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Arsenal v Tottenham: Mauricio Pochettino prioritises trophies over north London spoils

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Mauricio Pochettino has told Soccer Saturday why winning major honours is more important than Tottenham's rivalry with Arsenal.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino insists he is not focused on finishing above Arsenal - because he wants to finish above every team in Europe.

In an exclusive interview with Soccer Saturday ahead of the north London derby, live on Sky Sports, the Spurs boss spoke about the pressure from the fans to beat their bitter city rivals.

Last season, Tottenham finished above Arsenal in the Premier League for the first time since 1994/95 but while Pochettino understands the importance of that to the supporters he says it's more important to start winning major trophies.

"Of course, it was a massive achievement last season to be above them after 22 years," he said.

"But our objective is a great project to try to give Tottenham the possibility to win titles, the Premier League and the Champions League.

"I think that is our challenge, it's not to be above Arsenal.

"We understand that Tottenham fans want to beat Arsenal and to be above them, but I think our project is not only to be above Arsenal, it's to be above everyone and to be at the top and win titles.

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"That is our challenge."

Spurs have only won one of their last 24 league visits to Arsenal, but Pochettino insists his players are confident of a positive result at the Emirates on Saturday.

And he argued that all of the big Premier League clubs find it tough when they play away at top-six rivals.

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"It's true not only for Tottenham, but for Arsenal to play away from home - or for Manchester City or United or everyone - when you are going to play in big games, the results are not so positive," he added.

"Of course we believe we can win.

"In football you can be up or down very quickly and the challenge is now to keep at the level that we've got in the last few years."

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Ahead of the north London derby Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has lauded 'special' Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

Tottenham are playing home matches at Wembley this season, which means Saturday's trip to Arsenal will be their closest league match to White Hart Lane.

But Pochettino expressed his excitement at returning to familiar turf next year once work on their new stadium has been completed.

He added: "We've seen the new stadium and I was impressed because it's a massive stadium.

"We are so excited and we can't wait to go there and share it with our fans.

"I think it will be one of the best stadiums in the world. It's a fantastic project and we are so excited for next season."

Catch the full interview with Mauricio Pochettino on Soccer Saturday Pre-Match, which airs on Sky Sports News ahead of the North London Derby on Sky Sports Premier League from 11.30am.

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