PL Preview: Where Do Tottenham and Liverpool Figure in the Title Pecking Order?

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Updated: August 26, 2016

The problem with The Magnificent Seven is four of them ended up dead. A majority of the gunslingers that rode into lawless Mexican bandit land on a horse, left in a box. The Magnificent Dead would perhaps have been a more apt if somewhat-mawkish title.

In this Premier League season of the great-unknown, Leicester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea have been cast in the remake. Not all of them will ride off into the sunset unscathed. Seven into one doesn’t go, so the majority will likely have more mediocre than magnificent seasons.

The groundswell of opinion among bookmakers has the Manchester clubs as favourites for the title, with Pep Guardiola (Yul Brynner) and Jose Mourinho (Steve McQueen) the likeliest to make it out with limbs, reputations and jobs intact.

Some 56 years on from John Sturges’ classic of the western genre, the odds of survival have improved, if only marginally. Back in 1960, the year the film was made, fourth place was not nearly good enough to qualify for a UEFA Champions League European Cup spot.

Given there are usually about as many candidates for the Premier League summit as there are for the royal throne, to have seven possible contenders (albeit to varying degrees of likelihood) is perhaps the greatest anomaly in the competition’s history.

The Leicester effect has changed the concept of what of is perceived possible. Previously, gradual improvement season-by-season would have been judged quiet success. Now, in light of Claudio Ranieri’s side going from relegation candidates to champions in the space of a season, when coupled with managerial changes at the top, requesting realistic aspirations is tantamount to conceding a dearth of ambition.

Liverpool are a prime example. Last season’s eighth place saw them finish 31 points shy of Leicester, so that’s 10 more victories required this time around to even be in with a sniff of silverware. A tall ask, no doubt, but after Leicester made up a 46-point negative swing on 2014/15 champions Chelsea, precious little can now be dismissed as inconceivable.

If Leicester can improve 14 places in a season, why shouldn’t Liverpool be able to manage six or seven? As for Arsenal, well that’s another story entirely.

Mindsets have changed, and that’s going to make it even more difficult for managers to meet what previously would have been perceived pie-in-the-sky expectations, of the type usually bellowed by men with megaphones in city centres to the chagrin of busy shoppers. The world will end for some supporters whose clubs don’t do a Leicester this season.

In the first two rounds of fixtures, change has trumped continuity.

Even in the infancy stages of reinvention, both Manchester City and Manchester United have shown in pockets of play the essence of their respective new managers in terms of style and set-up.

United have demonstrated a propensity to get the job done with minimum fuss, while City have scored nine times in two away games (Steaua Bucharest and Stoke City) to suggest they should, in the words of Larry David, be pretty, pretty, pretty good when things start to jell. Even the banishing of Joe Hart—according to Sky Sports, Man City are now helping the goalkeeper find a new team—is unlikely to curb the enthusiasm of City supporters for Guardiola.

Evolutions tend to be sped up in the hands of revolutionary leaders.

Antonio Conte has joined fellow new boys Guardiola and Mourinho with a 100 per cent record, having guided Chelsea to two victories from as many league matches. The Italian’s infectious-if-somewhat-pathological desire to win, as demonstrated by some gold-standard touchline antics, has been met with enthusiasm by players and supporters alike. Diego Costa’s late winners against West Ham United and Watford should be the start of a beautiful relationship that one suspects could have gone either way.

In contrast, champions Leicester (to Hull City), Arsenal (to Liverpool) and Liverpool (to Burnley) have all had their noses bloodied in defeat already. Even the most pessimistic of corner men wouldn’t have considered using the towel just yet, but smelling salts have been administered all the same.

As is their wont, Tottenham have gone about picking up four points from six to little fanfare. A draw at Everton may prove to be a decent result this season given they appear to be heading in the right direction under Ronald Koeman, while last weekend’s defeat of Crystal Palace was deserved if a little ring-rusty in parts.

“It was impossible to keep calm!”Mauricio on the celebrations after @VictorWanyama’s winner… #COYShttps://t.co/EzgYMLuYMv

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 20, 2016

In a league all about noise, Spurs are again going about their business with the quiet efficiency that served them so well last season in achieving a highest finish in 26 years. A first title since 1961 eluded them mainly due to Leicester’s relentlessness, but Mauricio Pochettino would accept a late stutter in the closing few weeks played its part, too.

There is room for improvement, and Pochettino will need to eke out every last drop from his players if he is to continue the forward momentum that took Spurs from fifth in his first season to third last term.

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool, Saturday at 12:30 p.m. BST

On Saturday lunchtime at White Hart Lane, Spurs welcome Liverpool to north London. Ahead of the international break, it represents an early hoodoo for Spurs to exorcise, with a failure to beat Liverpool since 2012 having only swelled a growing enmity between supporters of the two clubs.

It will also be a return to the ground where Jurgen Klopp made his bow as Liverpool manager in October of last year.

In a piece for Thursday’s edition of the Guardian, Jonathan Wilson, or perhaps more likely a mischievous sub-editor, asked the question in its headline: “How long will Liverpool keep faith with Jurgen Klopp?”

Has the worm turned so soon on Merseyside?

After just three matches of the new season—all played away from home due to redevelopment work at Anfield—in which Liverpool have scored nine goals; many would deem such an enquiry premature to the point …

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