Football365

A Tottenham insider has shared an update on Ange Postecoglou’s future after Spurs lost 4-3 at home to Chelsea on Sunday evening.

Postecoglou’s side threw away a two-goal lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over the weekend with Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski putting Spurs in a commanding lead after just 11 minutes.

Jadon Sancho got Chelsea back into it six minutes later with a long-range strike before Cole Palmer converted two penalties and Enzo Fernandez also got on the scoresheet as the game tipped into the Blues’ favour.

Tottenham did get one back to make it 4-3 through Son Heung-min but it was too little too late for Spurs as they failed to win for the sixth time in seven matches in all competitions.

Pressure has been piling up on Postecoglou for a few weeks with Tottenham dropping to 11th in the Premier League table after getting 20 points from their opening 15 matches of the season.

Tottenham and Brentford are the second highest scorers in the Premier League behind Chelsea with Postecoglou’s side entertaining to watch for a neutral – but it is their lack of positive results that is starting to frustrate fans.

Postecoglou was seen as a breath of fresh air when he replaced Antonio Conte in 2023 but the Australian is now starting to lose the support of a lot of supporters.

And now Tottenham insider Paul O Keefe admits that Postecoglou’s job will be “very precarious” if they lose to Rangers and Southampton.

When put to him on X that Postecoglou could be sacked immediately, O’Keefe replied: “Not sure about that but defeat at Rangers and Southampton then it’s very precarious”

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

👉 16 Conclusions on Spurs 3-4 Chelsea: Postecoglou sack, Sancho, Bissouma, Cucurella and the title

👉 Mailbox: Spurs are mid-table side only good for ‘belly laughs’ and fun

👉 Man Utd trio join ‘braindead’ Tottenham Hotspur star, Chelsea defender in Premier League worst XI

Jamie Redknapp doubts sacking Postecoglou would be the right decision for the club after going from through Antonio Conte, Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo in recent years.

Redknapp told Sky Sports: “They have to win a trophy – that’s the stick they are beaten with. If they win a trophy this year it will give them confidence and belief that they can get top four.

“They need to change the history of this club. For too long they’ve had an attitude of not being successful and letting people down. Whereas if they win a trophy it will give Ange a bit of breathing space.

“They’ve got Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, they can win that. If you look at the winners of that trophy recently it’s either been Man City, Man Utd or Liverpool. Winning that is more important than finishing top four.

“The owners may disagree, but it would be great for the fanbase and the players.”

Redknapp added: “For a Tottenham fan, they had [Antonio] Conte, who was pragmatic; they had [Jose] Mourinho – didn’t work; they had Nuno [Espirito Santo] – didn’t work here.

“Now you’ve got to the complete opposite [end of the] scale and for Tottenham fans for 10, 15 games last season, they thought, ‘This is it, we’ve found it. This guy is going make us play beautiful football, expansive, we’re going to win’.

“You’ve gone from one extreme to the other and it feels like we’ve said the same thing for the last 10 years of coming to watch Tottenham.

“I just don’t know really which way they’re going to go next because if you sack him, then where else do you go?”

Spurs are not a Big Six club; they are a mid-table mess. Plus, we were all wrong on Chelsea and Arsenal have issues.

Send your mails to theeditor@football365.com

Mate

After 15 minutes I cursed myself that I’d sold my regular home tickets as I feared the worst. I knew they wouldn’t let me down.

Jon (Spurs), Lincoln

Spursy in 90 minutes

I for one am a big fan of Spurs deciding that Spursiness over a few games is no longer good enough and that doing it over 90 mins is much more fun. Hurrah! Well done lads.

Toby “WAGMI out” Hudson

…I feel so sorry for Spurs fans. That club is truly heartbreaking.

Really think the fans should get behind big Ange rather than abuse him. Spurs are just returning to their norm. It wasn’t that long ago when we all had to trudge through the Mourinho/Conte/Nuno period. Their collective football lacked any attacking fun.

This season rocks by the way! I have even started to collect the tabloid pullouts on a Monday, for the first time in over a decade.

Michael, FFC, Dungarvan (adoring this Marco Silva era)

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

👉 16 Conclusions on Spurs 3-4 Chelsea: Postecoglou sack, Sancho, Bissouma, Cucurella and the title

👉 Postecoglou jumps to second in Premier League sack race as Lopetegui leads the way

👉 Tottenham ‘line up’ PL boss as ‘first-choice’ Ange Postecoglou replacement with sack stance revealed

Spare us the Spursy schtick please

I am no fan of Chelsea, even slightly. But they have dominated this game from start to finish. This isn’t a game where Spurs have “surrendered a 2-0 lead” or “snatched defeat from the jaws of victory”. The only mystery is how they were ever up in the first place (hello Mr Cucarella). So this is a routine win by an in-form well coached team against an inconsistent expensively put together mid table (yes Dave, not top 6, mid table) side punching above their weight for 8 minutes.

So please, ask Dave Tickner to spare us, for one week, the exhausting schtick about how wacky and crazy this Spurs team is, how whimsical and kooky and just plain fun and Spursy the whole thing is. Just stop. It’s all an excuse to produce pages and pages on a mid table flawed side. In addition, if Mr Tickner must do Winners and Losers (please no), for goodness sake can we not have 6 or 7 of the 20 entries (for the whole division) be about Spurs? Only 1/20th of the fans care.

Mike (years since last trophy – 1) WHU

(oh, Chelsea just got a fourth)

…Dear Sky, the media in general and the supporters of Totteringham Hotpots,

Can you please stop classifying them as a big six club. They’re not. They are, and will always be a mid table team doing nothing of significance other than providing everyone with a belly laugh every other weekend. It is really really funny.

Thanks in advance.

Iain, Worcestershire

The Tottenham Problem

Here’s a stat for you:

Since Tottenham last picked up a trophy, there have been 45 domestic elite trophies – only 5 of them have been won by teams that are not called Manchester’s United and City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.

All five of those teams are historically, and financially, bigger than Tottenham

The teams that have won trophies in that time are:

Leicester (two), Birmingham City, Swansea, Wigan

Tottenham are uniquely placed to be expected to dine at the top table, yet built to attend a less exclusive party. They have, in an already luck based system, only really had 4 opportunities in 45, to be better than the ultimate winner (not that that’s how trophies work).

