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Mauricio Pochettino

LONDON. – Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham Hotspur can catch Chelsea in the English Premier League soccer title race, and he promised his players would keep fighting until the final day of the season.

Tottenham’s win at Burnley on Saturday, coupled with Chelsea’s home defeat to Crystal Palace, moved Spurs to within seven points of the league leaders, who face Manchester City in midweek, while Tottenham travel to Swansea.

Spurs then host Watford in next weekend’s early kick-off and it was put to Pochettino that they could be one point behind Chelsea by early afternoon on Saturday. With nine games remaining, 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 fight could swing further in Tottenham’s favour tomorrow night as Chelsea face a tough fixture against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, while Tottenham 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 if Chelsea fail. 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. We are there fighting for the Premier League.

“It’s crazy but that is football and all can happen,” the Spurs manager told a news conference yesterday. “That’s a good lesson for all – belief is the most important thing in football. Not quality, running or being strong but belief, faith and fight.

“Nothing is impossible in football and that is our idea, our philosophy. We need to keep going in that direction and it is true the Premier League is tough to play in, and to win every game and compete. It’s so competitive.

“But can it happen? Yes, of course, it can happen and in our mind we must be positive to try to imagine and dream and believe and give our best.

“If we are focused only on the next game and nothing around and nothing after, and if we are positive, I think we can get the three points but first of all we need to play, we need to be better than Swansea and it’s sure we will need to fight a lot against them.”

Spurs collapsed last season after a 2-2 draw at Chelsea confirmed Leicester City as champions, taking one point from their final three matches, culminating in a humiliating 5-1 defeat at relegated Newcastle.

“We talked a lot about last season,” he said. “In football, it’s important to learn from all the good and bad experiences. For me it’s easy to explain: it’s about mentality – never giving up, concentrating until the end. Last season it wasn’t a problem about physical condition, it was that we switched off in our mind after Chelsea and we conceded second place to Arsenal.

“We need to learn – never give up, always fight and concentrate to the end. What happened and we must give our best. In football it’s about mentality and the energy in your mind, not only in your body.”

Pochettino confirmed that Harry Winks is unlikely to feature again this season after suffering an ankle injury against Burnley. “Today (yesterday) he is doing another scan and in that moment we will see what is his real problem,” he said. “We hope there is no big issue but it’s true that it will be difficult to play again this season – it’s sure it will be difficult.

“He twisted his ankle but now we need to see what happened in his ankle. We need to see the scanner and then start his recovery. But first of all we need to know what happened in his ankle.”

Victor Wanyama is a doubt for tomorrow’s trip to Swansea, while Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Erik Lamela will also miss out through injury.

Despite that rare home defeat against Palace, Chelsea still have the fate of the title in their own hands.

They require 21 points to be certain of lifting the trophy, 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.

“It’s important to prepare in the right way for this game. Another difficult game.” Fourth-placed City need the points themselves as they look to cement Champions League qualification via a top-four finish. Pep Guardiola’s team 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 on their local rivals.

Guardiola admitted playing back-to-back away games against two such formidable opponents is a major test.

“We play against a team who is 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.

Wenger knows the pressure of Arsenal’s struggles and the fans’ anger is taking its toll on his players.

“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 been so stressful for us.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns from suspension for Manchester United’s clash with Everton at Old Trafford.

Ibrahimovic has been sorely missed and Saturday’s goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion prompted United manager Jose Mourinho to blast his team’s misfiring forwards.

It was the eighth time in the Premier League this season the Red Devils have had to settle for a point from a home game.

“It’s disappointing. We’ve lost a lot of points like that,” United midfielder Marouane Fellaini said.

“It’s not easy to play at Old Trafford, they came to take a point or win with a counter-attack. But we have to find a solution to win the game.”

Fixtures (all 8:45pm unless stated)

Today: Burnley v Stoke, Leicester v Sunderland, Manchester Utd v Everton (9pm), Watford v West Brom

Tomorrow: Arsenal v West Ham, Chelsea v Manchester City (9pm), Hull v Middlesbrough, Liverpool v Bournemouth (9pm), Southampton v Crystal Palace, Swansea v Tottenham. – AFP.