Tottenham Hotspur re-established their place in the Premier League ’s top four in their penultimate game of the season on Sunday with a 1-0 victory over Burnley, and striker Harry Kane has fired a warning to Arsenal ahead of their trip to Newcastle United on Monday night.
Spurs are now two points clear of their north London rivals and anything but a victory for the Gunners at St. James’ Park will leave Antonio Conte ’s side in pole position to claim fourth spot ahead of Sunday’s final game of the season.
And a slip-up is a very real possibility for Arsenal on Monday night, with Kane warning the Gunners that they are coming up against “great” opposition in Eddie Howe ’s side.
When asked if he and his teammates will be Newcastle fans on Monday, Kane told BT Sport : “Of course! It will be a good game to watch for sure. Obviously, Newcastle have been doing great in the second half of the season. We’ve done our job today and the last couple of games. We’ve got to recover and see what happens, but there’s still next week as well. It’s all to play for.”
Tottenham ’s top four hopes would practically be over already had they not beaten Arsenal in Thursday’s North London derby, where they secured a 3-0 victory to move within a point of their visitors prior to Sunday’s fixture against Burnley. A draw in that game would have meant that they would be level on points with the Gunners now.
But a defeat in that game would have secured Arsenal’s place in the top four and confirmed their qualification for the UEFA Champions League next season, as Spurs would have fallen seven points behind their biggest rivals with just two games left of the campaign to play.
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And now the pressure really is on Arsenal ahead of their trip to the north east to face a Newcastle side who have been resurgent in the second half of the season. Howe's men have gone from relegation favourites to comfortable mid-table security under former Bournemouth manager Howe.
The fixture list has played perfectly into Tottenham’s hands and they’ve already done what they had to do by beating Burnley on Sunday. Had the Gunners played Newcastle first, and won, then Spurs would once again find themselves four points behind with two games to play.
But now they've put themselves in a very commanding position. And Mikel Arteta’s side need to pick up all three points in order to put themselves in control once again ahead of the final matchday of the season this weekend.
Spurs travel to already relegated Norwich City, while Arsenal host an Everton side who could still be battling relegation should they not defeat Crystal Palace on Thursday night. Without a victory against Newcastle tonight, the odds are in Tottenham’s favour to secure Champions League football next season.
Kane’s match-winning penalty against the Clarets on Sunday was deemed controversial following a VAR decision that showed a clear handball by Ashley Barnes. It resulted in furious reactions from Burnley’s playing and coaching staff, and even more so following the full-time whistle as it proved to be the deciding factor in the match.
But Spurs boss Conte was having none of it, and insisted the handball couldn’t have been clearer when shown in the replays. “It was 200% a penalty, not 100%,’ Conte said in his post-match press conference. “It was so clear. When your arm is in this way and you take the ball. I think it was so clear.”
