Mauricio Pochettino claims that his side, Tottenham Hotspur, will have the hearts and minds of the rest of the Premier League when they take on Chelsea January 4th. The Blues will come to White Hart Lane looking for their 14th straight victory, which would be a league record.
They are on the verge of potentially breaking Arsenal’s milestone set in 2002, and they even have the blessing of Arsene Wenger, the man who accomplished that feat. Pochettino believes that neutrals will now side with his club in the same manner that they sided against his/with Leicester City during the stretch run of the title chase last year.
“Maybe we will feel how Leicester felt last season — all the teams with them, against us!” he said.
“Chelsea arrive in very good shape but we are too after the last few games. It will be a very tough game but it’s a great opportunity for us to stop them, try to reduce the gap.
“It’s important for the Premier League for us to win, to try to stop them. In the end our challenge is to be in the top four.”
You’ll recall it was Chelsea who officially ousted Spurs from title contention last year, in that very late season 2-2 draw which was marred by an ugly brawl. It was another chapter in a heated rivalry that will surely get ramped up again on Wednesday.
Spurs won 4-1 at Watford on New Year’s Day to move into fourth place, and sitting ten points behind Chelsea for the top of the table, top four is certainly the goal for the season (as Pochettino pointed out).
However, playing the role of spoiler, and perhaps proverbially “returning the favor” is on the #SquadGoals list as well.
Pochettino seems to believe that all the league loved the underdog last season and that they will do so again this year.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.