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Pochettino predicts Spurs title push

- SOCCER

MAURICIO Pochettino is confident that Tottenham Hotspur will mount a title challenge in the second half of the Premier League season after turning their form around.

Spurs have won three of their last four games and their 2-1 win over Burnley. Pochettino talked up their chances of climbing further up the table and even chasing down high-flying Chelsea.

“Our position is good, now we are winning games and closing the gap to second place,” Pochettino said. “It is not tomorrow, or in a few weeks, that the Premier League finishes. It is a long way until the end of the season. We are in a position that we can attack the second half of the season, try to push ourselves a little bit more, and try to win positions.”

Pochettino said that Antonio Conte’s Chelsea were not out of sight, and that their lead over Spurs was not so big as to be insurmount­able.

“It’s true that we have a 10-point game with Chelsea,” Pochettino said. “But in football anything can happen. There are lot of games to play. Last season there was a similar gap with Leicester, eight or nine points, at this time.”

Despite the frustratio­n of going out of the Champions League, Pochettino insisted that his team was still playing well and in a better state than many realised.

“Maybe we felt a little bit disappoint­ed after last season because our expectatio­ns were too high,” he said. “We were playing in the Champions League, and we feel very disappoint­ed to be out of that competitio­n.

“But we are in a very good position. We improved from last season. Things have happened during the beginning of the season that mean that feeling is not like it was last season.

“But we need to be clever. Maybe the feeling is not fair, but I think we should be happy with how the team is doing.” – The Independen­t

 ?? PICTURE: REUTERS ?? STOPPAGE TIME STRIKE: Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles and teammate Ramiro Funes Mori scramble as Liverpool’s Sadio Mane scores the only goal of last night’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
PICTURE: REUTERS STOPPAGE TIME STRIKE: Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles and teammate Ramiro Funes Mori scramble as Liverpool’s Sadio Mane scores the only goal of last night’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

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