Front Four disappointed
The headline refers not to the fact that none of the top four won in this round of Premier League games, but the fact that Spurs' front four players (and even the attacking substitutes) disappointed at The Stadium of light on Tuesday night. Mousa Dembele was voted your Spurs man of the match with the lowest winning vote this season by an outfield player.
It is a fact that of the top six teams, only Man City won - 4-0 last night at The London Stadium, which became almost deserted well before the final whistle apart from the celebrating City fans. West Ham's recent signings Jose Fonte and Robert Snodgrass might have wished they had either stayed at their previous clubs, or that they had chosen differently. City are 12-1 up on aggregate in their three games against West Ham this season. Hammers' fans wil be happy they are not meeting again, and all they have to look forward to with 15 games left is their "Cup Final" against Spurs in May.
Plucky Hull succeeded in holding out at Old Trafford to climb above bottom placed Sunderland. Hull, led by former Spur Michael Dawson, also managed to upset Jose Mourinho, who walked out on the post-match BBC interview. Who can honestly warm to Mourinho these days? Not me.
Other ex-Spurs players had a good night at The Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, when Younes Kaboul scored a deflected goal after a Watford free kick, and Etienne Capoue (who scored 4 goals in Watford's first 5 Premier League games this season) effectively created Watford's second goal with a great run and a shot that Petr Cech could not hold, allowing Deeney to follow up. Kaboul last scored at The Emirates when playing for Spurs of course in our 3-2 win in November 2010!
With Arsenal at Chelsea on Saturday lunch-time, and more points to be dropped by one or both our competitors, it's up to Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs to make sure they assert their authority against Middlesbrough at tea-time. A major worry for Spurs is the knee injury to Danny Rose, which has not been fully disclosed as yet, but which does make him a serious doubt for our next few games.
If you are thinking about having a bet on this week-end's matches, you might like to look at this in-play soccer betting guide.
A word about referee Lee Mason, who was highly criticised for not sending off Jack Rodwell for his danagerous high challenge upon Dembele. Mr. Mason, who is one of our worst rated current referees got a mark of only 3.7 from Spurs Odyssey voters, which is one of his worst marks (not the worst!) since he was in charge when Sunderland last beat Spurs in April 2010! We must hope not to see Mr. Mason again anytime soon.
· See the spursometer in full.
Premier League results 31.01- 01.02.17
Arsenal 1-2 Watford
B'mouth 0-2 C. Palace
Burnley 1-0 Leicester
M'brough 1-1 West Brom
S'derland 0-0 Spurs
Swansea 2-1 S'hampton
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
West Ham 0-2 Man City
Man Utd 0-0 Hull
Stoke 1-1 Everton
Premier League Table
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Chelsea 23 18 2 3 48-16 32 56
2. Spurs 23 13 8 2 45-16 29 47
3. Arsenal 23 14 5 4 51-25 26 47
4. Liverpool 23 13 7 3 52-28 24 46
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5. Man City 23 14 4 5 47-28 19 46
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6. Man Utd 23 11 9 3 33-21 12 42
7. Everton 23 10 7 6 34-24 10 37
8. West Brom 23 9 6 8 31-29 2 33
9. Stoke 23 7 8 8 29-35 -6 29
10. Burnley 23 9 2 12 25-33 -8 29
11. West Ham 23 8 4 11 29-40 -11 28
12. S'hampton 23 7 6 10 23-28 -5 27
13. Watford 23 7 6 10 27-39 -12 27
14. B'mouth 23 7 5 11 32-41 -9 26
15. M'brough 23 4 9 10 19-26 -7 21
16. Leicester 23 5 6 12 24-38 -14 21
17. Swansea 23 6 3 14 28-52 -24 21
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18. C. Palace 23 5 4 14 32-41 -9 19
19. Hull 23 4 5 14 20-47 -27 17
20. S'derland 23 4 4 15 20-42 -22 16
