Harry Winks has said Tottenham’s desire to get a result at the Etihad should worry Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
City were dominant throughout on Saturday, finishing the game with 30 attempts to Spurs’ three. But Mauricio Pochettino’s side – with a little help from VAR – stopped the hosts from scoring more than twice, replying with two goals of their own and earning an unlikely point.
Goals from Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero twice put City ahead, but Erik Lamela’s first half strike and Lucas Moura’s remarkable header ensured Tottenham left Manchester with a point. A late Gabriel Jesus goal was ruled out by VAR, making the result even sweeter for the visitors.
And Winks believes Spurs’ ability to stay in the game despite conceding a host of chances shows they are capable of going all the way in the title race.
“They’re an excellent side, they’re champions and you have to respect them but like all sides they have weaknesses and I think we exploited them, especially from the corner,” Winks told the London Evening Standard.
“We know how good we are. We know we’re a top side but when we come to places like this it’s important to get a result.
“At times it was messy, it was difficult but that’s what you have to do, especially at City. You expect City to have a lot of possession, which they did. But it’s important when you come here to weather the storm when you’re under the cosh, to stay in there and I thought we did that fantastically.
“I think they [City and Liverpool] should worry about us. We’ve shown in the last few years we can compete with the best teams in the Premier League and Europe. It’s important we do that on a consistent basis this season and it’s important we go to places like City and Liverpool and get results.
“The manager doesn’t allow fear in us. We don’t go into any game beaten mentally. We go into every game knowing we can win and we can outperform them. Our mentality going into every game is to be on the front foot, press and try to win. That’s probably why we came away with a good point.”
Winks makes a logical point, but Tottenham will have to improve if they are to genuinely challenge City and Liverpool for the title this season. There’s no doubting the Londoners had a slice of luck on Saturday.
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Winks needs to add goals to his game to fulfill his potential and fill the no 8 role adequately 10 per season should be his aim. Ditto Sissoko. Failing this they could both drop out of the team