Tottenham Hotspur are doing their best to turn a two-horse race into a three-horse race.Mauricio Pochettino’s side cannot yet be counted out of the battle between Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title following a run of five straight wins in December.That run was brought to an end with a surprising 3-1 defeat to Wolves but Spurs quickly got back on the horse thanks to a 3-0 win against Cardiff on New Year’s Day.Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min scored the goals and Tottenham are now six points behind Liverpool.Pochettino is earning plenty of plaudits for his work in north London and rightly so.The Argentinian hasn’t been afforded the same transfer budget that his rivals have, being forced to operate on a fraction of the fees that Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, who couldn’t make it work at Manchester United, have.Even Jurgen Klopp spent £75 million on Virgil van Dijk and £67m on Alisson Becker in 2018.

Lineker tweets about spending

So for Spurs to be second place in the Premier League is very impressive.

Indeed, Gary Lineker wanted to heap praise on Pochettino following the win against Cardiff.

“In reality, it’s quite something that @SpursOfficial are on the heels of the Premier League’s finest, given the vast difference in expenditure between them and @LFC and @ManCity. Punchettino,” Lineker wrote on Twitter.

One Liverpool fan quickly pointed out that Lineker hadn't considered net spend.

In April 2018, Sky Sports found that Liverpool’s overall spend since June 2014 was £443m but their net spend was just £18m.

The club received significant sums for the sales of Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez, among others.

That £18m net spend was less than Tottenham’s, which was £50m for the same period.

And Liverpool fan @CarlWhite83 wanted to remind Lineker about this.

Check out some of the other replies to Lineker's tweet.

The Match of the Day host spotted the Liverpool fan's tweet and he issued a response.

“Yes, that’s precisely why I didn’t say ‘net’ expenditure,” he said.

“Coutinho fee has allowed them to spend £200m more.”

The simple fact of the matter is that Liverpool have been involved in more high-profile deals than Tottenham, spending the money that they’ve made from their major departures.

The result is a squad that is now equipped to compete for the Premier League and Champions League.