Tottenham are top-four contenders despite their implosion at Brighton

Dominic Solanke has started the season strongly for Tottenham and been rewarded with an England call up (Picture: Getty Images)

Here’s today’s starter for ten: what’s the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery? 

Well, a graveyard lies in the grounds of a church while a cemetery is on common land.

Both, though, have been described as the place where Tottenham’s dreams of a successful season have been laid to rest following their 3-2 defeat at Brighton on Sunday following a second half manager Ange Postecoglou described as ‘unacceptable’.

It was the tenth time since the Premier League’s inception the boys from N17 have lost a match after leading by two goals, which is an unwanted record.

But don’t be too quick in adding fuel to the fire by calling them ‘Spursy’ because it’s more complex than that.

Tottenham were a joy to watch in the first 45 minutes and would have been ahead inside 30 seconds if Timo Werner had found the unmarked Brennan Johnson with an accurate pass.

The former Nottingham Forest winger soon opened the scoring with his sixth goal in consecutive matches and James Maddison doubled the lead just before the interval with the Seagulls thanking their lucky stars they weren’t three or four down by then.

It was the thrilling brand of exquisite entertainment which had pundits purring as Spurs overwhelmed Manchester United and Brentford in their previous league outings and shows how dangerous they are when on top of their game.

The way they threw in the towel in the second half is alarming and shows there are speed bumps lying along the path to progress under Big Ange’s leadership but they lost because of individual errors and not because they kept attacking at full throttle.

Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte preferred the more cautious approach, shutting up shop whenever possible, and where did that get them? If Tottenham keep dominating play and crushing opponents the way they did for more than two hours from Brentford’s trademark early strike to Brighton’s first goal at the Amex two minutes after the restart, they will be fine.

Brennan Johnson has been lights out for Spurs (Picture: Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Back them with confidence at 3/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair to finish in a Champions League position.

Let’s not forget that Aston Villa and Chelsea also underwhelmed at the weekend and while Spurs’ top-four chances were sent to the chapel of rest, in some quarters they are still alive and kicking.

• Defending champion Luke Humphries is 6/4 with Ladbrokes and Coral to win his second-round match against Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko at the World Grand Prix in straight sets. 

• Seamus Power has averaged 67.75 strokes in his last 28 rounds on the PGA Tour after finishing tied 11th at the Sanderson Farms last week. The Irshman is worth an each-way interest in this week’s inaugural Black Desert Championship in Utah at 22/1 with William Hill, Paddy Power and Betfair. 


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