Gary Neville is unhappy with what he’s heard about Tottenham Hotspur ahead of tonight’s clash against Manchester City.
Tottenham’s top-four hopes received a slight boost last night as Aston Villa were held to a 3-3 draw at home to Liverpool.
Should the Villains fall to defeat at Crystal Palace on the final day of the season, Ange Postecoglou’s men could leapfrog them into fourth place.
That will be no easy task though as Tottenham are set to host Manchester City in north London tonight.
Spurs fans will also be aware that a positive result could hand Arsenal a huge advantage in the Premier League title race.
And Gary Neville has slammed any suggestion that Spurs could ‘turn up and let Man City win the league’.
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Neville on Tottenham vs Man City
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville labelled suggestions that Tottenham could roll over for City as ‘nonsense’.
“Rightly so,” he said. “Honestly, football players don’t go out on a football pitch to lose football matches. We had the ultimate scenario going back I think it was nearly 30 years.
“Blackburn went to Liverpool and Liverpool were Man United’s arch rivals, 95. Blackburn were beaten by Liverpool. We didn’t do our job at West Ham. Liverpool turned up.
“Tottenham will turn up tomorrow and they might not win but this idea that they are going to turn up and let Man City win the league is absolutely a nonsense. That’s never happened in this league. This league does have integrity around these games.”
What Ange Postecoglou has said about Man City clash
While Spurs fans may be divided on tonight’s game, Postecoglou has made his stance on the situation evidently clear.
The Aussie boss claimed he isn’t interested in getting one over his rivals and insists that his ultimate goal is to deliver success to Tottenham.
“To me, I don’t understand it, I never will. I understand rivalry. I was part of one of the biggest ones in the world in the last couple of years with Celtic and Rangers and I understand the rivalry but I’ve never and will never understand if someone wants their own team to lose. That’s not what sport is about. It’s not what I love about the game. What I love more than anything in the game is the competitiveness, challenging yourself to beat someone and coming out successful. Anything outside of that it’s got nothing to do with sport. It’s got nothing to do with me,” Postecoglou said, as quoted by Football.London.
“If other people want to treat it that way, that they get pleasure from other people’s misery, that’s not how I’ve lived my life and how I perceive my role. My role is to bring success to this football club and whatever proportion, whether it’s his two mates or 99% of people you know, I know 100% of Spurs supporters want us to win, be successful and win trophies. That is without a shadow of a doubt and us winning tomorrow night will help us bring joy to 100% of Spurs supporters.”
It’s set to be an interesting evening at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with plenty of Spurs fans on social media wanting to see their side lose.
Whether or not match-going fans will feel the same way remains to be seen. But based on Postecoglou’s comments, Spurs certainly won’t be taking their foot off the gas tonight.
A win would hand them a slim chance of securing a fourth-place finish as they are set to travel to relegated side Sheffield United on the final day of the season.
