Tottenham’s UCL hopes fading fast

London, May 3

Tottenham’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are getting thinner by the day.

By falling 0-2 at Chelsea on Thursday, Tottenham slumped to a second loss to a London rivals in the space of four days in the Premier League — after a 2-3 home defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby on Sunday.

In between those losses came confirmation that England will have just four places in next season’s expanded Champions League, and not five.

That’s another blow to Spurs, who are fifth and stayed seven points behind fourth-place Aston Villa with one game in hand. They still have to play Liverpool and Manchester City in their remaining four games, so it is looking increasingly unlikely they will close the gap to Villa.

“We lacked belief and conviction in our game,” Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said. “I don’t know if it’s low confidence but we’re not playing with the mindset we need to play the football we want to and that’s something I have to look at.” — AP