Tottenham now Manchester City’s biggest threat and can prove it at United | Paul Wilson

Oct 26, 2017

Where London clubs would once battle with Merseyside for supremacy, the challenge has shifted to Manchester – and Spurs have become more dangerous than Arsenal or Chelsea

Nostalgia took over at the weekend when Arsenal beat Everton 5-2 and Liverpool went down 4-1 against Spurs at Wembley. Almost to a person the nation’s subeditors came up with London 9 Merseyside 3 as either a headline or a strap, unintentionally giving away their age and outlook in the process.

Because you would have to go back to the last millennium to remember the days when battles for league supremacy were routinely fought out between London and Merseyside. In terms of league titles, Merseyside has been a trophy-free zone since that heady period in the 1980s when Liverpool and Everton (but mostly Liverpool) took it in turns to finish on top of the pile. The story of the Premier League years has usually been one of a contest between London and Manchester, with just a couple of seasons (Rafa Benítez and Brendan Rodgers) when Liverpool managed to finish runners-up to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United (fact!) or Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City.

If either Merseyside team is seeking inspiration, there is no doubt where they should be looking

Tags: Football Manchester City Manchester United Sport Tottenham Hotspur