Dier admits it’s now ‘nearly impossible’ to catch Chelsea

Tottenham’s Eric Dier admitted the title race is as good as over following his team’s 1-0 defeat at West Ham.

Second-placed Spurs’ loss at the London Stadium ended their nine-match winning run and left leaders Chelsea two wins away from being crowned champions.

Manuel Lanzini’s second-half goal gave West Ham a crucial victory and Dier conceded that Chelsea are now all but home and dry.

A win for Chelsea at Middlesbrough on Monday would put them seven points clear at the top and a win against West Brom next Friday would then clinch the title.

“It was already going to be hard before and now it’s even harder. That’s all I can say really. We know it,” Dier told Sky Sports.

“It’s disappointing really because we’ve been on a fantastic run, but they made it hard for us, played very deep, and we didn’t create enough chances.

“It’s very disappointing. We knew it was going to be tough a long time ago but we managed to bring it back to four points and after today it’s nearly impossible, but we’ll give it everything for these three games now.”