Have Chelsea left the door open for Spurs?

For all intensive purposes, the title race was meant to be over before it even begun, with the ever-growing resignation that Chelsea had run away with it producing a sense of déjà vu for us after failing to catch Leicester last season. However, while we may have started to lose faith in tasting Premier League glory for the first time since 1961, Mauricio and his team clearly believe that the title is still up for grabs and are doing everything in their power to bridge the gap at the top. You could understand if any fans believe that the currently deficit of seven points is too much to make up with just eight games to go, but putting our faith in a Spurs side who appear to be riding the crest of a wave in one big final push could be the difference in diverting the route of the title from Stamford Bridge to the Lane. Bookmaker Ratings believe that we could join the list of underdogs who have triumphed against the odds, and while we may need Chelsea to slip up more times than Bambi on ice, opening the door is all the incentive we need to push them to the very limit.

Five straight wins, along with a run that has seen us lose just one of our last fifteen league games, is exactly the sort of form that you need at the business end of the season. More importantly, Spurs have answered a number of questions that have been thrown at them in recent weeks; the team have proven that they can grind out results when they are not at their best, with the superb comeback at Swansea further proof that the winning mentality is flowing throughout the team. To come back from 1-0 down with just two minutes of normal time left to win 3-1 is a true sign that the never-say-die attitude – something that our critics have claimed is the one thing that we do not have that will always keep us from winning anything – is well and truly there. You just sense that once Dele Alli scored the equaliser that we have all the momentum required to win the game, and so it proved as we blew Swansea away. Better late than never, especially when there is so much at stake as the only way we will overhaul Chelsea at the top is to keep the pressure firmly on them.

The sign of true champions is their ability to not only maintain a winning formula, but also be able to handle the pressure when the heat is on. Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace may have taken everyone by surprise, but the manner in which Antonio Conte looked stunned and surprised at what he had witnessed can only bode well for us. It should be noted that he was in a similar position during his days as a player at Juventus, as the Old Lady blew a nine point lead at the top to allow a Lazio side led by Sven-Goran Erikssen to steal the Serie A title from under their noses in 2000. You cannot help thinking that Conte will be reliving the nightmare over in his head and praying that it does not happen to him again as a manager, but although Chelsea’s destiny is still in their own hands, we can only continue to put pressure on them to get results in the hope that they fall off the rails.

All Spurs can do is remain positive, keep winning games and have everything crossed that Chelsea blow it during the last eight games of the season. We are likely to feature in the tipster challenge section on Bookmaker Ratings as good bets to win our upcoming games which look more than presentable, but as has been proved all too often in the Premier League, we can take absolutely nothing for granted. You could argue that even if Spurs are unsuccessful once again in their pursuit of the Premier League title, there are still plenty of positives to take from the progress being made under a manager who is the real deal. However, we should keep believing that we can overhaul Chelsea at the top when there are still plenty of points to play for, and as long as Mauricio and the boys believe it is possible, so should we.