No incoming manager’s target should be “winning trophies” at Spurs, it should be “entertain and qualify” and as yet, they are far from missing out on Europe. So for now, Spurs being a bloody fun team to watch, coupled with an acceptance of their injury list, (lord knows, many gave Eddie Howe credit for his year last year) should mean at the very least he gets the season.

Haroldo Ernesto Hoolero

P.S: Liverpool having arguably the best bye-week in the history of the sport this weekend feels very deliberately designed to prove my comments last week wrong.

The boots!

If Cucurella’s boots were the problem, why would you:

– choose them on an obviously slick pitch;

– not have a wee run around in the warmup to see if they work;

– wait until you’re on you arse twice before asking for a replacement?

Aidan, Lfc (those boots were made for walking…)

Chelsea = dark blue horses

Waiting for that massive come down from F365 and the rest of the British media after slagging off Boehly and co. for the past two years. Maybe, just maybe, a billionaire does in fact know how to run a business better than a bunch of pencil pushers.

Sanjit (he’s playing 4D chess, you’re all playing jingoistic checkers) Randhawa, Kuala Lumpur

So wrong on Maresca

I was published in the mailbox over the summer, on the topic of managerial appointments. It included the following comments:

“I find Maresca to Chelsea utterly bizarre”

“hardly screams ‘next Chelsea manager’ and there must be genuinely hundreds of managers around Europe who have more impressive CV”

“Rob Edwards getting Luton promoted and giving the Premier League a good fight, is a lot more impressive than winning the Championship with Leicester.”

“it’s just about getting a ‘yes man’ in through the door. Someone who won’t rock the boat.”

“I can’t see this one working at all.”

So my question to the mailbox is what is your worst ever football take/prediction and is it worse than mine?

Mike, LFC, Dubai

Is Odegaard symbolic of Arsenal mess?

Following Arsenal’s disappointing showing at Fulham yesterday, something struck me as symbolic of the stresses and strains the team is going through under Arteta. Martin Odegaard looked emaciated.

I post infrequently to Football365, but each time it has been due to reservations I have regarding Arteta’s management style. At a certain point, a weird combination of intensity and galaxy brained idiocy take serious tolls on the squad. When set up well and in the right mental spirit Arsenal can be world beaters. When subjected to Arteta’s foibles which include playing individuals out of position, a lack of rotation and slow, turgid based possession to nowhere tactics, they can look woeful.

This is now the third year where poor performances have dogged one half of the season or another.

Which leads me back to Martin Odegaard. Obviously during his absence of many weeks, he was sorely missed. Supporters were assured he was working hard to overcome his injury and upon his return, were thrilled to witness he immediately regained his form. But at what cost?

When Odegaard returned from injury he looked gaunt, as though he had really pushed himself to return to the team. It was apparent he was flagging in games after the sixty minute mark. However, as per usual, Arteta has played him in every game and only subbed him late. With Ethan Nwaneri, a future premier league star and Odegaard’s understudy on the bench, this is a ludicrous example of Arteta’s unsparing approach.

The team looked sapped of enthusiasm yesterday with Odegaard himself under par. He gave a brief interview after the game and he looked totally drained. His cheeks were drawn, his skin pallid and frankly he looked unhealthy. We know Odegaard is all heart and soul but relentlessly grinding away at players such as him and Saka is a recipe for disaster.

All teams and players face immense pressure in the Premier League but Arteta exacerbates such issues. Odegaard needs an extended period to get fully reconditioned. I don’t care whether he is personally convinced he is fit for purpose, a good manager recognize he is not and therefore not overburden him.

For me Martin Odegaard has become symbolic of Arteta .stressing the team unnecessarily.

Dom

Weekend thoughts

Spurs v Chelsea is always a bonkers game, so wide open and full of incident.

The tactical concerns being put to Ange grow louder, I’d go all the way back to the corresponding fixture last year for the biggest warning sign, that high line with no pressure on the ball with 9 men! Hilariously he was praised to the hill for it, one media outlet ran the headline ‘are spurs the real winners here’ after the most kamikaze of 4-1 home defeats. Surely there are players who are thinking we shouldn’t be doing this when 2-0 up? Where is the leadership? Romero and VdV both seem to have been rushed back and are now injured again, not a good look for Ange or Spurs when trying to gain sympathy for an injury crisis.

Again we see two red cards for serious foul play ignored. Refs are cowards and continue to shy away from these decisions but will exert their authority on delaying the restart yellow cards. The shear number of yellow cards this year shows Webb has got it all wrong. Last season the independent panel judged all the var interventions and non interventions and by far the highest problem was not giving reds for serious foul play.

Whilst I’m on var, I’m hesitant to give var more things to do but second yellow cards must be reviewed by var. bar rules on goals, penalties and straight reds because those 3 have the biggest impact on the game. For the game being played a second yellow has the same impact as a straight red. Rico Lewis was deemed the guilty party this weekend but there have been plenty others.

My team Arsenal had one of those games, restrict the opponent to 1 chance and they take it very well. Dominate the ball but don’t do enough and fall on the wrong side of fine margins again. Consistent injuries are derailing us currently, I think we’ve only been able to pick the same back 4 from game to game 5 times this season. We were missing 2 RB, 2 LB and our main CB. To put that in context the Liverpool and City defence would look like: Quansah, Konate, Nallo, Gomez and Akanji, Stones, Simpson-Pusey, Wilson-Ebrand. Unless either of them fancy playing any of their CM at full back? Bernardo Silva at LB again?

The biggest difference between Arsenal and City+Liverpool is individuals able to bail their team out in a moment when they need them. Liverpool have Salah, City have a Haaland quality finish or a long range strike from a De Bruyne or Foden – just look how many 25 yard strikes Foden hit in the run in last year. Arsenal don’t have that, we’re reliant on the whole team playing well. The others can have 10 poor performances and be bailed out by a moment of genius. That isn’t a criticism of Liverpool or City – I know how sensitive the mailbox can get.

Arsenal and set pieces, the truth is amongst all the pearl clutching is Arsenal fans wish we were more of a threat in open play but also love that we’re such a threat from set pieces – that it seems to annoy so many is just a bonus, clearly it would be better to offer more open play threat but no team has scored more goals in the league from open play in 2024 than Arsenal.

Man U continue to be a clown car on and off the pitch. The Ashworth saga is a really bad look but one thing I can agree on is that if he was in charge of summer transfers he deserved to lose is job for that alone. Man U’s squad feels like it is in a worse place than when Arteta took over Arsenal. Their squad needs a full overhaul, id keep maybe only 4-5 of their entire squad. Get rid of the bad attitudes, bad players and consistently injured.

