Tottenham turn up the heat on rivals ahead of Chelsea clash
Published:Paulinho’s last-minute goal saw Tottenham Hotspur claim a deserved victory at Cardiff, and has led to Andre Villas-Boas’ side being talked about as title contenders.
Having won four of their first five games, Spurs are now 11/1 to win the Premier League, and 5/1 to be best placed if Manchester United and Manchester City are taken out of the equation.
Those odds will drop again if they can beat Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea at White Hart Lane in their next league fixture, a match they are 7/4 to win.
Chelsea lost their last away game at Everton and with Mourinho drawing fire for his treatment of Juan Mata in particular, Villas-Boas has an excellent chance to get one over his old mentor.
Spurs’ defensive record is the best in the Premier League so far, with Olivier Giroud’s goal in the 1-0 north London derby loss the only one they have conceded thus far.
In their past two Premier League matches the introduction of Christian Eriksen has turned them into a slicker attacking unit, even if they only managed to convert three of their 52 shots into goals.
With record signing Erik Lamela starting to make an impact on the side, and Lewis Holtby showing signs of the form that earned him a move from Schalke last season, the future is looking rosy for Spurs.
The Chelsea match will be an accurate bell-weather of what their aspirations should be this season, either aiming for a Champions League place or an unlikely title shot. Villas-Boas’ side are 21/20 to finish in the top four.
Spurs have not beaten Chelsea in any of their past seven meetings, losing 4-2 at home last season when they were on a similarly impressive run of form as in this campaign.
That day they were hampered by the late withdrawal of both Gareth Bale and Mousa Dembele, but this time around the Spurs squad is strong enough to limit the impact one player’s loss can have on their chances.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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