Tottenham kept their foot firmly on the pedal as they extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table by beating Crystal Palace on Friday night as former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger considers them genuine title hopefuls.
Wenger frankly admitted he considers Tottenham to be among four clubs to be in serious contention for the Premier League title courtesy of two summer signings and the redeployment of Son Heung-min.
Despite losing last season’s top scorer and talisman Harry Kane to the Bundesliga in August, Spurs are sitting top of the heap after going unbeaten across their first 10 matches of the season. Their most recent fixture saw them defeat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park with new captain Son Heung-min adding to his goal tally with his eighth league goal of the season.
Wenger is certain Son’s move into the middle is one of a number of factors aiding and abetting Spurs cause when explaining what has impressed him about Ange Postecoglou’s team. While the Frenchman believes his old club Arsenal are in the title race, he believes their neighboring rivals are in serious contention as well.
“I like always to say what I feel, really,” Wenger told beIN Sports.
“Deeply, I believe Tottenham will be one of the contenders for the league.
“They bought Maddison, who is a great player. He is that llink from low midfield to high midfield and added some technical creativity to the team. They bought Van de Ven, who I find absolutely exceptional. They had weaknesses there and last season [Hugo] Lloris had not the best of seasons as well. And the movement from Son into the middle looks very good.”
As for his stance on Spurs as title contenders rather than just top four contenders, the 74-year-old stood his ground, saying: “For the Premier League, I would say Arsenal for me, Liverpool, Tottenham, [Manchester] City of course will always come back,” he said. “They look like the four… at the moment for the Premier League.