TOTTENHAM Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has said that his side risk being torn apart if they commit errors against Manchester City.
Conte’s team will face the champions in a Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday, with both sides coming off derby defeats.
While Spurs were beaten 2-0 at home by leaders Arsenal on Sunday, City fell to a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United the day before.
“To win against Man City you need to not make mistakes,” Conte said today during his pre-match press conference.
“You know when you play Man City the possession will be 75% for them.”
Tottenham have had poor results against their ‘big six’ rivals this season, losing home and away to Arsenal, at Manchester United and home to Manchester City in the earlier rounds.
Still, Conte insists there is no mentality block against the top teams.
“The mentality of this team is really strong, believe me. Every time you always ask me this question,” the Italian said.
“The game against Arsenal, their goalkeeper was the best player on the pitch and we lost. The performance was good.
“What I can say is only one thing. We’re working really hard every day for this club. If there’s criticism then we have to accept. It’s difficult to understand criticism because we’re doing everything we can in this situation.”
One of the reasons for Tottenham’s struggles this season is the lack of goals from Son Heung-min.
The Korea forward was the Premier League’s joint-top scorer last term with 23 goals in 35 games, but has scored only four in 17 matches this season.
Conte insists though that Son is not lacking in effort.
“For sure if we talk about Sonny, last season he scored 23 goals. This season he’s not scoring so much,” the former Chelsea manager said.
“For us it’s not good news because we count on his goals. Then we are talking about not robots, about a person, a human.
“I’m the first to hope that Sonny starts to score with the pressure [of competition] or without the pressure. This is football. We have to try to face the situation with the players.”
Spurs are fifth in the Premier League table, five points off Manchester United in fourth, having played one more game than the Red Devils.
On their part, City are second, eight points adrift of leaders Arsenal, and are in desperate need of victory as they seek to defend their title.
