Spurs swing to summit with Man City in relegation zone of only Premier League table that matters
Another Premier League table with Tottenham at the top? Yes, please. Especially with Treble winners Manchester City second bottom. Pep out.
A quick glance at the plain old Premier League table will tell you that Spurs are flying but we’ve always enjoyed the ever so slightly more advanced method of tracking each team’s progress by measuring this season’s results against those same fixtures last season.
Is that just so we can have another league table with Spurs at the top? We prefer not to speak.
Another flaw is that, clearly, we can’t really include the three promoted sides. Sorry about that. But being around for next season’s edition is surely all the motivation they need to buck their ideas up.
Results against Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton are measured against last season’s efforts against Leicester, Leeds and Southampton respectively where necessary for reasons that are obvious.
Enjoy…
1) Tottenham +11 points
Brentford (a) D 2-2, D 2-2
Man Utd (h) W 2-0, D 2-2
Bournemouth (a) W 0-2, W 2-3
Burnley (a) W 2-5, L 4-1
Sheffield Utd (h) W 2-1, W 4-3
Arsenal (a) D 2-2, L 3-1
Liverpool (h) W 2-1, L 1-2
Luton (a) W 0-1, D 3-3
Have you heard the news? Tottenham are good. Very good. Which was most evident in the win over Manchester United and the derby draw with Arsenal. But perhaps the most telling difference between this glorious campaign that will surely end in title triumph and last season’s dirge could be found in the games away from home against the promoted sides.
Under Ange, they showed the necessary blend of graft and guile to beat Luton with 10 men and Burnley after going behind. Last season, they made Antonio Conte’s head fall off by losing a two-goal lead at Southampton and rolling over to have their bellies ticked by Leicester.
2) Crystal Palace +5 points
Sheffield Utd (a) W 0-1, W 5-1
Arsenal (h) L 0-1, L 0-2
Brentford (a) D 1-1, D 1-1
Wolves (h) W 3-2, W 2-1
Aston Villa (a) L 3-1, L 1-0
Fulham (h) D 0-0, L 0-3
Man Utd (a) W 0-1, L 2-1
Nottingham Forest (h) D 0-0, L 1-0
Palace are perennially under the radar, which is where Roy Hodgson probably prefers them to be. Their record against the same opponents brought identical goalless stalemates with Fulham and Forest, banishing bitter memories from last season, even if they went down to the Cottagers with nine men last Boxing Day. The big difference is flipping the Man Utd result, which is no longer the big deal it used to be.
3) West Ham +4 points
Bournemouth (a) D 1-1, W 0-4
Chelsea (h) W 3-1, D 1-1
Brighton (a) W 1-3, L 4-0
Luton (a) W 1-2, W 1-0
Man City (h) L 1-3, L 0-2
Liverpool (a) L 3-1, L 1-0
Sheffield Utd (h) W 2-0, W 3-1
Newcastle (h) D 2-2, L 1-5
Losing only to City and Liverpool is certainly no disgrace, especially for a manager who appeared doomed like David Moyes last term. At Brighton last season, the travelling fans wanted him out after the Hammers capitulated. None of that this season after a fully-deserved win at the AmEx, while the contrast was equally sharp in the clashes with Newcastle. Last season, they wilted to stay out of the bottom three only on goal difference. On Sunday, they showed plenty of fight to stay in touch with the top four.
4) Liverpool +3 points
Chelsea (a) D 1-1, D 0-0
Bournemouth (h) W 3-1, W 9-0
Newcastle (a) W 1-2, W 0-2
Aston Villa (h) W 3-0, D 1-1
Wolves (a) W 1-3, L 3-0
West Ham (h) W 3-1, W 1-0
Tottenham (a) L 2-1, W 1-2
Brighton (a) D 2-2, L 3-0
If any games illustrated Liverpool’s need for a rebuild, they must have been the humpings at Brighton and Wolves within three weeks of one another early in the new year. Losing to the latter left Liverpool in 10th place. A new midfield later and they’re in the title hunt.