Shearer was spot on with his Newcastle analysis, too many players who turn up for home games v the big 6 but then go missing.

Finally, what has happened defensively in the league? No team can keep clean sheets. Is it the fascination of playing out from the back coupled with the other fascination of employing an ultra aggressive high press? Get either slightly wrong and you’re exposed and cut wide open. For top teams I understand playing this way but it is just not right for every team to do it.

Rich, AFC

INEOS innit

If the report from the Manchester Evening News is true, that Ashworth didn’t want Amorim and instead recommended Southgate… Well that’s in itself a sackable offence.

It was a dire weekend for Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United; six of their struggling stars feature in the Premier League’s worst XI for matchday 15.

This team is based on WhoScored’s player ratings…

GK: Andre Onana (Manchester United) – 4.37

The Cameroon international has been one of Man Utd’s better performers over the past 18 months, but he remains prone to the odd disasterclass and the loss to Nottm Forest was a match to forget for the goalkeeper.

He was wrong-footed for Morgan Gibbs-White’s goal, but the shot was still directed at the middle of the net and should have been saved. Then him and Lisandro Martinez had a ‘mare when failing to deal with Chris Wood’s looping header which needlessly found the bottom corner.

READ: Only four players spared ‘sack of potato’ status at Man Utd

RB: Tino Livramento (Newcastle United) – 5.98

Eddie Howe’s side succumbed to homebodies Brentford, who piled the pressure on the fifth-favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked. The England newbie made a weak attempt to prevent Kevin Schade’s late goal in his side’s 4-2 win as the right-back’s slip made the winger’s task of putting the game to bed much easier than it should have been.

CB: Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace) – 5.73

With a ban potentially looming, captain Guehi did not help Palace in their 2-2 draw against faltering Manchester City. Erling Haaland beat the centre-back in the air as the striker – who has reportedly ‘agreed a secret clause’ for a new contract – headed home to end his three-game Premier League goal drought. So, the freakish forward remains ridiculous.

CB: Leny Yoro (Manchester United) – 5.74

United’s summer signing is gradually getting up to speed after returning from injury and was subbed after 66 minutes against Forest. The move for the aforementioned mess of Gibbs-White’s goal started as Bruno Fernandes failed to find the centre-back with a misplaced pass. Afterwards, shortly before coming off, the teenager did not get close enough to Wood for his headed winner.

MORE PREMIER LEAGUE FEATURES FROM MATCHDAY 15…

👉 16 Conclusions on Spurs 3-4 Chelsea: Postecoglou sack, Sancho, Bissouma, Cucurella and the title

👉 Stupid, stupid Tottenham Hotspur’s comedy collapse sends slapstick Chelsea home laughing

👉 Man United fail to weather storm as Amorim prediction proved right by high-flying Forest

LB: Marc Cucurealla (Chelsea) – 5.03

Cucurella had his blushes spared by his attackers as Chelsea fought back from behind to hammer another nail in Ange Postecoglou’s coffin. Two slips resulted in two goals inside the opening 15 minutes for Spurs, who sprinted into an early lead thanks largely to the full-back’s now-binned boots.

CM: Yves Bissouma (Tottenham Hotspur) – 5.91

There was a comedy of errors from Spurs as they let another 2-0 lead slip. They did so by gifting Chelsea two penalties, which were cooly dispatched by Cole Palmer. The first was awarded after Bissouma took out Moises Caicedo with a reckless challenge, which pushed an exasperated Jamie Carragher to call the centre-midfielder “braindead” on co-commentary.

CM: Pape Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur) – 5.83

Sarr (i.e. stupid Spurs midfielder No.2) is included after he barged into the back of Palmer in the penalty box to hand Chelsea the opportunity to seal another win at Tottenham with their fourth goal. The England international could not believe his luck after playing for a foul and proceeded to embarrass stand-in goalkeeper Fraser Forster with a brutal panenka from the spot. Little wonder Postecoglou has become a bit of a d*ck…

RW: Kasey McAteer (Leicester City) – 5.93

As he did against West Ham, new Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy showcased his ability to make positive in-game changes as his side scored two late goals to salvage a much-needed point. Jamie Vardy – who grabbed a goal and an assist – is unsurprisingly loving life under the Dutchman, while McAteer was one of the players dragged off with half an hour remaining after struggling to make an impact.

CAM: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) – 6.08

Starting alongside Fernandes as one of Ruben Amorim’s No.10s, Garnacho was comfortably the weakest of United’s attacking players and was subbed after 58 minutes. He had a one-on-one saved by Matz Sels before Rasmus Hojlund netted the rebound and Rio Ferdinand may be right in saying he does not “fit” into the head coach’s preferred system.

READ: Greedy Man Utd among those who MUST stop exploiting loyalty

LW: Jordan Ayew (Leicester City) – 6.07

Ayew was taken off at the same time as McAteer. His best moments this season have come as an impact substitute and Vardy was the only Leicester starter with fewer touches than the 33-year-old, who had a blocked shot before half-time and that was about it.

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has slammed Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma for giving away a penalty against Chelsea on Sunday.

Spurs lost 4-3 at home to the Blues in a dramatic clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with early goals from Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski putting Ange Postecoglou’s men in the ascendancy.

A long-range strike from Man Utd loanee Jadon Sancho got Chelsea back into the match before Bissouma gave away a penalty for a reckless tackle on Moises Caicedo.

Cole Palmer converted to level the scores before scoring another spot-kick later in the match after being floored by Pape Matar Sarr in a statement win.

Enzo Fernandes scored Chelsea’s other goal, while Son Heung-min got one back in the sixth minute of added time for Tottenham – who are now 11th in the Premier League table – as Carragher and fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp analysed the two penalties.

When asked about Bissouma’s challenge to give the penalty away, Carragher said on Sky Sports: “Some of the things Tottenham players do is absolutely ridiculous.

“It’s a certain penalty. That is absolutely braindead. Who’d be a manager?”

On the incident, Redknapp added: “Caicedo when he went central just started to run the game. Bissouma had 27 seconds of madness.

“He’s not showing enough pace to get back in there. He dives into a ridiculous tackle. Absolutely ridiculous.”

