• Premier League

Vertonghen: Spurs going nowhere

Jan Vertonghen insists Tottenham haven't improved from last season while the current Premier League top four have all kicked on.

Spurs went down 1-0 to Arsenal in Sunday's north London derby at White Hart Lane, with Arsene Wenger's side moving level with second-placed Liverpool, four points off leaders Chelsea.

Nowhere men

• A quick glance at the Premier League table from exactly a year ago today suggests that Jan Vertonghen is spot on:
• March 17, 2013

  1. Manchester United P 29 Pts 74

  2. Manchester City P 29 Pts 59

  3. Chelsea P 29 Pts 55

  4. Tottenham P 30 Pts 54

  5. Arsenal P 29 Pts 50

  6. Everton P 29 Pts 48

  7. Liverpool P 30 Pts 45

• March 17, 2014

  1. Chelsea P 30 Pts 66

  2. Liverpool P 29 Pts 62

  3. Arsenal P 29 Pts 62

  4. Manchester City P 27 Pts 60

  5. Tottenham P 30 Pts 53

  6. Everton P 28 Pts 51

  7. Manchester United P 29 Pts 48

The result saw Spurs slip to back-to-back defeats after a 4-0 thrashing at Stamford Bridge and they are now seven points off fourth-placed Manchester City, who have played three game less.

Tim Sherwood now faces an uphill task of securing Champions League football next season with only eight games remaining.

It is a far cry from the optimism surrounding the club at the start of the season when they had shelled out more than £100 million in the transfer market, following the £86m sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, in a bid to break into the top four having missed out to Arsenal by a point last season.

"I do not want to look at the table anymore because the gap [to the top four] is very big," said Vertonghen.

"All four sides at the top are stronger than they were last year and we have stayed at the same level. If you see last season, then we did not improve.

"[However], I think we do have the players to achieve Champions League [qualification] and I hope we can achieve it next year."

Spurs will next look to overturn a 3-1 deficit against Benfica in the second leg of their Europa League tie on Thursday night with Vertonghen insisting they must regroup quickly.

"Of course we are all disappointed but we will try to come back with some good results," he said. "It is difficult now but we have to [pick ourselves up] and go again."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd