EPL: Conte names the ‘top’ four clubs in England during Spurs message

Antonio Conte has ordered his Tottenham players to get back to basics this week in a bid to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

The Italian has been exasperated by his side’s defensive lapses which came back to haunt them in Saturday’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to Manchester United.

He will focus on set-piece drills ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Brighton and Sunday’s home clash with West Ham.

Spurs are six points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal, having played a game more. It means there is little room for error after losing for the fifth time in their last eight Premier League matches.

Conte’s frustration was palpable – not least because he knew this was another opportunity missed. And in a season when fourth place has been left wide open for any team willing to take it, it has been Arsenal who have seized the opportunity so far.

This is a pivotal week for Spurs’ top four prospects. With Arsenal facing Liverpool on Wednesday, Conte’s side could make up ground on their north London rivals, as well as move within two points of United with a game in hand.

But, even if they were to close the gap in midweek, such are Tottenham’s inconsistencies, that it is impossible to bank on them producing the kind of run required at this stage of the season.

Conte touched on the legacy of Spurs’ frailties when dissecting defeat at Old Trafford.

After watching Cristiano Ronaldo roll back the years with a vintage hat-trick at Old Trafford, he insists his side’s problems are of their own making.

That is why he is determined to get down to business on the training pitch this week.

“In the last period we have been conceding a lot of goals from set pieces, but we are working on this,” he said. “You have to know that this is a process because this team is a team that needs time, needs time to grow and improve, but I think you can see their improvement, a big improvement on the pitch.

“You can see what they’re doing on the pitch, but in this process you need time and patience and then try to do this but I want to push my players, because our ambition has to be to stay very close to the top four.

“We need a target to give us emotion, to give us the possibility to push ourselves.

“We will analyse the situation and to try improve the set pieces because, I repeat, we are conceding a lot of goals from set pieces.”

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Conte has made it clear that he believes there is an opportunity to break into the Champions League places in a season in which United have been engulfed by turmoil.

“I always say in England there are four teams in my opinion – City, United, Chelsea, Liverpool – that unless something goes wrong, the top four are these four clubs in my opinion,” he added. “But it can happen, as last season Liverpool struggled until the end for a place in the Champions League.

“In this season United are struggling, and in this case, in this moment, there are three or four teams including Tottenham. We have to stay very close and fight.”