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

👉 16 Conclusions on Spurs 3-4 Chelsea: Postecoglou sack, Sancho, Bissouma, Cucurella and the title

👉 Postecoglou jumps to second in Premier League sack race as Lopetegui leads the way

👉 Tottenham ‘line up’ PL boss as ‘first-choice’ Ange Postecoglou replacement with sack stance revealed

Former Tottenham midfielder Redknapp was also frustrated by Sarr’s tackle on Palmer for the second penalty, he added: “You know how skilful he [Palmer] is,’ he said. That is so clumsy, that is so bad because this was the moment that cost them the game.

“Ridiculous challenge, you just cost your team. That’s two ill-disciplined [tackles] from your two defensive midfield players.”

Tottenham midfielder Bissouma took to social media after the match to apologise to his team-mates and supporters for his challenge.

Bissouma wrote: “I’m so sad for that mistake it’s burning me because we lost the game today from this mistake.

“I feel sorry for my teammates staff and fans I take all the responsibility for that one I’ll learn from this one it’s time now to show the real me. Thanks for all the support.”

Tottenham centre-back Cristian Romero insists that Spurs players are “very happy” with Postecoglou as the pressure builds on the Australian manager.

Romero told Telemundo: “He’s a great coach. We saw it in the first season. In this second one we’ve suffered a lot of injuries.

“Players are the first one to be criticised, then if we lose 10 games, the staff can be changed, but nobody talks about what is actually happening.

“We are very happy with this staff, me and my colleagues. We love how they work and the football they try to play. We’ll try to move on quickly.”

Spurs showed their best and worst sides under Ange Postecoglou as Chelsea displayed why Enzo Maresca should be ignored when it comes to this title race.

Yet with each game, the speck in the rear-view mirror becomes bigger, louder and more of an impending, ominous obstacle. Enzo Maresca can, will and should continue to dismiss the title credentials of this Chelsea team; everyone else may assess them impartially while running out of excuses as to why they can’t go all the way.

This remains a flawed team but rarely have strengths been so thoroughly outweighed by weaknesses. Chelsea have momentum behind them and the players are making no attempt to disguise their growing belief that they can challenge. Liverpool will not be foolish to overlook currently their strongest competitors.

When Leicester beat the Blues at the King Power Stadium nine years ago something shifted: they were finally being perceived more widely as actual contenders rather than a team simply riding an inexplicable wave which would not last the distance. The accepted wisdom that they could not possibly compete for the title based on preconceptions of how those teams are built and what they should look like had been countered enough times to be rendered entirely moot, with that the statement victory.

There was a similar vibe to this, down to the beleaguered Big Six manager being edged closer to an inevitable exit. Jose Mourinho lasted three more days in the post and while Ange Postecoglou should beat that, it does not feel as though he can change the ultimate destination.

This was his Tottenham in a microcosm: a pulsating, energetic, brilliant start; a team defined by purpose and drive; stupid mistakes; an inability to address clear issues highlighted by a more coherent side.

Spurs tend to flit maddeningly between the first and last two of those four key facets with each game but rarely within them. Pulling it all together in one remarkable mess of ideas was at least refreshing, even if it did add even more to the sense that Postecoglou’s race is run.

When the clear positives of his work cannot even last the full 90 minutes now, it is unavoidably worth asking what the point of it all is.

Spurs were relentless in the first 15 minutes. Benoit Badiashile and Robert Sanchez were both forced into atrocious decisions on the ball and two Marc Cucurella slips were punished remorselessly to establish a comprehensive lead – the earliest Chelsea have trailed by two goals in the Premier League since 1996.

It seems simplistic to draw a correlation between Cristian Romero’s enforced substitution and Chelsea finding their feet as the issues which undermined that excellence from the first whistle are fundamental. When this team clicks it is close to unstoppable and temporarily erases the inevitable lapses into comical incompetence from memory – until Romero injures himself trying an elaborate and needless turn in his own area as a crushing reminder.

It was the second time this season Spurs have lost having been two goals ahead. And Postecoglou’s quotes before the first instance remain painfully relevant as a blurb to his reign. Asked how he planned to keep things “controlled” against Brighton in October he replied: “We don’t. Let’s keep it open. That way we entertain everyone and hopefully get the result we want.”

If that is the perennial message from the manager it explains an awful lot of Tottenham’s problems. Postecoglou even said after this game “we were really in control” but he cannot possibly hold that opinion with any form of sincerity when discussing events beyond the opening quarter of an hour or so, after which Chelsea dictated everything.

Spurs changed nothing from a plan which might not even have delivered two goals had Cucurella been wearing appropriate footwear from kick-off. Chelsea adapted and overcame. The difference was stark.

His goal was excellent, a wonderful run and sublime finish punishing Tottenham’s indecisiveness. Then Sancho also played the final pass for both penalties while being involved in the build-up for Enzo Fernandez’s strike.

He was every bit as crucial in turning things around as Palmer; determination to prove people wrong can be a powerful thing.

That helped settle the particularly poor Badiashile, whose errors were perhaps Tottenham’s biggest weapon as Dominic Solanke approached their personal battle with relish. The centre-half was considerably less noticeable in the second half, which represented a substantial improvement.

Chelsea’s search for a successful formula without the injured Wesley Fofana has at least identified that Badiashile as the right-sided centre-half is not a viable option.

Up until the 35th minute, both teams had five shots each. From the 36th minute to the 67th, Chelsea had eight unanswered shots, equalised and were dominant with only one result likely if nothing changed.

When Postecoglou did finally recognise Chelsea were exploiting problems in his setup it was already too late; his first alteration not forced by injury was a triple substitution six minutes after the visitors took a lead they would not surrender. It had been coming for at least half an hour.

Romero and Micky van de Ven both being rushed back from injury resulted in the pair being taken off, the latter after obviously aggravating the hamstring problem which had sidelinded him for the last seven games. Pedro Porro continued his recent downward trend but was picked again as Djed Spence remains ignored on the periphery.

Poor in-game management only compounded issues which were obvious once the teamsheets were published.

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Both penalties were the result of brainless, suicidal defending. It was painfully obvious what Caicedo would try to do when running onto a Sancho pass which, while excellent, limited the receiver’s options to taking a touch past a defender seemingly desperate to go to ground for no apparent reason.

Yves Bissouma has since issued an apology and accepted responsibility on social media, such is the cycle of a Spurs defeat.

But Sarr’s method of dealing with Palmer was even worse. The Chelsea forward was heading towards the corner flag with precious little support, yet the Spurs midfielder barrelled into the back of him in the area with a forearm in the back.

