The spectre of José Mourinho has loomed large for Mauricio Pochettino at various stages of his career. The Tottenham Hotspur manager remembers when he was at Espanyol for his first playing spell and Mourinho was the assistant manager across town at Barcelona, working first with Sir Bobby Robson and then with Louis van Gaal.
Pochettino did not have much luck against that Barcelona team over four years – Espanyol beat them only once, in February 1997 – but he fared rather better than he did when he became the manager of Espanyol and had to face Mourinho’s Real Madrid. In two seasons from 2010 Pochettino played him four times in La Liga, losing all four, failing to score in any of them and conceding 13. “Unlucky,” Pochettino says, with a smile.
The spectre of José Mourinho has loomed large for Mauricio Pochettino at various stages of his career. The Tottenham Hotspur manager remembers when he was at Espanyol for his first playing spell and Mourinho was the assistant manager across town at Barcelona, working first with Sir Bobby Robson and then with Louis van Gaal.
Pochettino did not have much luck against that Barcelona team over four years – Espanyol beat them only once, in February 1997 – but he fared rather better than he did when he became the manager of Espanyol and had to face Mourinho’s Real Madrid. In two seasons from 2010 Pochettino played him four times in La Liga, losing all four, failing to score in any of them and conceding 13. “Unlucky,” Pochettino says, with a smile.
West Bromwich Albion will travel to Upton Park without a manager after Alan Irvine was put out of his misery on Monday night, although Sam Allardyce has warned his West Ham United side not to use that as an excuse to become complacent. It is a big game for West Ham. Successive defeats against Arsenal and Chelsea saw them drop out of the top four and they will be desperate to get back on track against opponents who are a point above the bottom three. Jacob Steinberg
Kick-off 3pm
Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in early December led to much head-shaking among the Spurs faithful, with the general consensus being that a coveted top-four place was beyond them. Four wins and two draws since see them still in the mix and this looks a pivotal game. The league leaders dropped points at Southampton on Sunday and will want to regain momentum. Paul Chronnell
Kick-off 5.30pm
Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in early December led to much head-shaking among the Spurs faithful, with the general consensus being that a coveted top-four place was beyond them. Four wins and two draws since see them still in the mix and this looks a pivotal game. The league leaders dropped points at Southampton on Sunday and will want to regain momentum. Paul Chronnell
Kick-off 5.30pm
Manuel Pellegrini will be desperate to see his team return to winning ways having thrown away a two-goal lead against Burnley. That draw meant they failed to close the gap on Chelsea, who had earlier drawn at Southampton. But the champions will fancy their chances against an inconsistent Sunderland – even without Sergio Agüero who tortured Gus Poyet’s team in the reverse fixture. Alan Smith
Kick-off 3pm
Swansea say they have “reluctantly accepted” Jonjo Shelvey’s violent conduct charge from the Football Association and he will now serve a four-match ban.
Shelvey elbowed Liverpool’s Emre Can during Swansea’s 4-1 defeat on Monday night but escaped any action from the referee Andre Marriner.
