On the Spot: Could this finally, finally be Tottenham's year?

Spurs delivered their strongest statement yet with a resounding 4–1 victory over Liverpool this past weekend. Could this finally be Spurs' year? It's unlikely, given just how good Manchester City looks this year. In true Spurs fashion, I think they'd put pressure on City and come really close.

My friends know that I often ridicule the so-called "Wembley curse" that other pundits have been talking about. The argument goes that Wembley is a big ground and many opposing teams might come to the national stadium to put up a more impressive performance. I think that's hogwash — one could easily make the case that it is equally easy for anyone to be overwhelmed by the occasion.

As results have started to improve for Spurs at Wembley, that kind of talk has started to go away. But that's not why I think Spurs will come very close again this year.

The key to my confidence in Spurs this year is that they now can finally say that they have quality, and good backup across all areas of the field. They may have lost Kyle Walker to Manchester City, but they went out there to get Serge Aurier from Paris St. Germain, who I think is a very good player. We also cannot forget the way Kieran Trippier stepped up when he needed to deputize for Kyle Walker last season, too.Davinson Sánchez impressed me when I was following the Europa League last year, and picking him up from Ajax offers Spurs more quality backup, again a step-up from Kevin Wimmer.

Finally though, signing Fernando Llorente is huge for Spurs.Vincent Janssen, as good a young player as he is, is too similar to Harry Kane in style. His confidence would not have been helped by the fact that he spent so much time on the bench as well. In contrast, Fernando Llorente proved to be an effective plan B when he was at Swansea, as he offers a clear direct threat in the air.His statistics at Swansea tell a story of an experienced striker who can be counted on.

Add all this to the ingenuity of Mauricio Pochettino and you have a team that is hard-working, fast and powerful. That victory over Liverpool came on the back of a great performance by the silky Heung-min Son,and without their powerful midfielders Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembélé. They're also missing one of their most skillful players in Érik Lamela. Having all of them back may bring about selection headaches for their young Argentinean manager, but it's a happy problem to have.

Will Spurs win the league? It's hard to root against Manchester City with the way they're playing at the moment. However, as Pep Guardiola himself said, the league isn't won in October.The problem Spurs had the last two years was they started slow — as they did again this year — but they choked when it mattered, first against Chelsea in 2015–2016, and then against West Ham in 2016–2017. But with the depth of their squad this year, and the lessons of the past few seasons, they may just be the team to watch this year.