Both moments were breathtakingly stupid.

Then came Fernandez’s goal to make it 3-2, the celebration to which was innocuous yet admirable. For all the talk of Nicolas Jackson’s immaturity and proneness to avoidable yellow cards, the way he prevented the captain from removing his shirt was genuinely praiseworthy.

It was one small moment but proof that a player can learn lessons if they are willing. Spurs as a whole seem too naive to bother.

Everything just seems smoother from the Argentinean, as summed up by that point in the second half when he collected a Cucurella throw, evaded three Spurs players and exchanged passes with Sancho to relieve the pressure.

Son was far from his best once more, proving effective from set-pieces but poor in open play outside of some neat interchanges with Solanke. The regression in his finishing has been sharp and when his goal finally did come, it was too late.

James Maddison set up the Son goal by being patient and delaying that final pass until the perfect moment from a short corner routine. The Spurs midfield was designed to thrive in the press but after the opening exchanges their limitations in possession became a massive problem which was not rectified until the end.

Every member of Postecoglou’s side seems either tired, injured or both. Maddison was the only properly starting XI-quality substitute brought on and the lack of forward alternatives is particularly alarming.

As good as Solanke is, Spurs really could do with something different and more direct at times. Chelsea were able to replace Jackson with Christopher Nkunku, Palmer with Joao Felix and Neto with Noni Madueke. Werner’s cameo for an injured Brennan Johnson was not especially inspiring.

It really is just a shame that it’s now impossible to listen to his commentary without immediately hearing him say ‘Mo SALAH’.

Make the most of it while you can because Spurs will only slide further down: Southampton, bottom and winless in five, have an appointment with Dr. Tottenham next weekend, after which Liverpool visit North London in a harbinger of Andre Villas-Boas-shaped doom for Postecoglou. The end is nigh.

Tottenham fans will vehemently and passionately beg to differ, but we’re not even sure this is entirely a Spursy thing anymore. This is the Premier League 2024/25, where conventional laws of football no longer apply and precious few leads are ever safe.

Yes, there’s been some dull, processional games, mostly involving Manchester United, but there’s also been plenty of games like this one. Well…alright, maybe not all the way as silly and fun as this one. But not far off.

It started with a Tottenham blitz in a game played at incredible speed, and turned into a high-quality, compelling match with just enough bite about it to keep everyone on their toes. Chelsea fought back from two goals down to end up laughing their way away from North London with three points.

Meetings between these sides have long been a red-letter day for the neutral observer, and this occasion was just as stupid, brilliant, awful and entertaining as anybody could possibly have hoped.

READ: Postecoglou jumps to third in Premier League sack race as Lopetegui leads the way

And the comedy! Oh, the comedy. One Steven Gerrard slip in a game ten years ago has been enough for Chelsea fans to fill their boots with for a decade and counting. Marc Cucurella did it twice here, handing Tottenham attacks from which they scored both times: Brennan Johnson crossing for Dominic Solanke for the first; then dispossessing Cucurella and helping work it to Dejan Kulusevski for a well-taken second.

After Jadon Sancho’s goal in reply made things interesting, Tottenham put the jester’s hat with big bells on for the second half.

Yves Bissouma went absolutely flying in on Moises Caicedo inside the box, got nowhere near the ball, and scythed his old Brighton teammate out at the ankles to give Cole Palmer the chance to convert from the spot.

Palmer set up Enzo Fernandez to continue his fine form in front of goal as Chelsea went ahead, then practically begged Pape Matar Sarr to come and foul him just inside the box late on. He was obliged, so the England international stepped up to the spot again to put a delightful Panenka past Fraser Forster.

Son Heung-min made the scoreline look more respectable than Tottenham really deserved in injury time, but there was not enough time left for them to have any realistic hope of an equaliser.

Similar stories played out across the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. Brentford Brentforded their way to a 4-2 win over Newcastle. Crystal Palace, down in 17th, forced Manchester City to twice come back from behind to claim a point, which is quite something even with City in the awful form they are currently. Having already won at Anfield this season, Nottingham Forest beat Man United 3-2 at Old Trafford with just three shots on target.

On Sunday, Leicester were 2-0 down to Brighton in the 85th minute and drew 2-2. Bournemouth mimicked that to even greater effect: they were 1-0 down at Ipswich after 86 minutes, and won 2-1.

There’s really only the two poles of the Premier League, Liverpool and Southampton, who are largely free from this barmy ‘anybody can get points off anybody’ fever that has gripped the top flight this season, and even then the head-to-head encounter between the two sides was a topsy-turvy 3-2 victory for Arne Slot’s side.

But here’s the thing: none of that context does much good for Tottenham, who are pure Premier League 2024/25 refined and distilled into a single brilliant yet entirely idiotic side.

How much of this is on Ange Postecoglou, and how much of this is the kind of problem they hired him over a year ago to sort out? Their youth policy in the transfer market and their pronouncements of faith in the Australian suggest they still believe he is the man for the long term.

Yet they seem to be getting stupider every week, like a sitcom character who must continuously do dumber and dumber things every episode in the name of keeping the novelty alive.

And as for Chelsea…well, normally you’d say the title was Liverpool’s to lose. And it is. It surely is. But this season has been just wild enough to make you think anything is possible – and Enzo Maresca’s side are currently the best position to exploit any more slips.

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur have chosen their ‘first-choice’ replacement in case they decide to sack head coach Ange Postecoglou.

The Spurs boss is under pressure as the Premier League side have made an inconsistent start to the 2024/25 campaign.

Postecoglou‘s side have six wins, two draws and six defeats as they are tenth in the Premier League. They are currently six points adrift of the Champions League places.

Tottenham are without a win in two Premier League matches and were deservedly beaten 1-0 by AFC Bournemouth in midweek. Postecoglou arguably needs a positive result on Sunday as they host London rivals Chelsea.

Ahead of this game, a report from Football Transfers claims Tottenham are ‘targeting’ Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna as a replacement for Postecoglou.

READ: Postecoglou reaches familiar Spurs manager endgame as Angeball drifts towards despair

McKenna was targeted by several Premier League clubs in the summer after he guided Ipswich back to the Premier League by earning back-to-back promotions.

The former Man Utd coach was linked with the Red Devils, Chelsea and Brighton but he committed his future to Ipswich by penning a contract extension.

Under McKenna, Ipswich have struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League as they have one win in 14 matches. They are 18th and three points adrift of safety.

