Can Spurs challenge for a Champions League spot this season?

Mauricio Pochettino will take charge of Spurs for his first north London derby against Arsenal in the late kick-off on Saturday

Tottenham face north London rivals Arsenal in the late kick-off in the Premier League on Saturday.

Spurs will head into the game on the back of an inconsistent start to their season.

There have not been major changes to the Spurs squad this summer, but there has been a change of boss.

Philosophy

Mauricio Pochettino has a very clear football philosophy, one which should be conductive to the players at his disposal.

Traditionally Spurs like to play attacking, passing football. That is the Argentinian’s style, possession-based, attacking football.

Maybe the Argentinian has not got his ideas across to his players just yet, as the results have not been great for the men from north London.

Arguably their worst display of the season came in their last Premier League outing against West Brom, when they suffered a 1-0 home defeat.

Goals

In two of their last three Premier League games Spurs have failed to find the back of the net and the lack of a truly top-class striker could cost them this season. Spanish striker Roberto Soldado has still not found his feet at White Hart Lane, but has hardly spent much time on the pitch this season.

In fact the former-Valencia star has made just two substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, amounting to 41 minutes on the pitch. He seems to have been low on confidence for much of his Spurs career and a lack of games is hardly going to help his situation.

Emmanuel Adebayor has scored one Premier League goal so far this season and has not exactly looked at his best. The Togo striker can blow so hot and cold at times. Some days he is on fire and some days he looks like a Sunday league player who has hit the town the night before.

Youngster Harry Kane’s only Premier League goal this season was a rather unfortunate own goal to hand Sunderland a point two weeks ago. The youngster does seem to have potential, but he needs experience and Spurs need a readymade option.

The fact that Belgian attacking midfielder Nacer Chadli is currently Spurs top scorer with three goals says it all about their strikers.

However, it is not just the strikers fault. The midfielders have to start creating more opportunities. The likes of Christian Eriksen, Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela are supposedly attacking, creative flair players. Then there is Andros Townsend, Paulinho and Aaron Lennon, again all supposed to be useful in the final third.

They are not producing enough at the moment and Spurs look flat in attack. Spurs did look more dangerous in the 3-1 Capital One Cup third round game against Nottingham Forest.

Tottenham are unlikely to field the same line-up though, with the likes of Paulinho and Lennon looking set to be relegated to the bench for the visit across north London to the Emirates. Pochettino needs to come up with a consistent line-up and quick.

Competition

The competition for a Champions League place this season looked like it was going to be stiffer than ever. The relative poor starts to the campaign of the likes of Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City mean that some unexpected names are currently occupying the top four.

League leaders Chelsea were of course expected to be in the top four. However, Southampton are second in the table and Aston Villa third, after both made good starts to their Premier League campaigns.

It seems unlikely that the pair will last the distance, despite their bright starts to the campaign. Spurs indifferent start to the campaign has just mirrored a lot of the teams who finished around them in the table last season.

Underdogs

Spurs head to their arch-rivals very much as underdogs. The Gunners have won four out of the last five north London derbies and Spurs inconsistent form so far this season will only add to Arsenal’s tag as favourites.

Derbies have the tendency to surprise, produce unexpected results, but a Tottenham win at Arsenal would not be the biggest derby surprise ever.

Improvement

If Tottenham are going to get anything from the north London derby then they will need to put in a far improved performance from their recent Premier League displays, or the Gunners will probably claim victory.

The season is still young and Tottenham have the time to recover and challenge for a place in the top four this season. However, with Spurs’ lack of consistent performances so far this season I definitely would not bet on them claiming a top four spot this season.

Can Spurs challenge for a Champions League spot this season?