Tottenham boss confident of sending Manchester United to Europa League

Manchester United suffered a setback in their chase for a top-four finish as they were defeated by Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night.

The defeat leaves United in sixth position following Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday.

As the battle for a top-four finish continues, Mauricio Pochettino is confident he will beat his rivals to a top-four spot.

The confident Spurs boss claims his side will secure a Champions League spot after returning to familiar surroundings with victory over Crystal Palace.

Spurs moved back up to third in the table on Wednesday after a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace, goals from Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen ensuring the opening match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ended with three points.

With six games to play there are four teams battling for the final two Champions League qualification places behind title contenders Manchester City and Liverpool.

Pochettino’s men lead that group with 64 points, but Arsenal and Chelsea are only one behind them and Manchester United sit three adrift.

And the Spurs boss believes they will take one of the spots, particularly after moving to their new home.

“I am so confident we are going to get, in the end, top four,” he told reporters. “There’s no doubt.

“I believe in my players and I trust in them.

“We deserve it because we work a lot, there are a lot of circumstances I think this group of players, the staff, and of course every department in this club deserves to be in the Champions League next season.

“We work so hard to try and deliver that. We are here now and it’s true there’s a lot of work to do.

“We are competing with big clubs that invest a lot of money during a massive period.

“Of course we are competing with different tools but we have the belief and today we have our new home and our fans were amazing and it’s going to be very important for the success of the team at the end of the season.”

Pochettino had previously stated on seeing Spurs move into a ground which now matches their ambition: “[We need to] start to settle all the principles to make sure that Tottenham are real contenders for big things because I think, with the training ground and this new stadium, you can only think big.

“If we are not capable of thinking big, we are going to struggle.

“You know it will be a shame if we don’t think big and start to behave like a big club because, after building the training ground and the stadium, now we need to be realistic contenders for big things in the future of this club.”

Arsenal could move above Spurs on Sunday with victory over Everton in their game in hand.