Nearly the perfect weekend for Spurs
Things could not have gone much better for Tottenham this weekend. A routine home win, a heavy defeat for a fourth place rival and damaging results for Arsenal and West Ham thrown in for good measure - Saturday's Match of the Day made entertaining viewing.
This comes on the back of a good midweek, when dropped points by Manchester City and Aston Villa complimented Spurs' rousing FA Cup comeback against Fulham. Keeping an eye on other teams' fortunes is an inevitable pastime at this stage of the season and the four-way battle for fourth will keep Spurs fans interested in other results until the end of the campaign.
Sunderland could not complete the set of favourable results against Liverpool, but in truth Spurs fans should concentrate more on their own team, and there is much to be pleased about. Five straight league wins leaves us in pole position for fourth place, despite the run of games against the top three on the horizon.
A good FA Cup run should produce a first final appearance since 1991, as watching Portsmouth's walking wounded in action at White Hart Lane induced a bout of chicken-counting. We must surely prevail in the semi-final against them.
As much as we would like things to remain in our own hands, the results of others will be important. Aston Villa's capitulation at Chelsea, on the back of a run of two wins from seven league games, suggests they are suffering another late-season collapse.
Manchester City and Liverpool are the biggest threats and some tricky forthcoming games for our main rivals means the matches against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United might not be as damaging as we once feared. The looming Football World CupAintree Grand National is less than two weeks away and many pundits expect 2009 winner Mon Mome to pull off a famous double.
Talking about City; I expect them to slip up at home tonight against the mighty Wigan Athletic. Mancini has lost the dressing room, or should I say, never had it in the first place.
I've said it before and I'll say it again; with the money they've spent in the last 18 months or so, they shouldn't be challenging for fourth, but should have been aiming to win the Premier League.
Then again, I suppose they are the "Tottenham of the North"....
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This comes on the back of a good midweek, when dropped points by Manchester City and Aston Villa complimented Spurs' rousing FA Cup comeback against Fulham. Keeping an eye on other teams' fortunes is an inevitable pastime at this stage of the season and the four-way battle for fourth will keep Spurs fans interested in other results until the end of the campaign.
Sunderland could not complete the set of favourable results against Liverpool, but in truth Spurs fans should concentrate more on their own team, and there is much to be pleased about. Five straight league wins leaves us in pole position for fourth place, despite the run of games against the top three on the horizon.
A good FA Cup run should produce a first final appearance since 1991, as watching Portsmouth's walking wounded in action at White Hart Lane induced a bout of chicken-counting. We must surely prevail in the semi-final against them.
As much as we would like things to remain in our own hands, the results of others will be important. Aston Villa's capitulation at Chelsea, on the back of a run of two wins from seven league games, suggests they are suffering another late-season collapse.
Manchester City and Liverpool are the biggest threats and some tricky forthcoming games for our main rivals means the matches against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United might not be as damaging as we once feared. The looming Football World CupAintree Grand National is less than two weeks away and many pundits expect 2009 winner Mon Mome to pull off a famous double.
Talking about City; I expect them to slip up at home tonight against the mighty Wigan Athletic. Mancini has lost the dressing room, or should I say, never had it in the first place.
I've said it before and I'll say it again; with the money they've spent in the last 18 months or so, they shouldn't be challenging for fourth, but should have been aiming to win the Premier League.
Then again, I suppose they are the "Tottenham of the North"....
_________________________________________________
Follow our rants on Twitter
Read our latest Evening Standard Blog
Have you got an iPod or mp3 player? If you love listening to audiobooks, click here....
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