A long drawn out October

It all started so well with that 2-0 win over Premier League leaders Manchester City in the first game of the month. A Kolarov own goal and Dele Alli's 37th minute goal gave us the points, and had me crowing "We are contenders"!

We started the month in second place and that win put us just one point behind City. Sadly, it didn't get any better for us with our three remaining League games of the month all drawn. Man City also stuttered with two drawn games before they ended the month on a high (and still at the top) with a return to devastating form and a 4-0 win at The Hawthorns where we had drawn earlier in the month.

City's run with a win co-incided with a rare barren spell for Sergio Aguero, but he put that to rights with two against West Brom. Spurs have had to manage for 9 games without their top scorer of the last two seasons, Harry Kane, who just might be back for the Arsenal game on Sunday. Son Heung-min caught the September headlines with 5 goals in September, but he has played and failed to score in October.

Goals have been so hard to come by with Dele Alli scoring the only goals from open play by a Spurs player, and Janssen scoring twice from the penalty spot. Indeed, Vincent has yet to score for Spurs in a competitive game from open play, but he is being much appreciated by the fans for his back to goal efforts and strength. Those goals will come, perhaps when he plays with Harry.

Although we remain unbeaten in the league, and it is the first time since 1990-91 that we have played our first 10 league matches unbeaten, we have slipped to fifth place behind an ominous looking in-form top four. We will be playing two of those four teams - Arsenal and Chelsea (both away) - in a tough November programme. We will certainly know where we stand at the end of the coming month!

We got a decent point away in Germany, and we are well placed in a tight Champions League Group E. The return match, once again at a sold-out Wembley, is tomorrow. Sadly, the resting of virtually all our first choice players led to defeat at Anfield in the EFL Cup, but only by the odd goal. I still hate to see us go out of a Cup tournament though.

Technically, Toby Alderweireld, who we have also missed for four games, is our October player of the month with a score of 7.65, but that was achieved by playing less than two full games. Michel Vorm scored well in his one game at Anfield, and Lloris, Walker, Rose, Vertonghen and Wanyama also scored consistently well in our games. Sadly, those who have the responsibility for creativity and conversion of goal chances are failing to hit the high spots for Spurs this month.

· Review the 2016-17 Premier League season here

Don't forget to check out the players' current figures re. appearances, cards, goals scored and accumulated ratings to date at the bottom of this page.

...if you want to read reports of the matches played during this season, then links are on the Spurs Odyssey Fixtures/Reports page here. By working your way back through the previous month's figures, you can review the performances over the last 16 years!