Are Spurs title contenders?
Spurs have picked up 26 points from their opening 10 games this season and out of the 12 previous sides to have achieved that, 6 of them have gone on to win the title. So are Spurs title contenders?
They have a manager in Ange Postecoglou who knows what it takes to win a league title having won two during his time at Celtic and other titles when managing in Australia and Japan.
They did have managers previously who knew what it took to win a league title in Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. But under Postecoglou, they a much better brand of football and it gives them a better chance of winning games.
The only thing holding back however, is that they have struggled to perform when the pressure's been on them. Aka Spursy. This happened when they were competing with Leicester for the title during the 2015/16 season when they completely blew at the back end of the season. It also happened during the 2020/21 season under Mourinho where they were top around this stage of the season but later blew it and later finished outside the top four.
The Spursy tag will still hang over them but if they can keep up their strong start and stay in a good position towards the end of the season, we'll wait and see.
Watkins, Wilson or Nketiah: Which one will play back up to Kane at the Euro's?
Ollie Watkins has been in fine form for Villa, Callum Wilson has the best goal scoring ratio in the Premier League this season and Eddie Nketiah netted a hat trick for Arsenal in their 5-0 win over Sheffield United. But which one will be Harry Kane's back up at the Euro's?
Watkins is probably leading the way as he's a guaranteed starter for his club which arguably gives him a better chance of making the squad. Wilson and Nketiah meanwhile are occasionally rotated for their respective clubs with Wilson swapping with Alexander Isak at Newcastle and Nketiah swapping with Gabriel Jesus at Arsenal.
Nketiah's hat trick against Sheffield United on Saturday will definitely give him a lot of confidence and with Gabriel Jesus out injured for a few weeks, he'll be determined to make the most of this opportunity. If he can repeat a similar kind of performance during Arsenal's new few games, he could potentially keep his place in the Arsenal team when Jesus comes back. This will give him a great chance of making the final 26 man squad.
The only thing potentially holding Wilson back could be his injury record. He has picked up a number of injuries during his career and especially since he's been at Newcastle. He'll definitely bag a number of goals between now and the end of the season as he has an excellent goal record when fit and his goal record will definitely put him in contention. But there will be questions marks as to whether he'll be fit.
All three will determined to make the final squad and the player who scores the most goals will probably be the one who gets the nod as Kane's back up.
United even further behind City
Man United appeared to make progress under Erik Ten Hag last season by finishing in the top four and winning the Carabao Cup. This season was meant to be the season where they close the gap on City and a lot of people were expecting them to do that. But now they're a lot further behind and their derby defeat on Sunday proved it.
They were no match for City all game as they looked disorganised and had no plan of attack whenever they went forward. They're a team without an identity and their performance in the derby proved it as well as some of their other performances so far this season.
City are the complete opposite as they have a clear identity in the way they want to play and players who know theirs jobs inside out. That is because they have a top class manager and are a club who are better run behind the scenes.
Ten Hag was brought into United to play a pressing style of play but he clearly doesn't have the players to play that style. That is because the recruitment at the club has been terrible for years and still is today as the board aren't backing him to bring in the players he wants.
With the recruitment being as bad as it is and the team lacking an identity on the pitch, United look miles away from winning the title and those two things are why they're further behind City than they were a year ago.
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