Spurs ready to pounce
POCHETTINO: IT’S NOW SEVEN POINTS, IT’S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TO 10
If Tottenham win, all permutations will benefit them.
Mauricio Pochettino has warned Chelsea that his Tottenham side are ready to capitalise on any more slips from the Premier League leaders.
Tottenham closed the gap on Chelsea to seven points on Saturday as they won 2-0 at Burnley while their London rivals were crashing to a shock 2-1 home defeat against lowly Crystal Palace.
With nine games left, Pochettino’s second-placed team suddenly find themselves with a chance to put real pressure on Chelsea for the first time this season.
The title battle could swing further in Tottenham’s favour tomorrow as Chelsea face a tough fixture against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, while Spurs travel to struggling Swansea.
With Chelsea showing signs of vulnerability, Pochettino stressed Spurs must take full advantage if they stumble again.
“It’s now seven points, it’s completely different to 10,” he said.
“But there’s still a lot of work to do. It’s not dependent on us; it’s dependent on Chelsea failing. But in that moment if they fail we need to do our job.
“If we do our job we can be there until the end of the season and try to fight for the title.
“We are at seven points now and it is important to be there if Chelsea fail.”
Despite that rare home defeat, Chelsea still have the fate of the title in their own hands.
They require 21 points to be certain, but Antonio Conte acknowledged it is far too soon to start planning any celebrations.
“Anything can happen, above all in England,” he said.
“Every game is very tough against a strong team like Manchester City.”
Fourth-placed City need the points themselves as they look to cement Champions League qualification via a top-four finish.
They twice squandered the lead in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Arsenal and are without a win in their last three league games.
City have a five-point lead over fifth-placed Manchester United, who have a game in hand.
Manager Pep Guardiola admitted playing back-to-back away games against two such formidable opponents is a major test.
“We play against a team who are stable in what they do. We don’t have too much time to prepare but we go back to Manchester now and recover and then come back to London,” Guardiola said.
Still, City ended their trip to the Emirates Stadium with more satisfaction than Arsenal, who are in sixth place, seven points behind fourth-placed City.
With Arsenal fans once again calling for Arsene Wenger to resign during a pre-match protest march, the Gunners boss desperately needed a dominant display from his team.
Instead, Arsenal twice had to come from behind to avoid a third successive league defeat.
“We are in a tough battle for the top four,” Wenger said.
“The test was mental. We had to come back after half-time and we got a point after a time that has