Former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen has issued the stark prediction that Tottenham are out of the Premier League title hunt despite sitting third in the table after a “bad few days” for the club.
The Lilywhites were defeated by Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley, a clash in which the fans saw the last of Heung-min Son before he departs for international duty and worryingly watched Harry Kane limp off the field after the full time whistle.
With Kane’s injury now confirmed to have ruled him out until March, Owen believes their hopes of launching a surprise title bid from third are out of the window.
He wrote on his personal Twitter account: “Bad few days for Spurs. Son leaves for international duty, a defeat at home and now Kane out for 6-8 weeks. Surely it’s a 2 horse race now?”
Bad few days for Spurs. Son leaves for international duty, a defeat at home and now Kane out for 6-8 weeks. Surely it’s a 2 horse race now?
— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) January 15, 2019
Opinion
A bad couple of days might be something of an understatement from Owen, with the Lilywhites losing two of their most important players as well as suffering a defeat to a top four rival on their home turf. There will no doubt be fears that the culmination of issues suffered in north London will see their season capitulate and really those worries are warranted. Kane is the main man at Spurs and his understudy when out of action in recent injury layoffs has been Son. Can Mauricio Pochettino really expect Fernando Llorente to step up to the plate in the next two months and fire Spurs to some success? The unfortunate truth is that he has not shown any sort of form to suggest he can be the Lilywhites’ saviour and so Owen’s stark prediction of no more title hopes looks pretty accurate unless something changes this month. Pochettino will be hoping for some better news before the end of January.