Tottenham now Manchester City’s biggest threat and can prove it at United

Nostalgia took over at the weekend when Arsenal beat Everton 5-2 and Liverpool went down 4-1 against Spurs at Wembley. Almost to a person the nation’s subeditors came up with London 9 Merseyside 3 as either a headline or a strap, unintentionally giving away their age and outlook in the process.

Because you would have to go back to the last millennium to remember the days when battles for league supremacy were routinely fought out between London and Merseyside. In terms of league titles, Merseyside has been a trophy-free zone since that heady period in the 1980s when Liverpool and Everton (but mostly Liverpool) took it in turns to finish on top of the pile. The story of the Premier League years has usually been one of a contest between London and Manchester, with just a couple of seasons (Rafa Benítez and Brendan Rodgers) when Liverpool managed to finish runners-up to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United (fact!) or Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City.

The last famous tussle between London and Liverpool for the title was the Fever Pitch one that went all the way to the wire at Anfield in 1989, though there have been two occasions since when Arsenal have finished first with Liverpool their nearest challengers. George Graham’s side managed the feat again in 1991, the penultimate season of the old first division, this time by the more satisfying margin of seven points. And when Arsène Wenger won his second title with Arsenal in 2002 and with it the club’s second double in five years, Gérard Houllier’s Liverpool accumulated three points more than Manchester United to end the season as runners-up.

Everton have not finished in any of the top three positions in any season since the advent of the Premier League. They managed fourth place once, in 2005, something that looked unachievable even when things were going relatively well for Ronald Koeman last season. Because of the new money at Manchester City and Chelsea and the rise of Tottenham under Mauricio Pochettino it is all but impossible for a club such as Everton to turn itself into a Champions League side when rivals as big as Arsenal, Liverpool and United are being squeezed out. Just about the best Everton can hope for at the moment is for Liverpool to have an ordinary season so that they can attempt to finish higher. That parochial aim is the realistic limit of their ambition even with Farhad Moshiri’s money – at least it was until avoiding relegation became more important – so to imply there is some sort of rivalry going on with London is fanciful in the extreme. The title has been won eight times by London teams in the Premier League era. Merseyside has yet to break its duck. Liverpool are still stuck on the 18th title they won in 1990. Everton, with the best will in the world, are just stuck.

Yet if either Merseyside team is seeking inspiration or a way out of the seemingly endless cycle of false dawns and fresh disappointments, the example to follow has surely been set by the team that rather handily went out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. Spurs might not have won a title since 1961 – even Everton have won four since then – but they currently look the side most capable of giving Manchester City a run for their money this season. That is to say, at full strength they look stronger, fresher and hungrier than Chelsea or Manchester United, despite losing to the defending champions at Wembley in their first “home” match of the season in August. Spurs have come a long way in a short time under Pochettino, reinventing themselves rather than being rebranded by foreign investors. The way they dismantled Liverpool on Sunday was immensely to their credit given they had played Real Madrid at the Bernabeau in midweek. Tottenham gave a good account of themselves in Spain, they were neither overawed by the setting nor unduly fatigued by their exertions afterwards, they simply took one of the more demanding Champions League challenges in their stride.

In their previous away game, in the completely different setting of Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium, they had become the first team this season to take the Terriers apart. Spurs won 4-0 and made Huddersfield look like a newly promoted side who might struggle to adapt to their new level. No one else has come close to doing that, and Manchester United certainly failed to impose their supposed superiority on Saturday.

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All of which means Spurs can go into Saturday’s fixture at Old Trafford with confidence. United are the side with issues, whether you wish to look at the caution shown by José Mourinho against Liverpool, the defensive mistakes made at Huddersfield or the players’ reaction to their manager’s harsh words in defeat. As Tom Ince remarked perceptively afterwards, while Mourinho may have bolted on a few eye-catching adornments to the side he inherited from Louis van Gaal, he has not quite succeeded yet in transforming the way they play. “They are obviously a top quality side but they don’t play with the same fluidity as Spurs or Manchester City,” Ince said. “They build up the game quite slow.”

After Sunday at Wembley, United will realise they are facing opponents in better shape than Liverpool, yet Mourinho will not be able to park the bus at home against a major rival, especially after losing three points at Huddersfield. As Jürgen Klopp noted before Liverpool’s visit to Wembley, Spurs do not just have strong performers in every position, almost every player is at exactly the right age: good now and likely to get better still. The only obstacle in the way of Spurs achieving eventual trophy success may be the difficulty of keeping the team together, now that wealthy foreign clubs are making no secret of their admiration for Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and others.

Saturday’s intriguing fixture is not a title decider – it is far too early in the season for any of that nonsense – but it is a meeting of contenders and it is reasonable to look for pointers. Although United are perceived to have made a good start to the season, they have played only one game against a likely top-six team and were content simply to neutralise their opponents, a policy that now looks a little timid given Liverpool have slipped to halfway down the table.

Spurs took the opposite approach against Chelsea and Liverpool, though admittedly they were playing at home on both occasions. They did not opt for containment in Madrid, and will probably not do so either when they visit Arsenal after the international break. While that eagerly anticipated game may shed some light on which London team is going to be the most dominant this season, it is possible that the Old Trafford encounter will have the same effect three weeks earlier. Quite clearly the battle for the title is going to be between Manchester and London this season, with Merseyside once again looking on enviously from afar.

In as much as nine games can tell you anything, the available evidence suggests City and Spurs are the most entertaining sides to watch, with irresistible attacking options allied to capable defending. Few would complain if they occupied the top two spots at the end of the season, though Mourinho and United might have other ideas. In which case, Saturday is the ideal time to come out of hiding and put them to the test.