Pochettino: I’ll never root for Arsenal to win

MAURICIO POCHETTINO said that he would never cheer for Arsenal, even though Tottenham’s title dream could be boosted if their north London rivals take points from Manchester City today.

Spurs beat Newcastle yesterday with a late Son Heung-min goal and moved into second in the Premier League, above champions City and within four points of leaders Liverpool, who play tomorrow.

‘No. Never. No,’ the Tottenham manager replied when he was asked if he might be supporting Arsenal when they play at the Etihad Stadium today. ‘I will watch the game at home and I won’t be on one side or another. I am going to accept the result whatever it is.

‘We are there (second) because we deserve to be there. We don’t need to convince ourselves of our capacity, our potential or our possibility to win. We always believe in ourselves.

‘Then it’s if we are capable to fight until the end, to be close and fight until the end to go close to our opponent to be champions. We will see what happens.’

The Spurs manager also praised the fighting spirit of his team. ‘We fully deserved the victory,’ said Pochettino. ‘We dominate the game and had control. We were very patient. It’s a fantastic result for us to be in a very good position in the table. I can feel very happy and proud.’