Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown believes Tottenham Hotspur will miss out on this season's top four, despite their brilliant start to the season.
Spurs are top of the Premier League after 11 games, joint on 24 points with last season's champions Liverpool. Jose Mourinho's side have the best defensive record out of the 20 teams across the top-flight, with the team only conceding nine goals so far.
Spurs comfortably beat north London rivals Arsenal at the weekend, with a fantastically worked counter-attacking game-plan from Mourinho, that summed up the side's brilliance in the early stages of the season.
Despite their great start - that has seen them lose just once - former Manchester United centre-back Brown, who won five Premier League titles, thinks Spurs will miss out on the top four.
"It's Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and Man United who make the top four for me," Brown, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at its launch of the 5-A-Side Bet on Man United v Man City, said.
"I've said that from the start of the season and I don't really want to go and change my mind now, even though Tottenham are doing well. I just feel like Tottenham always do this; I don't know why, but I just think they're going to drop off a little bit.
"The way that they're playing at the moment obviously it's hard to say that but we all know how difficult things can get after Christmas when we reach the business end of the season.
"Every team has to show what they've got, and I think Frank Lampard has done very well with Chelsea so far.
"He's got so many great players available to him at Chelsea, and he's changed things around quite a lot since coming in. Thiago Silva is a great addition at the back with great experience, playing alongside Kurt Zouma.
"As far as squads go, it's probably Chelsea and Liverpool who have the most strength in depth. Frank has got a lot of top names to pick from."
Spurs are back in action on Thursday night, as they welcome Antwerp to London for their final Europa League group stage game - with the Premier League leaders' progression already secured.
Then it's an all-London derby for Mourinho and his players on Sunday afternoon, as they make the short trip to Crystal Palace in the league.
It's perhaps Spurs' biggest game of the season just a few days later when they travel up to Anfield to face Liverpool - with Tottenham desperate to show their title ambitions at the home of the reigning champions.
