PL Preview: Where Do Tottenham and Liverpool Figure in the Title Pecking Order?

The problem with The Magnificent Seven is four of them ended up dead. A majority of the gunslingers that rode into lawless Mexican bandit land on a horse, left in a box. The Magnificent Dead would perhaps have been a more apt if somewhat mawkish title.

In this Premier League season of the great unknown, Leicester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea have been cast in the remake. Not all of them will ride off into the sunset unscathed. Seven into one doesn't go, so the majority will likely have more mediocre than magnificent seasons.

The groundswell of opinion among bookmakers has the Manchester clubs as favourites for the title, with Pep Guardiola (Yul Brynner) and Jose Mourinho (Steve McQueen) the likeliest to make it out with limbs, reputations and jobs intact.

Some 56 years on from John Sturges' classic of the western genre, the odds of survival have improved, if only marginally. Back in 1960, the year the film was made, fourth place was not nearly good enough to qualify for a UEFA Champions League European Cup spot.

Given there are usually about as many candidates for the Premier League summit as there are for the royal throne, to have seven possible contenders (albeit to varying degrees of likelihood) is perhaps the greatest anomaly in the competition's history.

The Leicester effect has changed the concept of what of is perceived possible. Previously, gradual improvement season by season would have been judged quiet success. Now, in light of Claudio Ranieri's side going from relegation candidates to champions in the space of a season, when coupled with managerial changes at the top, requesting realistic aspirations is tantamount to conceding a dearth of ambition.

Liverpool are a prime example. Last season's eighth place saw them finish 31 points shy of Leicester, so that's 10 more victories required this time around to even be in with a sniff of silverware. A tall ask, no doubt, but after Leicester made up a 46-point negative swing on 2014/15 champions Chelsea, precious little can now be dismissed as inconceivable.

If Leicester can improve 14 places in a season, why shouldn't Liverpool be able to manage six or seven? As for Arsenal, well, that's another story entirely.

Mindsets have changed, and that's going to make it even more difficult for managers to meet what previously would have been perceived pie-in-the-sky expectations, of the type usually bellowed by men with megaphones in city centres to the chagrin of busy shoppers. The world will end for some supporters whose clubs don't do a Leicester this season.

In the first two rounds of fixtures, change has trumped continuity.

Even in the infancy stages of reinvention, both Manchester City and Manchester United have shown in pockets of play the essence of their respective new managers in terms of style and setup.

United have demonstrated a propensity to get the job done with minimum fuss, while City have scored nine times in two away games (Steaua Bucharest and Stoke City) to suggest they should, in the words of Larry David, be pretty, pretty, pretty good when things start to jell. Even the banishing of Joe Hart—according to Sky Sports, City are now helping the goalkeeper find a new team—is unlikely to curb the enthusiasm of City supporters for Guardiola.

Evolutions tend to speed up in the hands of revolutionary leaders.

Antonio Conte has joined fellow new boys Guardiola and Mourinho with a 100 per cent record, having guided Chelsea to two victories from as many league matches. The Italian's infectious-if-somewhat-pathological desire to win, as demonstrated by some gold-standard touchline antics, has been met with enthusiasm by players and supporters alike. Diego Costa's late winners against West Ham United and Watford should be the start of a beautiful relationship that one suspects could have gone either way.

In contrast, champions Leicester (to Hull City), Arsenal (to Liverpool) and Liverpool (to Burnley) have all had their noses bloodied in defeat already. Even the most pessimistic of corner men wouldn't have considered using the towel just yet, but smelling salts have been administered all the same.

As is their wont, Tottenham have gone about picking up four points from six to little fanfare. A draw at Everton may prove to be a decent result this season given they appear to be heading in the right direction under Ronald Koeman, while last weekend's defeat of Crystal Palace was deserved if a little ring-rusty in parts. 

In a league all about noise, Spurs are again going about their business with the quiet efficiency that served them so well last season in achieving a highest finish in 26 years. A first title since 1961 eluded them mainly due to Leicester's relentlessness, but Mauricio Pochettino would accept a late stutter in the closing few weeks played its part, too. 

There is room for improvement, and Pochettino will need to eke out every last drop from his players if he is to continue the forward momentum that took Spurs from fifth in his first season to third last term. 

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool, Saturday at 12:30 p.m. BST

On Saturday lunchtime at White Hart Lane, Spurs welcome Liverpool to north London. Ahead of the international break, it represents an early hoodoo for Spurs to exorcise, with a failure to beat Liverpool since 2012 having only swelled a growing enmity between supporters of the two clubs.

It will also be a return to the ground where Jurgen Klopp made his bow as Liverpool manager in October of last year.