5) Bournemouth: +3 points
West Ham (h) D 1-1, L 0-4
Liverpool (a) L 3-1, L 9-0
Tottenham (h) L 0-2, L 2-3
Brentford (a) D 2-2, L 2-0
Chelsea (h) D 0-0, L 1-3
Brighton (a) L 3-1, L 1-0
Arsenal (h) L 0-4, L 0-3
Everton (a) L 3-0, L 1-0
Three managers across these 16 games but absolutely no wins. Things look bleak but they are actually three points up on last season.
6) Arsenal +2 points
Nottingham Forest (h) W 2-1, W 5-0
Crystal Palace (a) W 0-1, W 0-2
Fulham (h) D 2-2, W 2-1
Manchester United (h) W 3-1, W 3-2
Everton (a) W 1-0, L 1-0
Tottenham (h) D 2-2, W 3-1
Bournemouth (a) W 4-0, W 0-3
Manchester City (h) W 1-0, L 2-1
Six victories out of eight for Arsenal, the difference being not losing when they didn’t win. And the City win, after spending so long as Pep’s b*tches, was bigger than just three points.
7) Chelsea +2 points
Liverpool (h) D 1-1, D 0-0
West Ham (a) L 3-1, D 1-1
Luton (h) W 3-0, L 0-1
Nottingham Forest (h) L 0-1, D 2-2
Bournemouth (a) D 0-0, W 1-3
Aston Villa (h) L 0-1, L 0-2
Fulham (a) W 0-2, L 2-1
Burnley (a) W 1-4, W 1-3
That Chelsea have improved is an indictment on how bad they were last season more than they might claim to be better this term. That said, they and City remain the only clubs to have won all the games on xG and we all know that’s the real test.
8) Newcastle +1 point
Aston Villa (h) W 5-1, W 4-0
Man City (a) L 1-0, L 2-0
Liverpool (h) L 1-2, L 0-2
Brighton (a) L 3-1, D 0-0
Brentford (h) W 1-0, W 5-1
Sheffield Utd (a) W 0-8, D 2-2
Burnley (h) W 2-0, D 0-0
West Ham (a) D 2-2, W 1-5
Things were looking shaky for Eddie Howe after three consecutive league defeats, but they gained only a point in total from those same fixtures last season. Newcastle will be chuffed with incremental improvement while storming the Champions League.
9) Aston Villa: even
Newcastle (a) L 5-1, L 4-0
Everton (h) W 4-0, W 2-1
Burnley (a) W 1-3, W 1-2
Liverpool (a) L 3-0, D 1-1
Crystal Palace (h) W 3-1, W 1-0
Chelsea (a) W 0-1, W 0-2
Brighton (h) W 6-1, W 2-1
Wolves (a) D 1-1, L 1-0
Villa are better but you’ll have to take our word for it since these results offer little in the way of evidence. Even accounting for the spark provided by Unai Emery, the Newcastle and Everton games went the same way they did last season before he took his place in the dug-out.
10) Brentford: even
Tottenham (h) D 2-2, D 2-2
Fulham (a) W 0-3, L 3-2
Crystal Palace (h) D 1-1, D 1-1
Bournemouth (h) D 2-2, W 2-0
Newcastle (a) L 1-0, L 5-1
Everton (h) L 1-3, D 1-1
Nottingham Forest (a) D 1-1, D 2-2
Man Utd (a) L 2-1, L 1-0
Thomas Frank might be pretty chuffed since they have been playing this season without their best striker and a goalkeeper still very much finding his feet until he was benched on Saturday. But for a late capitulation and Scott McTominay going full Van Nistelrooy, they would be comfortably ahead.
11) Nottingham Forest -1 point
Arsenal (a) L 2-1, L 5-0
Sheffield United (h) W 2-1, W 1-0
Man Utd (a) L 3-2, L 3-0
Chelsea (a) W 0-1, D 2-2
Burnley (h) D 1-1, W 2-0
Man City (a) L 2-0, L 6-0
Brentford (h) D 1-1, D 2-2
Crystal Palace (a) D 0-0, W 1-0
Some encouragement to be taken from Forest’s improvement against the big boys. Last season, to Arsenal, Man Utd and City, they lost by an aggregate of 0-14. Much closer this term – 7-3 – with all of the Champions League sides emerging roughed up. Next step: a point or two.