Still, the report claims ‘Tottenham have shortlisted McKenna as their first choice target if they decide to sack Postecoglou’.

MORE SPURS COVERAGE ON F365…

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👉 Tottenham boss Postecoglou ‘didn’t like’ what ‘disappointed’ fans said; refuses to ‘write off’ one star

The report claims.

‘FootballTransfers understands that McKenna has been lined up as a possible replacement for Postecoglou at Tottenham.

‘The Spurs boss was booed by supporters following their 1-0 defeat against Bournemouth on Thursday and we have been informed that he could be sacked if results don’t improve by January.’

Despite this, a report on Friday from The Boot Room claimed ‘Levy and Tottenham are not panicking about Postecoglou’s position at the club’.

‘On Friday morning, TBR Football sources have confirmed Daniel Levy and Tottenham are not panicking about Postecoglou’s position at the club.

‘TBR understands the north London club still hold belief in the Australian to see out the project he has started at Spurs.

‘Tottenham are also well aware of the struggles which Postecoglou is facing putting a side together currently due to injury issues. Micky van de Ven is nearing a return from injury, but he is just one of the Spurs starters who has been sidelined recently.

‘Although Levy is aware of Tottenham’s standards, it is understood no one is working harder than the 59-year-old to put things right.’

Mikel Pulis is ‘more like David Moyes’ than Pep Guardiola, while Tottenham Hotspur are at risk of copying Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com…

Mikel Pulis

It’s quite amusing to see Arsenal fans defending their Stoke-ish tactics because for years under Wenger they complained non stop about teams doing this against them.

For the record, I don’t like that style of football and would never choose to watch it but it’s a perfectly valid form of football. As is Jose style non stop time wasting, diving and fouling. As is Pep’s endless passing. As is Klopp’s ‘heavy metal footy’. They’re all valid tactics.

This Stoke ball at Arsenal isn’t a new criticism, I’ve been referring to Mikel for a while now as Paelladyce (which annoyed Arsenal fans a couple of seasons ago when I posted it here) because every time I watched Arsenal play (usually against top 6 opponents) the tactics was to be compact, physical and smash long balls for Martinelli and Saka to sprint onto. Again it’s a valid way of playing, I just hate watching it.

If Liverpool played that way I wouldn’t watch them either. It’s the football equivalent of clinching to tire out a smaller opponent in boxing. Does it work? Of course. Is it fun? Not in the slightest. I have watched Arsenal against ‘lesser’ opposition. And they’re more open against them. It’s often pointed out that Arteta is a disciple of Pep but honestly, I don’t see much of Pep in Arteta tactics. He is much more like David Moyes at Everton for me and I think the time he spent under Moyes has probably influenced him more than anything else. Which is why he kind of has a small club mentality in big games and swaps to a safety first, nick a win on set pieces approach.

I’ll repeat again that there is nothing wrong with how he plays. It’s a valid tactic, it gets him top four consistently and some wins against top opposition. I just don’t enjoy watching it, and it seems neither do many others.

Lee

READ: Arsenal supporters seethe at Stoke comparison and slam ‘bitter little man’ Neville for ‘disrespect’

It’s only wrong when Arsenal do it…

All this debate about Arsenal being Stoke FC or set piece merchants got me thinking about one of the best sports movies ever made ‘Any Given Sunday.’ Especially the iconic Al Pacino speech before the final game, which to me is one of the greatest monologues in cinema in my opinion. Where Pacino states that football (American football here but the metaphor applies) like life is a game of inches and these inches needed are everywhere around us. The team that is willing to fight for that inch is the one that will make the difference between winning and losing. The inches in this case are set pieces which are an oft-ignored aspect of the game, which Mikel has focused upon to maximise his team’s chances of winning.

As you can do all the prep, planning and training in the world but just have the team not click on certain days. It just happens, its one of those things in football. Every fan has seen their team play and think their team could play till the cows come home and not score from open play. On those days and having an additional threat something that could give you another inch or two in the game is what could make all the difference in the world.

For years Arsenal had a tag of being easy to be bullied, boys against men. I remember when we would play Stoke and how we’d be scared shitless at their throw ins and corners and every time Wenger complained he was told to pipe down. Now that the tables have turned, the media and opposition can’t handle that Arsenal have shed the weak underbelly tag and have an army of tall but technical players unafraid to mix it up and fight.

Also just to give context we’ve scored 25% of our league goals via set pieces, do you know who tops that list? It was the other team at the Emirates, yep United have scored 29% of their total goals in the league via set play. But I guess we won’t talk about that as its just a mid table club doing mid table club thing, being plucky and nicking set piece goals. Maybe it would be better to focus on the fact that without set pieces United generated just 0.03xG all game and never looked like scoring. But why shine a mirror on ones own failings when its easier to ridicule the opposition and delude yourself into believing that you were totally in the game without the set pieces.

Ronnie (Corners goals are clearly a lesser form of goal scoring and should be awarded as just 0.5 a real goal..)

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👉 Neville reveals ‘controversial opinion’ about Arsenal midfielder Jorginho in Man Utd win

Well done Arsenal

I would like to congratulate Arsenal fans. Developing a coterie of increasingly unhinged haters is a sure mark of success. If it wasn’t Jover (a man so notorious I had no idea who he was till this week) it would be Arteta’s hair, or Gunnersaurus somehow disrespecting the troops or something.

No one in football will love you for your success. Treasure the hatred, it’s so much more enlivening than gentle pity or apathy.

Dan, Jurgen Klopp’s plastic teeth LFC

David Raya

After listening and reading comments about Arsenal being compared to Stoke it is total nonsense. Arsenal mix their talent with open play and set pieces. Basically if a team cant keep out Arsenal’s corners they’re talentless in defence.

One of my favourite topics is Raya’s all round ability in goal. We all loved Ramsdale but he couldn’t stay focused whereas Raya can. He is superb at catching , passing and saving. The save against ManYoo at 1:0 was match winning. Unbelievably we still have fans who wont accept him and even blamed him for two unstoppable goals by West Ham.

Chris, Croydon

How is Ange Postecoglou still in a job?

Honest question: how is Ange Postecoglou still in a job? Each time I hear him post-match he says the same tired things (usually following draws that feel like losses or losses that feel like colonoscopies). Tottenham appear a team of few flash moments in a season of overarching regression, with the highlights a pair of lopsided victories over two Manchester sides that, with closer scrutiny, are explained away more by the prevailing context around those two clubs at the time than of Spurs’ inherent quality.

