5 Games from This Season Tottenham Wish They Could Play Over Again

Tottenham Hotspur's 0-0 draw with Burnley this past Sunday severely dented their hopes of a top-four finish. While it's still mathematically possible, the north London club now require a nearly unblemished conclusion and some dropped points from the clubs ahead of them.

Missing out on Champions League football is not necessarily a major blow for this Tottenham team. Consistently one of the top flight's youngest lineups, there are reasons to be encouraged by the club's direction under head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

Nevertheless, the boss and his players will wonder what might have been had they done better at certain points this season.

The following piece looks at five Premier League games Tottenham wish they could play over again this season.

Naturally, every loss is regrettable. Some are worse than others, but occasionally, they can at least serve as a valuable turning point for a team. Spurs' 2-1 defeat by Stoke City in November is one such loss, as it instigated changes Pochettino's side soon benefited from.

Those recalled here include some of Spurs' worst performances of the 2014-15 season, as well as occasions when they played well but ended up dropping points.

First up, a draw from September.

Saturday, Sept. 13: Sunderland (away) 2-2

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Sunderland celebrate while Tottenham wonder how they ended up drawing 2-2 at the Stadium of Light.

Before derby-winning goals, hat-tricks and England call-ups, one of Harry Kane's first contributions to Tottenham's season was a more unfortunate one. Within five minutes of coming off the bench away at Sunderland, the striker inadvertently turned the ball into his own net to give the Black Cats a 2-2 draw.

Nacer Chadli's second-minute opener had been cancelled out almost straight away by Adam Johnson. Spurs did not let this deter them.

Their football bordered on scintillating at points during the opening hour. Their comfort moving the ball around quickly and purposefully brought more to mind their 4-0 thrashing of Queens Park Rangers in August than the tepid response they had offered up against Liverpool in their previous outing.

Christian Eriksen's 48th-minute goal gave Spurs a deserved lead. But rather than build on their advantage, they gradually conceded the initiative to Sunderland.

They were a little unlucky Kane's own goal proved decisive. Erik Lamela had hit the crossbar, among other chances. Ultimately, they were punished for their inability to control the match.

Saturday, Oct. 18: Manchester City (away) 1-4

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Federico Fazio was sent off in his first Premier League start against Manchester City.

Tottenham's frustration away at Manchester City was not so much due to the result. The champions are rarely beaten at the Etihad Stadium, and on this October day, their sparkling, Sergio Aguero-led attack was on such form they were always going to give their visitors problems.

The disappointment lay in a respectable, potentially galvanising performance instead being regarded as an embarrassing one.

Spurs attacked well up until the early stages of the second half. Their quick response to the first of Aguero's four goals—Roberto Soldado teed up Eriksen—suggested they might be able to hold their own.

Soldado was linking up well with the Dane, and there was solid support from the recently installed midfielder Ryan Mason. They ended up making only one less attempt at goal than the home side, per BBC Sport.

Several reports at the time (including the above linked one by BBC's Chris Bevan) highlighted Soldado's missed penalty as the turning point. Some questionable decisions went against Spurs too.

Already 2-1 down by then, their main problem was the shambolic defending which only made City's job easier.

Silly giveaways in midfield saw Spurs put themselves under unnecessary pressure, while the new central defensive partnership of Federico Fazio and Younes Kaboul struggled to deal with Aguero, David Silva and others.

Fazio, unsurprisingly, looked shellshocked and was eventually sent off. The skipper's clumsy, unfocused performance was arguably the nadir of a run which would soon see him dropped.

Sunday, Oct. 26: Newcastle United (home) 1-2

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Sammy Ameobi is congratulated by his team-mates after drawing Newcastle United level at White Hart Lane.

In their first Premier League match following the hammering by Manchester City, Tottenham will have felt confident of getting back to their winning ways 1-0 up at half-time. They had performed decently in the first half against a Newcastle United side whose form had been even more mixed than their own.

Instead, they promptly presented the Magpies with a way back into the match.

Sammy Ameobi caught right-back Eric Dier daydreaming straight after the interval to tie the game up. Twelve minutes later, Jan Vertonghen was caught ball-watching and Ayoze Perez headed Newcastle in front.

It was the most confusing period of Pochettino's first few months in charge. One marked by the contradiction of the Argentinian's hesitance to change things up in attack and the frequent alterations which were contributing to the defence's inconsistency.

Embodying the feeling of frustration at the time was striker Emmanuel Adebayor. He scored a fine goal at White Hart Lane that day, but was later anonymous when he needed to help his side get back in the game.

Newcastle did well to turn this one around. But Spurs' all-round feebleness allowed it.

Saturday, Jan. 10: Crystal Palace (away) 1-2

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Tottenham's players trudge off at Selhurst Park after they suffered their first loss in over a month.

Nearly three months on from the Newcastle loss, Tottenham suffered another comeback defeat at the hands of another Alan Pardew side. This time it was Crystal Palace.

The cauldron of noise that is Selhurst Park has proved an increasingly tough place to go since the Eagles' Premier League return in 2013. They beat Manchester City on April 6 and have also seen off Liverpool and Chelsea.

In a hard-fought contest, goals from Dwight Gayle and Jason Puncheon got the better of Spurs, who had led through Kane's early second-half goal.

Though it was not one of their better performances over the winter, the difference between Pochettino's team at this point compared to when they last faced Pardew in the league was tangible.

Nonetheless, having been in front, this was still a disappointing result.

Spurs had beaten Chelsea 5-3 in their previous league game and had not lost in over a month. Given they recovered from this loss by winning their next three Premier League fixtures, this aberration will prove costly if they miss out on European qualification.

Tuesday, Feb. 10: Liverpool (away) 2-3

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Mario Balotelli heads in Liverpool's winner.

A couple of the significant elements discussed in this article were on show in this loss at Liverpool.

Good attacking work was undermined by lapses in concentration in defence, gathering momentum was halted by dropped points, and after the previous weekend's north London derby victory, Spurs blew a good chance to push on.

Liverpool were good for their win. Brendan Rodgers' side were in the middle of an excellent run in which they had propelled themselves back into the Champions League chase. They showed resilience and no shortage of quality in seeing off their top-four rivals.

But given the mistakes which led to their goals and the way Spurs had bounced back through Kane and Mousa Dembele's strikes, there was a feeling of what might have been.