Tottenham Hotspur On the Rise?

With Liverpool failing this season, many pundits and professionals alike are beginning to agree that they may not even reach the holy land of the Champions League once more.

Though they still have a chance, if any more injuries to Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres and some may fear for their place in the Premier League, let alone their place in the Champions League.

This leaves other teams in a position they have longed for—to have the ability to control whether or not they are in the Champions League in their hands and and not one of the "Big Four."

The team who stands out is Tottenham. With one of the best English right wingers in Aaron Lennon, and possibly the most incisive and clinical forward in the league in Jermain Defoe, they are flying.

When you compare the amount of good players and good cover Spurs have compared to the other sides, they seem almost a certainty for fourth place at least.

For example, if they lost Defoe to injury or suspension, they have Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch and even the forgotten Roman Pavlyuchenko to call upon. If they lost Aaron Lennon, they have the imprisoned David Bentley to set free.

The list goes on. Go through the same process with Liverpool and there is a different story; if they lose Torres, who steps in? N'gog? He is a decent striker, but he's contemplating taking the Cameroonian FA up on their offer to go to the African Cup of nations, and if they lost Torres in January then they would no doubt suffer even more.

Without the money to buy another striker, and without players to sell, Liverpool are a bit stuck with what they have.

Man City, another team hoping to break into the top four, have limitless options up front, but the way they are playing is limiting these options. Tottenham are working on partnerships in the team.

In the Man City team, they are a team of individuals. The 4-4-2 system Tottenham use is far more team friendly than the 4-3-3 that Man City use, leaving their wingers isolated from both the forwards and the central midfielders.

The only realistic challengers to Tottenham at the moment are Aston Villa. They employ a similar system, are much more disciplined, yet they lack the depth of the Tottenham squad. However, they can make life difficult for Tottenham this weekend with a match at Villa park between the two sides.

If Tottenham can put Villa to the sword, then they may even find themselves third if Chelsea beat Arsenal.