The Neanderthal-like gruffness and strange aversion to eye contact don’t endear. They also don’t mask the fact that months on from soundbites revealing voluntary neglect training for set-pieces, his side still concedes from them with regularity. His tactics are one-note and devoid of nuance; it’s blind aggression with no awareness for rest defence whilst in possession, and little shape or sturdiness out of. Bournemouth probably should’ve hung four on that rabble.

If they do deliver 2nd-season silverware prophesized with such tact and definitely no pomposity, it’ll be akin to Ten Hag’s FA Cup win last summer… one rung up on the ladder to nowhere.

Eric, Los Angeles CA (Another question: is James Maddison captain material? Reminds me of that annoying bit of loose, unglued glitter on a cheap party hat.)

READ: Postecoglou reaches familiar Spurs manager endgame as Angeball drifts towards despair

#LevyOut

After 25 YEARS of this owner, including the last manager telling the fans exactly why the club is a disaster and never wins anything, can we finally unite behind getting Levy to sell our club please?

And for anyone saying ‘Oh but look at the stadium’ – this has just meant we pay double for tickets and where the extra revenue streams make the football less of a priority.

Sick of it.

Dave (#LEVYOUT), Winchester Spurs

MORE SPURS COVERAGE ON F365…

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It’s ACTUALLY great being a Spurs fan

We have a squad with a lot of fun players – our sweetheart of a captain, Son, mercurial creators in Maddison and Kulusevski, emerging youngsters like Van de Ven and Sarr, and unpredictability from Romero and Vicario which even the neutrals can appreciate.

Our stadium is magnificent. Every time I visit I’m inspired to take photos – it’s stunning, inside and out, and with the crowd in full voice it’s a spine tingling place to be.

Our legends include some of the best of all time – Gascoigne, Blanchflower, Hoddle, Bale, Kane. And I have wonderful memories of players like Dawson, Anderton, Dele and Vertonghen – players who will always be revered among Spurs fans, who are the funniest and most levelheaded fans I know (mostly).

And despite all his many flaws, we have a chairman who’s put us on a very solid basis, financially. I’m old enough to remember the very real possibility of Spurs being relegated due to financial woes in the early 1990s, so I’m grateful that there’s seemingly no prospect of that again.

It’s just such a shame the referee has to blow his whistle and spoil it all…

Michael C

Sam Morsy will be proved right…

Just a quick one to explain what I meant when I said ‘history will prove Morsy right’. In the not too distant future there won’t be any kneeling, rainbow laces, OneLove campaigns or any other virtue signalling, but completely pointless woke campaigns, in football. And the reason why: these campaigns are pointless and divisive in our multi-cultural society. In that sense, Morsy will be proved right. Even the poppy might succumb!

G Thomas, The Netherlands

Newcastle vs Liverpool reflections…

Peacock’s (markedly Liverpool-philic) replay commentary more or less started with the observation that only Liverpool had surrendered fewer points from winning positions than Newcastle. It’s notable that both teams lost points from winning positions in this match.

Mo Salah was just magnificent. What a player, and he’s gutted me far too many times. (Get thee to Riyadh!) But that only makes me prouder of my club’s performance.

Lewis Hall didn’t play any part in Salah’s goals; his worst moment was allowing Salah the space to assist Jones’ equalizer. Still, he regularly beat Salah in duels. He made a really astute run just before Tonali’s early chance, and never seemed to let off from that start. He played Isak through for an early chance, then carved one out for himself with another run. He wasn’t the best player on the pitch (Salah, Isak, Guimaraes/Tonali) but I’m really pleased with the lad. I initially suspected that his transfer was a failure of policy on NUFC’s part, but he’s been quite good this season. Even better than Livramento, if you ask me, and maybe worth his fee, which seems to have quietly crept up to 33 million pounds. Didn’t it start at 25?

More briefly: Pope deserves a lot of credit for a sharp performance, and that Fabien Schar goal gets better with every view. Jacob Murphy could have had a hat trick, the poor bastard.

I really hope that VVD shoulder to Gordon’s face wasn’t intentional; it would have drawn a suspension in the NHL. Extra time was the first time I’ve really seen Arne Slot looking a c*nt during a match, though that’s more or less an EPL tradition amongst winners, and he was gracious enough after.

It was not a great performance by the referee, in my opinion. Madley made wrong calls in our favor almost as often as he did to our disadvantage.

Turns out we’re terrible judges of character and coaching quality having flip-flopped over these ten managers from last season to now.

Some are still in their jobs while others have moved on; we misjudged them all.

Ange Postecoglou: Being a great bloke

Tottenham’s descent into perhaps the purest form of Spursiness we’ve ever seen has gone hand in hand with the Aren’t We All Having A Bloody Good Time? mask slipping from their manager’s face to reveal an easily irritated man whose sentence-ending forms of address are becoming more menacing by the day. You’re a bit of a d*ck, mate.

As he approached the away fans after the defeat to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Thursday, we suspect better-placed audio equipment may have picked up on a Roy Keane-esque request to meet them all in the car park outside.

Mauricio Pochettino: Doing The Impossible Job well

We were Pochettino apologists last season. What was he supposed to do with so many players? If only the Chelsea players could finish chances. Just imagine how much better they would be with a proper goalscorer. Look what he’s done with Cole Palmer. Etc. etc.

Enzo Maresca has exposed him, making The Impossible Job look incredibly easy.

He’s been helped by European football to keep the majority of the players happy, and winning games also means there can be few complaints from those not in the Premier League XI, but clearly defining the positions the players would play in at the start of the season was a simple stroke of genius.

He’s also clearly coached them to finish in training, which sounds obvious now we think of it but didn’t seem possible under Poch. That’s done wonders for Nicolas Jackson, who now looks to be well on his way to being the £100m striker Chelsea apparently needed. And let’s face it, it makes f*** all difference who Palmer is playing for; he will be brilliant in any circumstance.

Mikel Arteta: Next in line

How very annoying it must be to finish second to possibly the greatest Premier League side ever twice in a row only to fail to take advantage when they slip up. We don’t know that for sure of course. Arsenal look a helluva lot better now Martin Odegaard’s back and it’s only a seven-point gap to Liverpool.

But we were all pretty convinced, particularly with Jurgen Klopp leaving, that Arteta was nailed on to be the next manager to win the Premier League, possibly even the next era-defining stalwart, after Guardiola, whether that dominance started this season or – more likely – after the Manchester City boss yielded his crown by leaving the club. No one saw Arne Slot’s Liverpool coming.

