Tottenham held in ‘difficult’ game by Burnley but Premier League table gets clearer picture

Defeats on Saturday left Brendan Rodgers and Ronald Koeman conceding that Liverpool and Southampton’s chances of a top-four finish are remote. Mauricio Pochettino drew the same conclusion.

Tottenham’s Ben Davies and Burnley’s Lukas Jutkiewicz battle for possession but none of the teams could take advantage in a goalless draw. Ed Sykes / Action Images

When the final whistle ended an uneventful game, it nonetheless gave the feeling this has been a decisive weekend.

The picture at the top looks altogether clearer.

Barring any major mishaps, Chelsea, Arsenal and the Manchester clubs are bound for the Uefa Champions League. Liverpool, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur are not.

Defeats on Saturday left Brendan Rodgers and Ronald Koeman conceding that Liverpool and Southampton's chances of a top-four finish are remote. Mauricio Pochettino responded to the sorriest of stalemates by drawing the same conclusion.

“It is difficult, but we have seven games and we will try,” he said. “It is true that it is not easy.”

His feelings about both the game and Tottenham’s challenge could be summed up by one word: difficult, which he said 13 times in three minutes.

If it was repetitive, it was at least accurate. Tottenham are seven points adrift of the top four.

Nor are they playing in such a way to prompt suggestions they will reel off seven straight wins.

They showed signs of fatigue, lacking the creativity required to break obdurate opponents down.

Spurs are often personified by Harry Kane. They were again, but not in the right way. He offered perspiration but, for once, precious little inspiration.

Kane’s afternoon was notable for the teamsheet, not the scoresheet. It denoted that he captained Tottenham for the first time. “He deserves it,” Pochettino said.

With Hugo Lloris injured and Jan Vertonghen ill, it may have been a one-off, but it was another indication of his extraordinary progress nonetheless.

There was symbolic value to giving the armband to the man their fans invariably sing is “one of our own”.

At 21, Kane became the youngest man to captain a Premier League team this season.

“You could say it has been the best week of my life: to score, to make my first start and score for England, and to be captain here,” Kane said,

For once, however, a goal machine did not deliver. One shot was skewed just wide.

Burnley, to their evident pleasure, kept him quieter than most other teams. Pochettino branded his 29-goal top scorer’s game “difficult”.

“We kept them to minimal chances,” Burnley manager Sean Dyche said.

“You look at how much they spent. We edged it.”

They almost won it in injury time, George Boyd heading inches past the post. Their other near-misses revolved around Danny Ings.

He squandered a promising early opening, shooting straight at Michel Vorm when released by Boyd.

The Dutchman denied the striker again, stretching to tip a curling effort over the bar, and was nearly caught out by a cross from the corner flag.

Yet if it represented a laudable point in many respects for Burnley, it was a damaging draw for them in others.

They remain in the relegation zone, and their plight worsened over the weekend when both Leicester City and QPR won.

Ultimately, this was a result that did either few favours. Such are the stakes at this time of the season, when draws are not always enough.

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