Why a Run of Monday Games Are a Hindrance to Tottenham's Title Bid

Tottenham's next three Premier League fixtures fall on Monday nights. 

First the trip to face Stoke City, then a home meeting with West Bromwich Albion and finally the visit to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge. 

It is both a quirk of fate and a reflection of the increased interest in Spurs' season that they have been selected for three consecutive matches in the prime Monday night slot. 

At Christmas, Tottenham's primary concern seemed to be retaining fourth place and holding off the chasing pack. Any suggestions of a title bid had to be whispered to avoid mockery. 

Surely Spurs would surrender the initiative at some point. Surely they would revert to classic form and fritter away a strong position. Surely the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal would recover from middling starts and prove unmatchable.

None of those things happened and, by early March, Tottenham were second and realistic Premier League title contenders. 

Unfortunately, Leicester City's remarkable consistency has seen them edge away gradually, and they now hold a seven-point lead with five games to play. 

Any hopes Spurs have of ending a five-decade wait for their first division title rest on the increasingly unlikely scenario of a Leicester meltdown. 

Far from having their title hopes in their own hands, Tottenham need something approaching a miracle. 

While Spurs face Stoke, West Brom and Chelsea in succession, their rivals host West Ham and Swansea before a trip to Manchester United. 

None of Leicester's fixtures are straightforward. 

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West Ham have taken great strides this season. They are the only team to have convincingly outplayed Spurs in domestic action and most recently put on a spirited recovery in the 3-3 draw with Arsenal. 

They could easily knock the Foxes off. 

In normal seasons, the Hammers fans might be baying for a surrender to Claudio Ranieri's men in order to help weaken Tottenham's title chances. However, Champions League football remains an outside chance for West Ham, and they won't take Leicester lightly. 

The Swans are unpredictable. Having beaten Arsenal and Chelsea in the last month or so, they have proved they have the quality to take on anyone, and yet they are still not mathematically safe from relegation. 

Of course it would take a hugely unlikely series of events for Swansea to even come near relegation, their table position betrays a weakness that Leicester can be expected to exploit. 

Manchester United are Spurs' most recent victims and their visit to White Hart Lane showed they just aren't very good at football. 

A teenaged academy player, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, was their best player, and his injury coincided with a collapse. 

Playing at Old Trafford, though, the Red Devils could pull out a result which would benefit Tottenham. 

Unfortunately for Spurs, they must simply sit back and wait for their rival to play out each game and hope for fortune to smile upon them. 

Were they scheduled to play ahead of Leicester, they could apply pressure by temporarily closing the gap with victories over any of their upcoming opponents.

Instead, a Leicester victory on any of these weekends extends the Foxes' lead and puts the pressure on Spurs. 

While Mauricio Pochettino's team have done a fine job managing the mental side of their season so far, they don't need the additional headache this fixture list provides. 

Perhaps it could be argued, should Spurs successfully take advantage of a slip-up by the leaders, there will be five days for the pressure to build before the next match. 

There is some truth to that notion, but given Leicester's form, they're more likely to win than not. That will make things more challenging for Tottenham's chase.  

If they are unable to reduce the gap to Leicester during this run of Monday matches, the title race will be decided. 

There will only be six points to play for by the time Tottenham finally return to a weekend fixture, and that could already be too late. 

The very idea of a Spurs title challenge has only been realistic for a handful of months. 

Leicester began 2016 atop the Premier League table and have barely made a misstep since. 

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They've exploited every fortunate turn and kept up a furious pace that no other team has been able to match.

Tottenham have only collected three fewer points than the ladder-leaders since January 1. That would be hugely impressive in any other season, but it is now framed as a disappointment as the title slips further away. 

The fixture list quirk is not a decisive advantage for Leicester City in this title race. 

Spurs already need to win virtually all of their five remaining matches and still hope the Foxes will drop points at a significantly greater rate than they have all season. 

Back-to-back-to-back Monday games do deprive Tottenham of the opportunity to apply any kind of additional stress in this title race. 

On a happier note, a failure to win the league is far from an embarrassment. Rather, for Pochettino's side to even finish second would be a recognition of the great progress they have made under his guidance. 

Second place would be Spurs' best season since 1962–63, and it is an achievement built upon a strong foundation. 

Tottenham will be title contenders again next season.