Tottenham lost just their second Premier League game last weekend, suffering a 1-0 defeat away to Manchester United. After a run of seven league games unbeaten Spurs found it difficult break the deadlock without their frontman Harry Kane.
The England international has been in excellent form for the London club, netting six times during the past five domestic outings. However, he was unable to play any part in the match on Saturday in Manchester after pulling up with a hamstring problem during the 4-1 victory against Liverpool.
In a game of such magnitude with both teams keen to close the gap on league-leaders Manchester City, three points was hugely important.
With the 24-year-old having played such a key part in helping his side so far the question was whether Spurs could still find a way to win without their influential talisman.
However, in a tight affair the visitors lacked a moment of magic that would potentially seal victory for them, failing to test United goalkeeper David De Gea at all in the second half.
In a lot of games, Kane has featured in for Spurs he has often provided the opening goal in matches with deadly finishing, which has subsequently paved the way for Tottenham to go and secure all three points.
Any team in the world is likely to feel the impact of losing a top-class striker like Kane but it is no good to rely solely on his individual efforts to win games.
There will be times throughout a season where other challengers like United and City will lose their key men, such as Sergio Aguero and Romelu Lukaku, but an overreliance on those players will also hinder their title hopes.
If Tottenham are going to close the gap on the other teams and potentially step up to the next level they need to strike more of a balance throughout the team in terms of scoring goals.
They have looked defensively solid, thanks to a formidable bond between centre-backs Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen as well as a top-drawer goalkeeper in Hugo Lloris, who has kept the joint second-highest amount of clean sheets so far.
Without Kane they do look like a team that may be lacking a spark in attacking areas and in the games against other traditional ‘top six’ sides where chances may be at a premium they could drop valuable points.
By other players like Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen contributing more goals it will take the pressure off Kane and give them comfort that there is another option should the striker be unavailable.
