SPURS WILL ‘CRACK ON’ AGAINST CITY - EVEN IF IT DOES ARSENAL A FAVOUR
BEATING Manchester City might help Arsenal win the league, but Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou is adamant his team will ‘give it a crack’ against Pep Guardiola’s men tomorrow.
Despite their recent poor form, Spurs have a good record against City and can boost their fiercest rivals’ Premier League title chances with another positive result on home turf.
Many Spurs fans would rather not give the Gunners a helping hand but Postecoglou wants to finish the season on a high after Micky van de Ven’s 82nd-minute winner helped his team beat doomed Burnley 2-1 on Saturday.
That ended a run of four consecutive defeats and closed the gap on fourthplaced Aston Villa.
Unai Emery’s side could secure Champions League football with victory over Liverpool tonight, but defeat would leave the door slightly ajar for Postecoglou’s men to snatch fourth.
So Spurs host City in a match that may leave fans conflicted – with a trip to relegated Sheffield United wrapping up the season on Sunday – but Postecoglou’s own views are not clouded.
He said: ‘We’ve still got six points to play for. That’s the key thing.
‘I think we’ve got what it takes to make a game of it, play our football and see where that takes us.
‘They’re an outstanding team. They and Arsenal are the benchmark of the competition right now. They’re 20-odd points (22) ahead of us and we’ve got some ground to make up, but it’s at our place, it’s 95 minutes of football and we’re going to have a crack.’
A tactical tweak helped turn the Burnley match in Spurs’ favour after Van de Ven was shifted out to left-back, taking over from midfielder Oliver Skipp, who filled in with Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies sidelined by injury.
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However, Postecoglou (left) is unlikely to repeat the move of playing the Dutchman at full-back against title-chasing City. ‘Micky has had a
ARSENAL MAN CITY LIVERPOOL ASTON VILLA TOTTENHAM NEWCASTLE CHELSEA MAN UTD WEST HAM BRIGHTON BOURNEMOUTH CRYSTAL PALACE WOLVES FULHAM *EVERTON BRENTFORD ** NOTTM FOREST LUTON BURNLEY SHEFF UTD
FULHAM BOURNEMOUTH EVERTON MANCHESTER UTD NEWCASTLE TOTTENHAM WEST HAM WOLVES NOTTM FOREST 37 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 37 36 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37
O 1 1 0 1 2 3 1 2 27 26 23 20 19 17 16 16 14 12 13 12 13 12 13 10 8 6 5 3 5 7 9 7 6 6 9 6 10 12 9 10 7 8 9 9 9 8 9 7
L5 3 4 9 11 13 11 14 13 12 15 15 17 17 15 18 20 23 23 27
F89 91 81 73 71 79 73 52 59 54 53 52 50 51 39 54 47 50 40 35
A28 33 38 53 59 57 61 56 71 58 65 58 63 59 49 61 66 81 76 101 86 85 78 67 63 57 57 54 52 48 48 46 46 44 40 39 29 26 24 16