Can Spurs win the league? We’ll find out this week

Title race brought back to life

Only last week football punters were counting down the days until Chelsea were crowned Premier League winners. It looked fully deserved, if a little dull, with fans denied the usual drama attached to following the English top-flight at this time of year.

Fast forward to the first Monday in April and we look to have a race for top-spot on our hands. Spurs haven’t gone away, putting together a recent run reading seven wins and two draws from their last 10 league starts, hoping to cement second-place. They thought their London neighbours were over the hill and off into the sunset.

Difficult week for Conte

Tottenham won again at the weekend, beating Burnley 2-0, but across at Stamford Bridge we saw another capital city club have the biggest say of all – Crystal Palace. The Eagles pulled off a stunning 2-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday – you may have heard it mentioned – meaning there’s now just seven points between first and second.

Still a chunky gap, but with Chelsea playing Man City on Wednesday, and Tottenham matching relegation-threatened Swansea, there’s every chance that lead could be snipped to four. Spurs then open Saturday’s round with a home match vs lowly Watford, so by the time Chelsea travel to Bournemouth for the evening kick-off, there could be a single point in it.

There’s a lot of ifs and buts in that scenario, but it is very possible. Firstly, let’s look at the chances of Man City beating Chelsea on Wednesday. They did leave with all three points in convincing fashion when last stopping by, with a stunning Aguero hat-trick sealing a 3-0 cheer. In fact, their last six trips to Stamford Bridge has seen them lose just twice. That makes Coral’s 2/1 on a Man City win look big enough.