Pressure on Ange to overtake Villa
Tottenham Hotspur is within reach of a Champions League berth, but first its Aussie manager Ange Postecoglou must guide the team through a precarious final leg and hold off a huge threat.
The 4-0 thumping of fourth-placed Aston Villa last weekend locked Tottenham into fifth place on the EPL ladder and just two points behind Villa, which has played an extra match.
Tottenham has 11 matches to go before the season finishes on May 20.
It sounds like plenty of time to leapfrog Villa but Manchester
United is closing the gap and proving to be a huge threat to Postecoglou’s dream of a Champions League place.
United is in fifth spot, eight points behind Villa. Its goal difference of zero is far behind that of Tottenham and Villa but United’s run home works in its favour.
Tottenham must face Newcastle United (home), Manchester City (away), Arsenal (away) and Liverpool (home).
The Red Devils don’t have to play Manchester City and take on Arsenal and Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Also, just four of their remaining opponents are in the top 10 in the competition.
If you compare the average season points total of the remaining opponents for Villa, Tottenham and Manchester United, the Red Devils have by far the easier run home.
Their remaining opponents have an average points total of 36.4 compared to Villa on 44.3 and Tottenham 38.2.
However, many of Manchester United’s 11 losses this season have been against opponents that on should have beaten.
Postecoglou has made it clear his ultimate goal is to lift the Premier League trophy next season, but playing in the Champions League would be a major step towards making that happen.
If Tottenham does slip or Villa hangs on to fourth spot, all hope of playing in the Champions League will not be lost. The competition is expanding next season from 32 teams to 36, which means extra spots will be up for grabs and five EPL teams could qualify instead of four.
Tottenham takes on Fulham on Sunday (AEDT). paper it