HITC Sport’s poll asking who Chelsea’s nearest rival will be threw up some interesting results, perhaps none more interesting than Tottenham Hotspur’s share of the vote.
HITC Sport’s poll asking who Chelsea’s nearest rival will be in this season’s Premier League title race provided a clear winner. And while a glance at the current table may mean that few are surprised to see Tottenham come out on top, their margin of victory could certainly be deemed a surprise.
Are Tottenham slowly becoming North London’s number one team?
The five teams currently looking to put pressure on Antonio Conte’s men are only separated by just five points, and yet, Tottenham pulled in a staggering 54% of the vote, more than double the number of votes the next most popular team received.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino’s men are second, but what made such a large number of readers so convinced that they would be the Blues’ biggest rival?
Spurs have suffered fewer defeats than any other team having lost just twice in the Premier League all season, and they boast the best defensive record. They have conceded just 16 goals, while the next best team who also featured in the poll, Manchester United, have let in 21 goals.
And of course, it must be remembered that while they tailed off towards the very end, it was Tottenham who were the last team standing between Leicester and the title last year, so they are not completely out of their depth when it comes to knowing what a race can be all about.
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But if they fail to beat Liverpool this weekend, it seems difficult to imagine that a similar poll would see Spurs win by such an emphatic margin.
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