Can Tottenham’s dream start really produce a title challenge?

Tottenham Hotspur are the undisputed leaders of the Premier League. It’s a phrase you don’t hear too often, if ever, but a win for Ange Postecoglou’s side at Crystal Palace on Friday will put Spurs five points ahead of the chasing pack, while at less a day, and will increase the club’s prospects. “do a Leicester” this season.

No title winner will ever be more unexpected than Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City who, after narrowly avoiding relegation in the 2014-15 season, defied pre-season odds of 5,000-1 to win the Premier League in 2015-16. It was a historic affair and no outsider has come close to the title since, with Manchester City (5), Chelsea (1) and Liverpool (1) becoming champions in the following seven seasons.

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Arsenal tried their luck last season before Mikel Arteta’s young side faded in recent weeks and ultimately finished five points behind treble winners Manchester City, but even though the Gunners exceeded expectations by battling back even for the title, they at least entered the season. with the stability of an established coach and a stable team.

Tottenham, on the other hand, were in turmoil. Postecoglou had been appointed manager following the club’s failure to tempt Julian Nagelsmann, Arne Slot, Roberto De Zerbi, Vincent Kompany and Mauricio Pochettino to succeed Antonio Conte, and top scorer Harry Kane had made it clear he wanted to leave for Bayern Munich.

Spurs fans began a new campaign to oust Daniel Levy, the club’s longest-serving Premier League chairman, and after missing out on European qualification by finishing in eighth position, a season of decline without Kane’s goals seemed inevitable.

Yet two months into the season, Spurs are on top, undefeated and Postecoglou’s pragmatic positivity has united the fan base and made Kane a distant memory. But at what point does a good start become a sign for the season to come and should Spurs now be considered genuine title contenders?

At this stage last season, Arsenal had set a blistering pace by winning eight games and losing one of their opening nine games and were the team to catch; Spurs are just one point behind Arsenal’s total after the same number of games and they are still unbeaten.

The loss of Kane has yet to make a difference to Tottenham’s goal tally. After nine matches last season, they had scored 20 goals and have scored as many this time. A year ago, Kane accounted for eight of 20 goals, but now Son Heung-Min leads the way with seven, just three shy of his total league output last season. The flip side, however, is that Spurs also started well last season.

After nine games they were third with 20 points – just three short of their current tally – so it would be premature to suggest that Postecoglou has overseen a dramatic transformation. However, things are different. Tottenham’s positive start to last season was punctuated by four Premier League defeats before the start of November and each of those defeats came against teams who finished above them in the table: Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool.

Their next three league defeats followed a similar pattern, losing again to Aston Villa, City and Arsenal – all teams who finished the season in European positions. But Spurs have already emerged from their first big test unbeaten this time around, picking up four points from back-to-back league games against Arsenal and Liverpool.

They also beat Manchester United. Spurs have found a way to take points from their top-of-the-table rivals, but they are also backing it up with wins against teams below them, which is a positive recipe for success. The change in atmosphere brought about by Postecoglou’s unifying presence, as opposed to the constant feeling of conflict with Conte, makes the difference on and off the pitch, but Spurs ultimately win because of their players.

And despite losing Kane, who scored 30 goals in 38 Premier League games last season, Spurs now look like a more complete team thanks to Postecoglou attracting the likes of Son, Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski, but also because that the former Celtic manager had the audacity to make big decisions by dropping established players such as Eric Dier, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Hugo Lloris, with the goalkeeper tasked with finding a new club.

In place of Lloris and Dier, who were no less impressive last season, Postecoglou turned to summer signings Guglielmo Vicario and Micky van de Ven and both were outstanding in goal and center half respectively .

Postecoglou has placed his faith in the talent of midfielder Pape Matar Sarr ahead of Højbjerg, with the Senegal international starting eight of nine Premier League matches – having done so just twice under Conte last season.

Full-backs Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro impressed while James Maddison – with three goals, five assists and the Premier League Player of the Month award under his arm – was instrumental in the team’s success.

The question Tottenham must answer is whether Tottenham have the squad depth to maintain their impressive start, but Leicester also had a small squad in 2015-16 and they still managed to go all the way.

Spurs were one of the closest challengers in the 2015-16 season, but Leicester ultimately won the league by 10 points. Leicester have continually overcome doubters and met every challenge successfully. Spurs need to do it now – Palace are a tough away game, followed by matches against Chelsea, Villa and City in three of their next four games.

But they’ve already come through the decisive test against Arsenal and Liverpool and they remain top and undefeated, so it’s time to take Tottenham seriously.