“?Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has revised his Premier League table prediction after Spurs beat Manchester City 2-0 on Sunday.
Nicholas had previously tipped Manchester United to finish in the top four, and that tip looked a safe bet after Jose Mourinho’s side started the season strongly while Spurs got off to a slow start. The former Celtic forward believed Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool would take the top four positions in the league come the end of the season.
However, having seen Tottenham dominate Pep Guardiola’s City with their aggressive, high energy pressing while United slipped up at home to Stoke, Nicholas has claimed Spurs now look like a team capable of finishing in the top four.
“I’ve changed my mind on Spurs, who do look like a top-four side. Reassessing the situation now, I would probably go Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs in fourth,” “?Nicholas told Sky Sports.
“Mauricio Pochettino’s side have crashed the idea Man City were marching to the title. Every system is vulnerable and Tottenham showed you can still play on the front foot against Guardiola’s team.”
Nicholas is still backing City to win the Premier League despite Sunday’s result, while he expects Arsenal to finish second again with Liverpool breaking back into the top four thanks to their lack of European football this year. Spurs are predicted to finish fourth, with United slipping to fifth.
City looked notably nervy on the ball when pressed by Spurs on Sunday, while the imposing core of Victor Wanyama, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen gifted very little to the previously free-scoring City, who couldn’t break Spurs’ resolute defence down.
Manchester City were previously unbeaten in all competitions, and had won every game in the Premier League before their trip to White Hart Lane. However, an early own goal from Aleksandar Kolarov coupled with a Dele Alli strike broke that undefeated record and cut the gap between first placed City and second placed Spurs to just one point.
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