Tottenham needs big away wins for title tilt, says Kane

LONDON - Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur needs to start beating the Premier League’s top teams away from home if it is to mount a serious title challenge this campaign, striker Harry Kane said ahead of Nov. 18’s trip to Arsenal.

Despite its progress under manager Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham has won just once in 16 away league games against Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal under the Argentine, a 2-1 triumph over City in 2016.

Tottenham beat United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal at home last season, and drew with Liverpool, but its away record against the same opposition was underwhelming and Kane has urged his team to avoid a repeat of those results.

“It’s important for us to start beating the big teams away. Not just Arsenal, but all of the top six,” Kane told Sky Sports.

“We’ve done very well at home against them in recent years, but if we want to be challenging for the title, these are the games we need to win away from home.

“We’re going to try and win the game, we always do, but it will be tough. We need to go and play the way we play against them at home, and find a way to win.”

Tottenham, third in the table, suffered its most recent away defeat against a top six side at second-placed United last month but both teams headed into the international break level on 23 points, eight points behind leader City.

Spurs midfielder Eric Dier and playmaker Christian Eriksen captained England and Denmark respectively during the break and Pochettino believes that players developing their leadership skills will benefit the club in high-pressure games.

“That is so important for us. We need to create leaders, not followers and it’s so important for them to feel that experience, to manage, be leaders and to be responsible,” Pochettino told the club’s website.

“The players are still young but they need to start to feel what it means to be a leader.”