Tuesday Sep 24, 2024
Tuesday Sep 24, 2024
Friday, 21 April 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Reuters: Striker Harry Kane has half an eye on retaining the Premier League’s “golden boot” as a confident Tottenham Hotspur focus on delivering a league and FA Cup double.
Spurs, who have won their last eight games in all competitions, face league leaders Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
At an individual level Kane, the league’s top scorer last season, trails Belgium international Romelu Lukaku of Everton by four goals with six Premier League games to play.
The 23-year-old England international became the first Spurs player since Jimmy Greaves in 1969 to hit 20 goals in three successive top-flight seasons after netting in the club’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth last weekend.
After the FA Cup semi-final, Spurs will shift focus to the league, where they trail Chelsea by four points, ahead of a trip across London to Crystal Palace on April 26.
Spurs last won the English league title back in 1961.
Kane said on the club website that Spurs must focus on maintaining their momentum heading into a difficult run of fixtures, which includes home games against fifth-placed Manchester United and North London rivals Arsenal.
“We’ve some tough games coming up - (Crystal) Palace away, Leicester away, Arsenal and (Manchester) United here but we’re feeling good, we’re feeling confident,” he said.
“Every game we go into we feel like we’re going to score goals and defensively we’re keeping clean sheets, so that’s what we’ve got to try to maintain until the end of the season.”
Kane is also hoping to keep his own momentum going after Lukaku’s 24th league goal of the campaign in Everton’s 3-1 victory over Burnley meant he matched Dixie Dean’s 1934 record of scoring in nine consecutive home league games.
“As a striker you want to be top scorer in the league, no doubt about it,” Kane said.
“I left a couple out there I probably should have scored, Lukaku has been doing well and it’s a good competition but the main thing is we’re winning games.
“I’ve a little eye on the run-in and if I can get a few more, we’ll see what happens,” Kane added.
Reuters: Players from Premier League title-chasers Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur dominate the Professional Football Association’s Team of the Year announced on Thursday, occupying eight of the starting 11 spots.
Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante, a league title winner with Leicester City last campaign, Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea and Tottenham trio Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Harry Kane all make the team for the second consecutive season.
Spurs’ Kyle Walker was also named in the side along with fellow defenders Gary Cahill and David Luiz of Chelsea.
Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard, the PFA Player’s Player of the Year in 2014-15, was also back in the lineup.
Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, the league’s top scorer, and Liverpool winger Sadio Mane also made the team.
Among the big names missing out were Manchester United’s leading scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, who were both nominated for the PFA Player’s Player of the Year earlier this month.
All 92 clubs in the English Football League and eight sides from the Women’s Super League voted for the Team of the Year ahead of the 44th PFA Awards in London on Sunday.
