Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino believes too much has been expected of his team this season.
Spurs challenged for the Premier League title last term only to collapse during the final few weeks of the campaign before finishing behind Arsenal in third place.
But a total of 70 points was still enough to secure a place in the Champions League for only the second time in the club's history.
However, Spurs endured a chastening return to Europe's elite and have already been eliminated from the competition ahead of the second half of the season.
Failure to launch a significant challenge in Europe has seen a feeling of deflation affect Spurs in recent weeks but Pochettino believes it is difficult to gauge the team's progress.
"Now we see the table after 16 games we have four more points than last season," he told his pre-match press conference.
"Maybe we feel disappointed for the Champions League and the expectations from the beginning of the season were too high.
"We have four points more and the gap to second in the table is four points and 10 with the top. Last season I think it was eight or nine points to Leicester on the top of the table.
"I think we can see that we have improved a little bit but the feeling is difficult to put away because of the disappointment and frustration with the Champions League.
"I think that killed a little bit the positive things we've done from the beginning of the season," Pochettino added.
Spurs are just three points adrift of the top four and Manchester City's clash with Arsenal could give Pochettino's side an opportunity to close the gap as they prepare to host Burnley on Sunday.
