Spurs' CL hope take a massive hit after loss to Chelsea 

Tottenham’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are getting slimmer day by day. 

By losing 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea on Thursday, Tottenham suffered a second loss to a London rival inside four days in the Premier League– following a 3-2 home defeat to current leaders Arsenal in the north London derby on Sunday. 

Amidst those losses came the confirmation that England will have only four places in next edition’s revamped Champions League, and not five, with Germany and Italy already bagging the extra spots. 

That has added salt to Tottenham’s wounds, who are fifth and seven points behind fourth placed Aston Villa with a game in hand. They still have to face Liverpool and Manchester City in their remaining four fixtures so it is looking more and more unlikely they displace Villa at four. 

Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson scored headed goals in the 24th and 72nd minute for the hosts, who could still find a place in one of the second/third tier European competitions from what has been a dismal Premier LEague campaign for a squad built at an estimate of more than $1 billion.

Chelsea moved above West Ham at eight, two points behind Newcastle and three behind Manchester United. It’s likely that two out of those three sides will be competing in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League the next season.

Spurs have now managed to win only one their last 34 away league fixtures against their fierce rivals Chelsea. Their only victory came in 2018, when Mauricio Pochettino- the current Blues boss- was at the helm of Tottenham. 

"We are in a good place," Pochettino told the BBC. "We have amazing professionals working on set pieces. The team really showed in the way we wanted to build this way to play."

He described the first 45 minutes as fantastic.  "Then you have to contain and suffer."

Chalobah converted a Conor Gallagher free kick to open the scoring. It was yet another goal conceded from a set piece by Spurs and that is now becoming a recurring problem under head coach Ange Postecoglou. 

Jackson, who got his shot partially saved by Vicario and later cleared off the line by Micky Van De Ven in the first half, ultimately scored his goal when he was the first to react after Cole Palmer’s free kick rebounded out off the crossbar. Jackson did well to head the ball into the net given two Tottenham defenders were charging at him. 

Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou looked incandescent in the dugout throughout the first 45 minutes and his team came out of the second half with a lot more verve and resoluteness but without avail. 

"I feel like we've lost a bit of belief and conviction in our football and that is on me to change that," he told Sky Sports. "We were nowhere near good enough. That is on me."

Tottenham are six points clear of the Red Devils and may have to settle for a fifth place finish, which would give them a spot in the following year’s Europa League.