In a piece for Thursday's edition of the Guardian, Jonathan Wilson, or perhaps more likely a mischievous sub-editor, asked the question in its headline: "How long will Liverpool keep faith with Jurgen Klopp?"

Has the worm turned so soon on Merseyside?

After just three matches of the new season—all played away from home due to redevelopment work at Anfield­—in which Liverpool have scored nine goals, many would deem such an enquiry premature to the point of being impertinent.

In fairness, the piece is broadly in praise of Klopp and more about modern football's obsession with instant results, as opposed to questioning the German's capabilities with any real vigour.

That it exists at all says much about the current climate.

Given Klopp has a contract until 2022, and commands as close to universal support as you are ever likely to get among any fanbase made up of disparate voices, he's not going to be looking over his shoulder anytime soon. Indeed, his footing seems so assured on Merseyside, he would likely be able to scale Mount Everest without crampons were it plonked in the middle of Anfield. 

A famed knowledgeable support, priding itself on being uninfluenced by a "sack first, think later" culture that has permeated the Premier League like ivy eating its way into the side of a derelict building, seem nonplussed with the suggestion Liverpool's startling lack of consistency reflects poorly on Klopp.

The German gets Liverpool, and Liverpool get him. That won't stop outsiders from lobbing the odd grenade.

As eye-poppingly good as Liverpool were in an eviscerating 18-minute spell at Arsenal on the opening weekend to go from 1-0 down to 4-1 up, they were as equally prosaic and ponderous at Burnley a week later. In falling to a 2-0 defeat against a newly promoted side, whose biggest summer outlay prior to the signing of Steven Defour had been the heightening of their floodlights, a familiar feeling of after the Lord Mayor’s show was unavoidable.

Klopp will point to Liverpool's 26 shots to Burnley’s three, 12 corners to one and 80.4% possession. His detractors will point back at a points per game ratio of 1.59 over his first 10 months in charge, compared to Brendan Rodgers' 1.88.

Everyone knows Liverpool with Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Daniel Sturridge in full flow can cut apart any side willing to come at them and leave space on the counter-attack, but time and again, against teams willing to sit deep in solid banks, they fall short in terms of finding a way to unlock the door.

As Wilson notes, there's an argument Klopp is still untangling the knots he inherited. It's a point lessened somewhat, though, when considering Rodgers was hardly handed a blank canvas when he succeeded Kenny Dalglish either. If he did, it was probably painted pitch black on the other side.

Either that, or his predecessor's face was sketched on it, like a Scouse version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, which if nothing else would explain the pearly splendour of Rodgers' teeth. 

Tottenham and Pochettino are always an interesting yardstick to measure Liverpool against. The two clubs have somehow seemed intertwined in recent years. For Liverpool's unexpected title tilt of 2013/14, read Tottenham's last season. 

What Klopp desperately needs to address in terms of Liverpool's porousness at the back was what Pochettino worked out last term. From conceding more goals than relegated Hull City in 2014/15, Spurs had the Premier League's most frugal defence in letting in just 35 goals all season. The most modern of managers quickly realised the old adage that the best sides are built from the back still rings true.

Having been breached twice at Burnley, Liverpool have now conceded 22 goals in their last 11 away games. In 19 league games away from the capital last season, Tottenham conceded 20 in total.

After 10 months in the job, it hardly seems outlandish to think Klopp should have worked out his best centre-half partnership by now. Joel Matip alongside Dejan Lovren looks to be a preferred long-term solution, with the popular Mamadou Sakho seemingly on his way out.

Cameroon international Matip made a belated and uneventful debut in midweek against Burton Albion, with Klopp surely tempted to start him again on Saturday. His aerial prowess should aid Liverpool's perennial problem with defending set pieces, but what they need more than anything is an organiser and leader. Whether Matip is that man remains to be seen.

James Milner at left-back looks a square peg in a round hole, while there are Liverpool supporters queuing around the block offering to dig one that fits Alberto Moreno.

However Klopp shuffles his defensive personnel, if he can't fashion a cohesive back four, the pretty patterns weaved by Coutinho and Co. in front of it will be like building a palace on sand. Title applications with a ropey defence on the CV are unlikely to make it to the interview stage, yet alone snag the prize.

Talking of holes, Sturridge turned up to training last week with a shovel after having made clear in no uncertain terms that he's not a winger, per the Guardian.

Klopp says Sturridge’s outspokenness isn't an issue. There will be plenty of speculation with regards how much of an issue it isn't, should he leave the England man out on Saturday.

Klopp's employment of Jordan Henderson as a defensive midfielder is another tactical switch that has bewildered many.

Drawing parallels between Klopp and Pochettino when the two sides meet is unavoidable.

