Premier League Review - Kane could help Spurs beat Liverpool to Champions League

Harry Kane can help Spurs qualify for Europe

Against West Ham United he was back to his best. He now has eight goals in five games for Spurs after a slow, goalless start to the season. Spurs are undefeated in 12 Premier League games, two points behind Arsenal who occupy the last Champions League qualification spot.

Spurs have form for throwing away excellent chances to play in the Champions League and overtake Arsenal in the process, and in many ways it feels just the same. It is only November, and they face competition from Liverpool and Leicester for the spot that Chelsea have vacated.

However, as impressive as Leicester have been their run of form feels more unsustainable than Spurs. Mauricio Pochettino has been building a solid platform, and this summer his side shed 22 players and brought in just five. There is an understanding about how to play, and it is becoming more effective as the new players adjust to the side, and vice versa. Against West Ham they were defensively sound and in attack they were well drilled, able to play at pace not just on the wings but through the middle, even when West Ham sat back and defended deep.

If Kane can keep up his recent form - the one we remember from last season - then you would imagine they are best placed to replace any of Arsenal, Leicester or United should they fall off the pace. Liverpool might fancy their chances, but for all Jurgen Klopp’s talent, Pochettino has had a year longer to make the changes he wanted, and he doesn’t have to deal with Mamadou Sakho or Dejan Lovren.

Leicester keep scoring, but there’s a reason they might not keep this up

Jamie Vardy scored in his 10th consecutive Premier League game against Newcastle United, as Leicester City made their way to the top of the table. It is a remarkable achievement by any player. Having said that, given he was racially abusing Japanese people in the summer, there’s no need to go overboard in saying nice things about him, and it’s odd that people are so eager to airbrush that moment from the season as they fall over to praise his ascent from non-league football to the national team. It’s not as if they’d be as forgiving of John Te… Oh.

The other aspects of Leicester are no less enjoyable for this problem, though. Riyad Mahrez has continued to play the kind of football which, at 24, promises still more improvement and one would expect he will end up regularly playing in the Champions League rather than the Premier League.

However, it remains unlikely that he will be doing that for Leicester, and it is still probable that despite being top of the league at the moment, they won’t qualify for the Champions League next season. It is obvious to say that it’s unlikely that Vardy’s goalscoring record will have to settle down at some point, but that’s not the most worrying factor. Although they kept a clean sheet against Newcastle, they have already conceded 20 goals this season. This is the worst defensive record of any of the top 14 in the league, and suggests that they are ultimately going to stop being able to outscore their opponents so regularly.

Of course, they could play the last two-thirds of the season with similar success, but the chances seem slim. Before the year is out they must play Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton, Liverpool and Swansea City. Only in one of those will they be clear favourites. It will be easier to judge their prospects after they have negotiated these tougher opponents.

Liverpool enjoy their new manager bounce

Liverpool played exceptionally compared to their most recent performances under Brendan Rodgers. They looked interested, energetic and committed, and they had Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho hint at developing a dangerous understanding in attack. Christian Benteke is adjusting to Liverpool acceptably, and Liverpool’s defence was far more resilient than it has been of late. Dejan Lovren even managed to stand upright for most of the match.

City, though, were terrible. Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis were at their worst, and Fernando was back to play well within the limits of human endeavour. Yaya Toure was overrun, more lumbering than incisive, as he can be occasionally. They have often struggled with Manuel Pellegrini’s conservatism, and so it seemed on Saturday. It also seemed as if they would continue the trend of struggling after a week interrupted by travel, most clearly seen in Champions League weeks, but this time after international duty.

The longer the season goes on, the less it appears that players were really inspired by Pellegrini. At the season’s start it seemed they were happy to renew their efforts under this grey chap, but it now appears a fluke rather than a sustainable change.

So, while Klopp and Liverpool can be hopeful, things will are by no means fixed. The squad still has many poor players, they are simply playing better than under Rodgers. Transfers are needed and deadwood has to be flung into the woodchipper of Greek and Portuguese football. There’s every chance that any manager would be enjoying an uplift in results after the miserable end under Rodgers. This is not a criticism: Liverpool fans can hope for much more to come under a manager with Klopp’s track record.

Manchester United recall the days of Ferguson with mixed blessings

Towards the end of his time at Manchester United, Alex Ferguson was known as a tinkerman, not playing the same starting eleven in consecutive matches for 166 games. It worked more often than not, but the stat represented two main qualities. Ferguson meddled with the tactics of his side more than he really needed to, and secondly, the force of his personality contributed to an aura of inevitability of ultimate victory.

Bad sides and bad decisions were ultimately overcome by the quality of players in the United side, even if they were playing the wrong way, and much of this was because opponents were fearful of defeat, knowing other sides had often capitulated late on in games. It was a cycle which was constantly being reinforced. That expectation was first seriously damaged under David Moyes, and wiped out in Louis van Gaal’s first season. There were late goals and late wins, but there was no sense of an upheld tradition, more that these victories were lucky escapes.

The late winner against Watford, forced by Bastian Schweinsteiger recalled Ferguson more than the handful of other winners in the last two years, though. Coming when the days are cold, with a marked increase in pressure as the side chased three points, are much more familiar. The problem for Van Gaal is that it came after yet more ridiculous tinkering. Shifting from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2, for no justifiable reason, took United from a position of domination to a rudderless side against Watford. It will take a new manager before United get back their swagger and certainty.

Arsenal are Arsenal

November, injuries, losing to a Tony Pulis side. Other people will write hundreds of words describing what we already know and expected. There’s plenty of time to put it right for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, and there’s a winter transfer window if they really want to take advantage of a poor league. They have an exceptionally easy run of fixtures, even with their injury list, until Manchester City on 21 December. A changed Arsenal will exploit that, the same old Arsenal will throw it away.