Liverpool host Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday in a crucial game for Mauricio Pochettino and his title contending squad.
The Londoners go into the game five points behind Premier League leaders Leicester City with seven games to go. Conversely, the Reds are living a different reality, sitting in ninth place after a loss to Southampton before the international break.
Brendan Rogers took Liverpool to a second place finish in the 2013-14 season, but the club fell by the wayside following the departure of Luis Suarez. Now led by Jurgen Klopp, the team is still searching for the correct formula to get them back towards the top of the table.
In many ways, Liverpool’s recent misfortune is a warning sign to Pochettino and Tottenham. After an intense season, finishing second will be difficult on the players. It could also cause the risk of tumbling down the table in the following seasons, much like they did after their last stint in the Champions League.
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Winning titles is hard, but winning multiple titles is harder. Managers, owners and the selling of players can hit a club like a ton of bricks. Manchester United’s fall from grace should serve as a notable warning.
Should interest in Harry Kane spike to a point that Tottenham cannot refuse, will they sell the young Englishman? The 22-year old is a talisman for the North Londoners, much like Gareth Bale was, and the team would most likely suffer in his absence. The same happened to Liverpool once Suarez left for Barcelona.
The crumbling of the big four in Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have all been in Spurs’ favour, and should they come back to prominence, will the Lilywhites be pushed back into the fifth and sixth place shadow? The Premier League is now an even tougher landscape with the growth of Manchester City in the last five or six years, and the redistribution of TV rights money, allowing for a more even spread for less successful clubs.
The squad at Pochettino’s disposal is definitely a squad of the future. They are playing great football right now and they can only get better, so it will be exciting what can be achieved over the next couple of years. One never hears about drama surrounding Tottenham, or how much the club and the fans dislike the owners. It just seems to be really good at White Hart Lane right now, and they thoroughly deserve to win the Premier League title.
They will need maximum points against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool this weekend, especially as every time Tottenham seem to get an edge on Leicester, the league leaders find a way to regain lost momentum. Claudio Ranieri’s team are always one step ahead. The Spurs dropped some silly points this year, and it is currently haunting them.
This weekend and the next few games are crucial for Tottenham. The squad need Leicester to stutter at a crucial juncture, as well as a bit of luck going their own way, starting at Anfield this Sunday.
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