The Express writes that Mauricio Pochettino knows he cannot afford to rest his top players against Brighton tonight – because the Manchester City game is just around the corner.
The article says that Pochettino is keen to give the likes of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen a night off with the weekend in mind in which
Spurs face unbeaten runaway leaders Manchester City on Saturday.
However Pochettino won’t give his men any time off “The most important game is Brighton,” he said. “We need to win and if some players show they are a little bit tired it is maybe best to avoid problems and play with maybe another.
He added: “If I rest players, it could seem like we are not focusing on them and I don’t want to make that mistake. We need to fight, be consistent and win games.”
The article adds how we have failed to beat Swansea, West Brom and Burnley at home and how we have already written off their title pursuit before Christmas. It quotes Pochettino as saying: “I feel disappointed as the gap is massive. But at the end only one team can win and the gap is big. We will see what happens, a lot can change. If Man City are so good and have a massive gap to win the league we have to congratulate them,At the moment they are doing well but we must fight and believe.”
Chris Hughton, the Brighton manager and former Spurs assistant manager and defender, hopes that playing at Wembley tonight will inspire his players to overcome a rocky patch. The seagulls are on a run of one point from four games has knocked the which has knocked them out of the top half of the Premier League but Hughton is looking for the sort of display that came close to earning his men a point away to Manchester United.
Hughton said: “You want them to approach every game exactly the same but I don’t think you’d be human if the appeal of an Old Trafford or Wembley didn’t excite you that little bit more if you haven’t played there before.
“In these matches you know they’re going to have to raise their game and play at a very high level to stay in it.”
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