Pochettino says that there would be no favours in the title race
A run of five consecutive victories in the Premier League has brought Tottenham Hotspur back into the title race and Mauricio Pochettino’s men are only 6 points behind leaders Liverpool. They have been helped in their purpose by Manchester City’s recent slump in form which has seen the Citizens lose three games in quick succession.
Tottenham ran riot at Goodison Park last week before the Lilywhites inflicted another 5-0 defeat on Bournemouth on Boxing Day. And Mauricio Pochettino wants a fair fight in the title race this time, having been irked by Eden Hazard’s inflammatory comments in 2016.
Back in 2016, Chelsea star Hazard stated, “we don’t want Tottenham to win the Premier League; the fans, the club and the players,” ahead of an ill-tempered 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in May 2016, a result that ended Spurs’ hopes of stopping Leicester City from winning the league.
“When you are professional, some opinions you cannot make public,” Pochettino said ahead of their match against Wolves on Saturday.
“Because after, you create a big problem, like what happened at Chelsea. That was more like a battle than a football game.
“Why did that happen? You know very well. That’s why it’s compulsory to behave professionally. We translate a lot of emotion to the people. We are public persons.”
“Now, it is between the top six: Liverpool, Tottenham, [Manchester] City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United and it’s going to be more about who can win the league,” he said.
“We are not going to receive a favour and nor will another club. It’s true, the season when Leicester were there the sympathy for Leicester was bigger than for Tottenham. That was the reality. But they won and they deserved to be the champions.
“The sympathy of the neutral people was more for Leicester than for us. This is normal.”