Both claim their footballing philosophies are different beasts, and to a nuanced eye, that may indeed be the case, but in layman's terms, a predilection for pressing is at the heart of what they do.

"This game is completely different to the last two we played. They are a pressing team. They don't give away a lot of spaces," said Klopp, who could have been describing his own side, per Sky Sports.

Pochettino likes his sides to press all the way up to the goalkeeper and dominate the ball in the opposition half. Klopp's gegenpressing is more about the counter-attack and coordinated hunts for the ball when out of possession. Discussions about pressing can be pretty dry, so it's perhaps worth reiterating you can enjoy, appreciate even, your meal at a steakhouse even if you're not quite sure whether you've just polished off a tenderloin or T-bone.

Both roll their eyes whenever the topic of the transfer window interrupts serious football talk. The usually gregarious Klopp snapped when asked of possible movements before the Burton game in midweek.

"I really wait for the day when finally the transfer window is closed, because I can't believe how obsessed you all are with this," he said, per the Liverpool Echo's Neil Jones. "You don’t believe for a second in improvement on the training pitch."

For any manager who sees his primary role as being on the training field, it's not hard to imagine why life in the goldfish bowl of the Premier League can prove frustrating. Pesky matches can seem like a sub-plot to transfer activity at times in English football; something to get out of the way before everyone can concentrate on the interesting stuff.

Without wishing to be overly pious, it's refreshing to see managers keen to work with what they have already, as opposed to insisting spending is the only way to progress.

The pair are Arsene Wenger-like in terms of their respective transfer mantras. Philosophically at odds with what they are being asked to spend, they are nonetheless pragmatic enough to loosen the purse strings when needs must. With the Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum signings, Klopp showed a willingness to put his neck on the block that would have delighted Arsenal supporters tired of the conservation of their own manager.

Pochettino favours an organic approach. Statement signings hold no appeal. A move for Wilfried Zaha would give him the type of raw talent he loves to work with, but otherwise, he insists he is content with the additions of Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama. No wonder Daniel Levy loves him so much. Both could peel a melon in their pocket without anyone noticing. 

His best signings usually go under the radar, at least until they come good. No trumpeters were booked to welcome the arrivals of Dele Alli or Toby Alderweireld, yet the pair are two of the finest signings in recent Premier League years.

The one black mark against Pochettino is when he has spent big. His most expensive signing at Southampton, the Argentinian striker Pablo Osvaldo from Roma, was an unmitigated disaster. The biggest impact he made at St Mary's was on the forehead of Jose Fonte in a training-ground bust-up. Heung-Min Son has hardly set the world alight for Spurs either.

Behind the smiles, both Pochettino and Klopp are hard men. The Argentinian clears out players he no longer requires as ruthlessly as he did opposition strikers in his playing days. It seems he enjoys shedding his squad of any excess fat, as much as he does adding to it. Among others, Alex Pritchard, DeAndre Yedlin and Nabil Bentaleb have all been purged over the summer, joining Emmanuel Adebayor, Andros Townsend, Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson in learning Pochettino can be ruthless when a player's time is up. Klopp is similarly cutthroat.

"The rule is very clear: if you are not part of my plans, why are you training with us," Pochettino said, per the Evening Standard, sounding a little like a Godfather relieving one of his henchman of mob duties.

Pochettino is one of those rare coaches who can make players look better, as opposed to the other way around.

Kane, Alli, Alderweireld, Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele, Erik Lamela, Danny Rose, Kyle Walker et al have looked better when playing under his tutelage than ever before. At Southampton, Lovren, Jay Rodriguez, Adam Lallana and Calum Chambers similarly found the most consistent periods of their careers when working with the Argentinian.

A famed commitment to blooding young players happy to adhere to his philosophies saw him ditch £26 million Roberto Soldado in favour of Kane, then still a leggy pup willing to chase after lost causes as a dog does a stick.

If he can similarly work his Midas touch on Janssen to relieve the goalscoring burden on his main man, there's no reason why Tottenham shouldn't mount a title tilt as credible as last season's. Kane and Janssen worked as a pair against Palace, but Liverpool are a different prospect, with different tactics.

The temptation will be to recall Alli to stem a fluid Liverpool midfield and avert the risk of being overrun. Just three games in and Pochettino will face a big call in whether to drop Kane or Janssen, should he wish to accommodate the heartbeat of last term's midfield.

As ever with games at this juncture in the season, we will learn a little from Saturday and from such morsels likely draw some overarching conclusions. In answer to the title of this piece, regardless of what transpires at White Hart Lane, it's just far too early to say.

For now, all of the magnificent seven remain on horseback.