Jurgen Klopp: Getting the best out of Liverpool

We don’t want to entirely pooh-pooh the work Jurgen Klopp did at Liverpool last season. Other legendary legacy managers of similarly giant football clubs in England have left with their squads in a decrepit mess, while the German undoubtedly left Liverpool in a far better state than when he arrived. Arne Slot is reaping the rewards of his excellent rebuilding job.

But Klopp could have reaped those rewards too. 78 minutes from one of the most pointless signings in Premier League history aside, Slot has used exactly the same players as Klopp and has got a better tune out of them. How did he not use Ryan Gravenberch as the No.6?

Pep Guardiola: An indomitable force

Now they’ve fallen apart we can’t believe we didn’t see it coming. All it takes is a long-term injury to the best footballer on the planet to expose their lack of prime-age footballers and turn them into a bog-standard football team short of any of the fingerprints of their world-class manager, who apparently doesn’t have an answer for everything.

Rodri got injured and we half expected Phil Foden to become a pace-setting fixer at the base of Manchester City’s midfield or for Guardiola to win games without a midfield at all in a bid to further assert himself as an otherworldly genius whose tactics the brains of us mere mortals aren’t equipped to comprehend.

Turns out he’s just a bit f***ed without Rodri.

Nuno Espirito Santo: A dying brand

Just about kept Nottingham Forest in the Premier League but it felt as though a lot had changed since he had last been in the English top flight. And although we’re all for a team that does something apart from passing the ball out from the back, we couldn’t see how launching it forward to a target man and winning second balls would reap enough reward to keep the Forest fans off his back.

What do we know? Four points off Manchester City and the Champions League spots.

Oliver Glasner: Destined for bigger things

Jean-Philippe had turned into a prime Nicolas Anelka, Adam Wharton got himself on the England plane along with the similarly brilliant Eberechi Eze and – in what retrospectively looks to have been the key to everything – Michael Olise was on fire.

Palace are too good to go down this season, but having been the Premier League’s great entertainers, everyone’s second team at the end of last season, even having to point out that they’re too good to go down suggests quite the shrinking back into the shadows after their brief period in the sun.

David Moyes: Holding West Ham back

There were plenty of times last season when we all looked at the front three of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus and thought it would be lovely to see what a less cautious manager might be able to do with them and the Careful What You Wish For brigade were eventually drowned out by those searching for the long lost West Ham Way.

The board believing Julen Lopetegui should be their pioneer in that search was baffling and West Ham have lost all of the pragmatism and efficiency they had under Moyes while predictably gaining none of the attacking fluency they had hilariously misplaced hope in adding to their game under the Spaniard.

Erik ten Hag: Had a plan

We weren’t among the surprising number of people duped into thinking Ten Hag still had A Plan worth backing on the basis of one good performance at the end of last season, but we were all convinced he was the right man for the job at the start of the campaign.

While there perhaps wasn’t a clearly defined style there was a general footballing ethos that we all thought could be built upon and develop into The Ten Hag Way at Old Trafford, before he played Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes with Casemiro in front of a back four and we questioned whether he had lost his mind or at least all of his tactical acumen.

It got no better from there, with the lack A Plan frequently the sizeable stick to beat him with ahead of an FA Cup final win which briefly and expensively delayed the inevitable.

Eddie Howe: Struggles thanks to Champions League

An often over-used excuse, but in Newcastle’s case – in the PSR era – blaming Premier League form on Champions League commitments felt perfectly valid. They surprised everyone including themselves in qualifying for the European showcase, didn’t have the squad depth to cope and weren’t able to spend anywhere near as lavishly as they would have liked to remedy that problem.

It was something of a free-hit season for Eddie Howe, who had earned a huge amount of leeway through what he had achieved in the previous campaign, and it didn’t go well. They failed to qualify from a very difficult Champions League group and never really got going in the Premier League, finishing the season level on points with Manchester United, God forbid.

But the uplift that we didn’t particularly expect but should have arrived this season if European football was the strong excuse Howe’s allies claimed it was hasn’t happened, with a good performance typically followed by at least one abject one.

Paul Merson reckons Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea will grab a statement victory over Tottenham at the weekend and pile more pressure on Ange Postecoglou.

Despite the narrow 1-0 scoreline, Spurs were battered on Thursday night by Bournemouth with the Cherries missing chance after chance in a dominant performance.

After the match, Postecoglou had a heated exchange with a group of Tottenham supporters who were clearly unhappy by their side’s display at the Vitality Stadium.

The result saw Tottenham slip down to tenth in the Premier League table, while Chelsea’s impressive 5-1 victory at Southampton pushed them up to second in the standings, above third-placed Arsenal on goal difference.

Chelsea, who have been a bit of a surprise package this season, are now up there challenging for the Premier League title under Maresca and Merson expects their good form to continue on the road at Tottenham.

Arsenal legend Merson told Sportskeeda: “The only thing that worries me with Chelsea is that they gave away a couple of really good chances to Southampton, even when they were only playing against 10 men.

“The goalkeeper made a great save at 3-1. If that goes in, it becomes 3-2. I’m not nitpicking with Chelsea, it was still a great result. But that would be my worry about them.

“It does not take anything away from the fact that they won 5-1 while resting many of their key players. That is a masterstroke from Enzo Maresca. When the team sheet came in, I thought, ‘oh my god, what are you doing?

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“This is the Premier League, you can’t be taking any team lightly’. But those changes did not have a detrimental impact on Chelsea.

“I wouldn’t label Chelsea as genuine title contenders though. It’s hard to call them that. They have a good squad, probably the strongest in the Premier League. But they played Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool this season and took just one point. That is why they are not contenders yet.

“If you’re a fan, Tottenham away from home is Chelsea’s biggest game of the season. Chelsea lost in this fixture last season so this is a huge game. If they can win against Spurs, it will send a massive statement. I won’t label Tottenham as one of the ‘big boys’ in the league but they are a team that can beat a lot of teams and we’ve seen that already this season.

“If Chelsea secure a top-four finish and win a trophy, this would become a phenomenal season for them. Anything more than that would be incredible but unlikely.

“Ange Postecoglou wants Tottenham to be entertaining that’s how they try to play. Chelsea have better players in nearly every position and may have too much for Spurs to handle.Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Chelsea.”