Alan Shearer has said that he expects Tottenham Hotspur to challenge for the Champions League spots right until the very end of the campaign.
The likes of James Maddison, Yves Bissouma, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon, Giovani Lo Celso, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Richarlison have all missed a significant number of matches this season.
Pape Matar Sarr and Son Heung-min are also likely to be added to that list as Senegal and South Korea are expected to go deep in the African Cup of Nations and Asian Cup respectively.
Given the number of absentees and the duration of their absence, it is perhaps a mini-miracle that Spurs are still in touching distance of the Champions League places.
In fact, Ange Postecoglou has not been shy of admitting that Tottenham are in the race for the Premier League (ESPN).
That is an opinion shared by Gary Neville, who said following Spurs’ 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday that they could challenge the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal when they have their key players back fit (Sky Sports).
Where will Spurs finish in the Premier League?
However, Shearer is not convinced of Tottenham’s title credentials, instead backing them to finish in fourth or fifth place this season.
The Newcastle legend told The Rest Is Football podcast about the Lilywhites: “I have been impressed with them and I think they will be there or thereabouts to get into fourth or fifth.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The Premier League table is tighter than it has been at the top for a long time and I do not think Postecoglou and the Spurs players will be looking at the table too often at the moment. Their focus will be on winning each game and seeing where they are when there are around 10 games left to go in the campaign.