12) Everton -1 point
Fulham (h) L 0-1, L 1-3
Aston Villa (a) L 4-0, L 1-2
Wolves (h) L 0-1, L 1-2
Sheffield Utd (a) D 2-2, D 1-1
Arsenal (h) L 0-1, W 1-0
Brentford (a) W 1-3, D 1-1
Luton (h) L 1-2, L 1-2
Bournemouth (h) W 3-0, W 1-0
Frank Lampard was in charge for five of these games last season and still, somehow, Everton fared better. The big difference is the Arsenal home games. Last season, it was Sean Dyche’s first match in charge and Everton were bang up for it against an Arsenal side who turned in one of their worst performances of the season. This term, Arsenal didn’t have to get out of second gear to beat a weirdly passive Everton side.
13) Brighton -3 points
Luton (h) W 4-1, W 3-1
Wolves (a) W 1-4, W 0-3
West Ham (h) L 1-3, W 4-0
Newcastle (h) W 3-1, D 0-0
Man Utd (a) W 1-3, W 1-2
Bournemouth (h) W 3-1, W 1-0
Aston Villa (a) L 6-1, W 1-2
Liverpool (h) D 2-2, W 3-0
De Zerbi out? In fairness, seven wins and a draw was a hell of record for Brighton through these fixtures last season. They have been very good this season but inconsistency has crept in around over-rotation amid the Seagulls’ first foray into Europe.
14) Manchester United -4 points
Wolves (h) W 1-0, W 2-0
Tottenham (a) L 2-0, D 2-2
Nottingham Forest (h) W 3-2, W 3-0
Arsenal (a) L 3-1, L 3-2
Brighton (h) L 1-3, L 1-2
Burnley (a) W 0-1, W 0-1
Crystal Palace (h) L 0-1, W 2-1
Brentford (h) W 2-1, W 1-0
The Palace defeat is the biggest difference between seasons for Erik ten Hag. That miserable afternoon aside, it’s a very similar story for Manchester United. Which it really wasn’t supposed to be.
15) Wolves -4 points
Man Utd (a) L 1-0, L 2-0
Brighton (h) L 1-4, L 2-3
Everton (a) W 0-1, W 2-1
Crystal Palace (a) L 3-2, L 2-1
Liverpool (h) L 1-3, W 3-0
Luton (a) D 1-1, W 1-2
Man City (h) W 2-1, L 0-3
Aston Villa (h) D 1-1, W 1-0
Wolves haven’t lost any more often through the same games but they have won fewer with draws against Luton and Villa accounting for the difference.
16) Manchester City -6 points
Burnley (a) W 0-3, W 0-1
Newcastle (h) W 1-0, W 2-0
Sheffield United (a) W 1-2, W 1-3
Fulham (h) W 5-1, W 2-1
West Ham (a) W 1-3, W 0-2
Nottingham Forest (h) W 2-0, W 6-0
Wolves (a) L 2-1, W 0-3
Arsenal (a) L 1-0, W 1-2
The Treble winners were perfect through these matches last season, as they were through most of them. They were going great guns here too until Rodri couldn’t resist the temptation to lay hands on Morgan Gibbs-White. Since then, they have lost all three games the Spain midfielder hasn’t played. Coincidence? No, obviously.
17) Fulham -7 points
Everton (a) W 0-1, W 3-1
Brentford (h) L 0-3, W 3-2
Arsenal (a) D 2-2, L 2-1
Man City (a) L 5-1, L 2-1
Luton (h) W 1-0, W 2-1
Crystal Palace (a) D 0-0, W 0-3
Chelsea (h) L 0-2, W 2-1
Sheffield Utd (h) W 3-1, W 2-1
Fulham have won half of the games they triumphed in through these fixtures last season. Not that there’s any cause for alarm. The Cottagers have simply reverted to the mean after six wins in eight (and narrow defeats to the top two in the other fixtures) last season amid some over-achievement.