochettino to live up to the hype and deliver when it matters.
Any failure to do so will leave them as also-rans in the title race and set up a potentially destructive summer in 2017, with a clutch of young players such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier who may wonder whether their ambitions can be satisfied at a club unable, or unwilling, to pay the same astronomical wages as domestic rivals -- particularly Manchester City and Manchester United, who stand alone in their ability to outspend the rest.
If they come through the trips to Chelsea and United with six points, Spurs will find themselves justifiably billed as title contenders, but do they have it in them to win at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford?
The answer is yes, of course. On their day, as Spurs displayed when defeating Man City 2-0 at White Hart Lane in early October, they produce arguably the most effective football in the Premier League.
On that day, Spurs out pressed, out ran and out-scored a previously unbeaten City, but they have won just once in nine games in all competitions since then -- a dramatic injury-time win against West Ham -- and have proved unable to build on a result that had many billing the club as title favourites.
Injury-enforced absences suffered by the likes of Kane and Toby Alderweireld have not helped, but Tottenham's loss of form without two of their key players points to a lack of depth in Pochettino's squad, with struggling Dutch forward Vincent Janssen exposing a failure to recruit properly over the summer.
The game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is now an acid test of their credentials.
The negative history there is one thing, but Antonio Conte's team are beginning to blow teams away at Stamford Bridge -- they have hit 12 without reply in their last three home outings, against Leicester, United and Everton -- and will be confident of doing the same against a Spurs stide still licking their wounds from the Champions League humiliation in midweek.
Failure at Chelsea will cast Tottenham adrift in the title race and leave them fighting a battle to finish in the top four, which is why the trip to United would then become so important.
Currently lying fifth, Spurs are just one place, and five points, above Mourinho's spluttering United.
Win at Old Trafford and Spurs would pull clear of United, consigning them and Mourinho into a five-month slog for an unwanted Europa League spot. But lose and they would energise a powerful rival -- one which would also dearly love to prise Kane away from White Hart Lane -- and leave growing question marks over the prospects of Pochettino's squad realising their potential at the club.
It just needs a couple of victories at Chelsea and United to banish the storm clouds currently gathering over White Hart Lane; the next few games will be crucial.
source by http://www.espn.in/football/
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