Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has warned the Premier League’s traditional elite that their era of dominance is over.

The current campaign in the English top flight has been one of the most surprising in recent history, with Pochettino’s second-placed Tottenham five points behind surprise leaders Leicester.

Last season’s champions Chelsea are highly unlikely to be involved in European football next season, while Arsenal are slipping out of the race and the Manchester clubs face a fight even to secure a top-four finish.

Pochettino said: “Today football is changing a lot. The teams who were at the bottom last year have improved a lot and invested a lot of money, and they have reduced the gap with the teams at the top.

“For the future we expect the Premier League will be more competitive than in the past.

"The teams at the bottom have improved a lot because the financial situation has changed, so it is different from another league like Italy, Spain or France.

“The next few years there will be more tough competition between teams which is good for English football.”

Will Tottenham catch Leicester City in the title race? 10 show all Will Tottenham catch Leicester City in the title race? 1/10 Standard Sport examines the key issues facing Tottenham as they try to secure a first top-flight crown since 1961… 2016 Getty Images 2/10 SCHEDULE Tottenham play before Leicester this weekend, as they take on Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, with the Foxes facing Southampton on Sunday.



Yet Spurs have three consecutive Monday matches between April and May, against Stoke, West Brom and Chelsea. “The way the fixtures fall can definitely affect the outcome,” said Terry Gibson, who was at Tottenham from the age of 14 until he was 20… 2016 Getty Images 3/10 “It’s a massive advantage for the team playing first if they can get three points on the board.” Gibson even believes that if Tottenham are constantly playing catch-up, it could force Pochettino to change his plans mid-game. “If Leicester were eight points clear at the start of play, the manager might make changes sooner rather than later if things weren’t going to plan — especially as games are running out,” he added. 4/10 INTERNATIONALS This could work in favour of Spurs, who had many key members of their squad away on international duty during the last fortnight.



The thrill of England’s win over Germany, in which Harry Kane and Eric Dier scored and Dele Alli starred, should have sent the players back to their club in good spirits — Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat by Holland at Wembley notwithstanding. 5/10 Kyle Walker and Danny Rose — making his international debut — also featured in the 3-2 victory in Berlin last Saturday. “Pochettino has given young English players a chance whereas in the past other managers have wanted big names,” reflected Gibson. “They’re getting huge benefits from this policy.” 2016 Getty Images 6/10 ERIC DIER From a tactical point of view, the midfielder has probably been Tottenham’s most important player this season.



If he is booked against Liverpool, he will collect a two-match suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards in the season and Spurs do not really have a natural replacement for him. Nabil Bentaleb could have done the job but he has a knee injury and anyway, the Algerian has fallen out of favour after not always seeing eye to eye with Pochettino. 7/10 Ryan Mason is more inclined to attack than defend, as are Mousa Dembele and Alli. Tom Carroll lacks the physical or athletic capabilities to step in. At Anfield, Dier knows he must be careful. The England midfielder is happy to make ‘tactical’ fouls where necessary, bringing down opponents when they threaten to counter-attack. Another one, however, would rule Dier out of the games against United and Stoke. If he manages to avoid a booking in either of the next two matches, though, the slate is wiped clean. 8/10 EXPERIENCE Like Leicester, Tottenham have very few players who know what it is to fight for major trophies. Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen tasted success at Ajax and Alderweireld was champion of Spain with Atletico Madrid in 2014 but winning trophies is alien to most of this squad.



In some ways, that is a benefit: there is no baggage from previous title races, so there should be nothing to weigh Spurs down. Yet it is always helpful to have a core of players who know what is required to win in a top European league. Alderweireld has done so but he was a peripheral player for Atletico two years ago. Gibson’s remedy? Remember how good you are. 9/10 “Leicester and Tottenham are the best two teams in the League and people are finally starting to realise that,” he argued. “We’ve all enjoyed watching Pochettino’s style of play and he has drilled the team very well but don’t forget they have some very creative players, too. Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Erik Lamela all fall into that category.” 10/10 Tottenham remain in the hunt for the title but there are simply no signs of Leicester slowing down and Spurs have the harder fixtures. Their form last August, when they took only three points from their first four matches, may eventually be a huge source of regret. 2015 Getty Images 1/10 Standard Sport examines the key issues facing Tottenham as they try to secure a first top-flight crown since 1961… 2016 Getty Images 2/10 SCHEDULE Tottenham play before Leicester this weekend, as they take on Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, with the Foxes facing Southampton on Sunday.



