St Totteringham’s Day bonus for title- chasing Spurs
For 22 years, there has been one certainty in the Premier League: Arsenal finishing above Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal fans have even coined a term to celebrate the point in the season when their team cannot be overtaken in the standings by Tottenham: St Totteringham’s Day.
Even when Tottenham entered the final day of last season in second place behind Leicester City, a shocking 5- 1 loss to already- relegated Newcastle United still allowed Arsenal to overhaul their North London neighbours.
That looks like it’s about to change, and it could come as soon as Monday ( NZT). If Tottenham win the derby, there will be no St Totteringham’s Day this year. The constant in Arsene Wenger’s 21- year reign will have been eradicated and Tottenham will have secured their first finish above Arsenal since 1995.
“It’s not a motivation and it’s not a distraction,” Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said. “We know what that game means but we are not thinking about being above Arsenal.” Yet. Unlike Arsenal, for once Spurs have greater ambitions: A first league title since 1961. It relies on Chelsea dropping points and Tottenham extending their first eight- game winning run in the league since their last title- winning season.
With five games of 38 remaining, Chelsea are four points in front.
“Our challenge now is to reduce the gap again with Chelsea and to think bigger things than only to be above Arsenal,” Pochettino said. “One day to achieve big trophies, your mentality must be bigger, thinking about big dreams.”
Like Arsenal, perhaps, who have won the league six times since Tottenham’s last success. Now, though, the Gunners are in a scrap to make the top four and qualify for the Champions League after sinking to sixth place, 14 points behind secondplaced Spurs.
The three derbies since Tottenham’s February 2015 success have been draws, but now Pochettino’s team look the one more capable of killing off games — unlike so often in their recent history.
Dele Alli, whose dynamism and scent for goals has already guaranteed Tottenham’s biggest points haul in the Premier League era, wasn’t even born the last time Arsenal finished behind his team. Wenger’s 50th North London derby comes at a time of uncertainty and change. Wenger’s contract expires at the end of the season, with no announcement yet about his future, and Tottenham are preparing to leave White Hart Lane for a new stadium on the same site.
It’ll have a 61,000- capacity — 1000 more seats than Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. But Tottenham hopes for more than symbolic victories over their neighbours in future.
Tottenham will be hoping Everton can do them a favour by holding Chelsea to at least a draw on Monday. Everton have lost just once at Goodison Park this season and have won their last eight home games.
It has been 12 games since Chelsea kept a clean sheet, a spell that has seen a comfortable 10- point lead at the summit slashed to four.
Even though Chelsea overcame Southampton 4- 2 on Wednesday, their defence was breached by Oriol Romeu and Ryan Bertrand — both former Stamford Bridge players. Not the time to be facing another old boy at Everton, particularly one as prolific as Romelu Lukaku. With 24 goals — four more than Tottenham striker Harry Kane — Lukaku i s the league’s top scorer despite his Everton side being in seventh place. There’s even considerable transfer chatter about the forward returning to Chelsea, who he left in 2014 after failing to secure a regular first- team place.