Yet Spurs have three consecutive Monday matches between April and May, against Stoke, West Brom and Chelsea. “The way the fixtures fall can definitely affect the outcome,” said Terry Gibson, who was at Tottenham from the age of 14 until he was 20… 2016 Getty Images 3/10 “It’s a massive advantage for the team playing first if they can get three points on the board.” Gibson even believes that if Tottenham are constantly playing catch-up, it could force Pochettino to change his plans mid-game. “If Leicester were eight points clear at the start of play, the manager might make changes sooner rather than later if things weren’t going to plan — especially as games are running out,” he added. 4/10 INTERNATIONALS This could work in favour of Spurs, who had many key members of their squad away on international duty during the last fortnight.



The thrill of England’s win over Germany, in which Harry Kane and Eric Dier scored and Dele Alli starred, should have sent the players back to their club in good spirits — Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat by Holland at Wembley notwithstanding. 5/10 Kyle Walker and Danny Rose — making his international debut — also featured in the 3-2 victory in Berlin last Saturday. “Pochettino has given young English players a chance whereas in the past other managers have wanted big names,” reflected Gibson. “They’re getting huge benefits from this policy.” 2016 Getty Images 6/10 ERIC DIER From a tactical point of view, the midfielder has probably been Tottenham’s most important player this season.



If he is booked against Liverpool, he will collect a two-match suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards in the season and Spurs do not really have a natural replacement for him. Nabil Bentaleb could have done the job but he has a knee injury and anyway, the Algerian has fallen out of favour after not always seeing eye to eye with Pochettino. 7/10 Ryan Mason is more inclined to attack than defend, as are Mousa Dembele and Alli. Tom Carroll lacks the physical or athletic capabilities to step in. At Anfield, Dier knows he must be careful. The England midfielder is happy to make ‘tactical’ fouls where necessary, bringing down opponents when they threaten to counter-attack. Another one, however, would rule Dier out of the games against United and Stoke. If he manages to avoid a booking in either of the next two matches, though, the slate is wiped clean. 8/10 EXPERIENCE Like Leicester, Tottenham have very few players who know what it is to fight for major trophies. Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen tasted success at Ajax and Alderweireld was champion of Spain with Atletico Madrid in 2014 but winning trophies is alien to most of this squad.



In some ways, that is a benefit: there is no baggage from previous title races, so there should be nothing to weigh Spurs down. Yet it is always helpful to have a core of players who know what is required to win in a top European league. Alderweireld has done so but he was a peripheral player for Atletico two years ago. Gibson’s remedy? Remember how good you are. 9/10 “Leicester and Tottenham are the best two teams in the League and people are finally starting to realise that,” he argued. “We’ve all enjoyed watching Pochettino’s style of play and he has drilled the team very well but don’t forget they have some very creative players, too. Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Erik Lamela all fall into that category.” 10/10 Tottenham remain in the hunt for the title but there are simply no signs of Leicester slowing down and Spurs have the harder fixtures. Their form last August, when they took only three points from their first four matches, may eventually be a huge source of regret. 2015 Getty Images

Spurs travel to Liverpool on Saturday with Pochettino hoping defender Toby Alderweireld will be available after he was ruled out of Belgium’s friendly defeat in Portugal due to a sickness bug.

But Erik Lamela will be assessed after picking up a knock while training with Argentina during the recent World Cup qualifying matches. Pochettino added: “We need to assess him and see tomorrow if he will be available.”

Jan Vertonghen is making good progress in his recovery from knee ligament damage and though he is unlikely to be involved at Anfield, Pochettino is optimistic he could be available for the home clash with Manchester United on April 10.