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Harry Kane: 'Tottenham can beat Manchester United without top scorer'

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments718

Harry Kane
Kane left the field clutching his hamstring in Sunday's win over Liverpool at Wembley

Tottenham can beat Manchester United even without injured leading scorer Harry Kane, says manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Striker Kane, 24, will miss Saturday's match at Old Trafford with a hamstring injury he picked up in Sunday's 4-1 home victory over Liverpool.

"You are going to miss your best striker," Pochettino said.

"But I always believe we can win with one or another team, with one or another player."

The Argentine added: "I'm disappointed because he is our main striker and I think he is one of the best strikers in Europe, in the world.

"We have played without Harry before. We have Fernando [Llorente] and if you remember last season when Harry was out for many games we played with Son [Heung-min]."

Sunday's win - in which Kane took his Premier League tally to eight goals - kept Spurs third in the table.

Kane has scored 13 goals in 12 appearances in all competitions for Spurs this season, who are level on points with second-placed Manchester United.

"The doctor and medical staff made the decision to not take the risk," Pochettino added.

"There is no sense in taking that risk and making the problem bigger. It is not a big problem, only a small issue, but he is not going to play."

How did Spurs fare when Kane was out last term?

Harry Kane graphic
Games in all competitions

Analysis

Ex-Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas on BBC Radio 5 live

It's great news for Jose Mourinho and his United centre-halves. Kane would have been the last person they wanted to come up against after that defeat at Huddersfield.

Pochettino will have something up his sleeve. I am not 100% sure if he will go with Llorente. Is he at that fitness level yet? It wouldn't surprise me if he went with Dele Alli and Son up front.

Either way it is a huge loss for Tottenham, more because of the momentum they were getting after the result at Real Madrid and the home win against Liverpool, when it felt like they were at White Hart Lane again [rather than their current home of Wembley].

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718 comments

  • Comment posted by steviet3008, at 11:09 27 Oct 2017

    spurs could play with 11 sunday league players and mourinho would still play a back 11

  • Comment posted by D1710810867791, at 11:15 27 Oct 2017

    Its a big miss for spurs, but also shows just how much confidence MP has in the squad. With Minor injuries many managers would rush or take a risk to get their best player in the game, so credit goes to MP in managing his squad and looking after his players.

    I still think Spurs have enough to deal with United.

    Lets hope JM doesnt drain the life out of the game.

  • Comment posted by Boggy Marsh, at 11:29 27 Oct 2017

    Sad to see any player out through injury, especially one of our top England international players with big games coming up, including two England friendlies in a couple of weeks against Germany and Brazil.

    Too much tribalism in my opinion.

    Support and appreciate football and our national side, not just your own club side.

  • Comment posted by Squibble, at 11:07 27 Oct 2017

    Why do we need a HYS on a minor football injury?

  • Comment posted by Cash Splash NASA, at 11:07 27 Oct 2017

    Dull 0-0 written all over it now with Mourinho's boring tactics!

  • Comment posted by Sean Dyches Cough Sweet, at 11:09 27 Oct 2017

    If they play wingers and put Lorrente up front, it'll still be a challenging match. No one in the league can header a ball better than him. However, if they play to his feet, it'll be a draw/loss.

  • Comment posted by cml, at 12:14 27 Oct 2017

    I'm a United fan and will be at the game, but I'm sorry to hear this news. Kane's the best English striker in years and I'd have liked to have seen him play. Hope United win, nevertheless.

  • Comment posted by shinyface, at 16:39 27 Oct 2017

    In other news Lawro has Liverpool not losing again. Including last season unbeaten and 9 games this season that's 47 games unbeaten. Can they break the record?

  • Comment posted by Jon, at 12:43 27 Oct 2017

    I don't subscribe to "the Harry Kane team" argument but having a striker who scores at about a goal a game - and contributes more besides - is worth so much to a team. I'd love to have him at Liverpool!

    It's easy with hindsight but I'm surprised he was still on the pitch with 5 mins to go against Liverpool when the game was over after an hour.

    Good fortune for Manchester United! No excuses.

  • Comment posted by This name is awaiting moderation, at 15:28 27 Oct 2017

    274. What planet are you on? Gazza was one of the most naturally gifted English players of all time. Just watch Italia 90 or Euro 06 and you will see you're talking nonsense. It's widely accepted England have missed that type of player since.As for Gerrard he carried Liverpool for years and was up there with the very best.

  • Comment posted by Peter B, at 11:57 27 Oct 2017

    Can we talk about how the Carabao Cup draw was fixed yesterday?

    Supposedly they had technical problems with Twitter and so delayed the live draw. Whilst apparently working on the problem, they release a pre-recorded draw that kept the 4 big teams apart.
    Why bother to work on the problem if you've already done the draw? If they had fixed the problem, would they have then done a new draw live?

  • Comment posted by Munkhouse, at 13:40 27 Oct 2017

    Huddersfield beat United without Kane too, so what is the fuss all about?

  • Comment posted by 3DX, at 14:56 27 Oct 2017

    I suspect HK's absence is more a precaution in view of RM's visit on Wednesday. Spurs have enough quality to visit Manchester and come away with a good result.

  • Comment posted by D1679563033034, at 18:52 27 Oct 2017

    Pocchettino said "we're not a Harry Kane team".

    Time to prove it.

  • Comment posted by Kyle09, at 14:46 27 Oct 2017

    @274 I'm not a Liverpool fan, but to say gerrard is overrated, is one of the most ridiculous things I've read on here, and I've read some nonsense wolfie

  • Comment posted by cuddlesthekillerwhale, at 11:42 27 Oct 2017

    Unfortunately my team are not currently in the PL, but that does at least mean I can watch dispassionately.
    I do find it curious that so many anti Man Utd people rush to these message boards to post on any story that concerns Man Utd.
    Could any of you please explain to me how the second highest scorers in the PL have achieved this by "parking the bus"?

  • Comment posted by DsNoMan, at 15:43 27 Oct 2017

    Following comments on HYS is like watching evolution in reverse.

    Big blow for Spurs missing Kane, their first big test in terms of are they genuine contenders for the title. United have plenty of problems atm so most will be expecting Spurs to get something from the game even without Kane. Personally I expect a cagey affair despite all the hype with maybe a goal either way to decide it.

  • Comment posted by Rudolf hucker, at 20:15 27 Oct 2017

    The United fans really are the saddest bunch...just cannot cope with supporting a fallen giant. You accuse the Liverpool fans of living in the past.....pots and kettles? The most entertaining teams in the Prem? Man City and Spurs by a country mile....

  • Comment posted by WePrintItUK, at 12:13 27 Oct 2017

    The talk of Spurs being a one-man team is a joke! Kane was out last season injured and we were still scoring for fun, we have goals from all over the pitch. Last Season, Alli 20+ goals, Son 20+ goals, Eriksen 12+ goals. We've never just been reliant on Kane. Will we miss him? Of course as he's the most in-form striker in the world but we will also be fine without him as we have quality everywhere!

  • Comment posted by Spurs, at 13:07 27 Oct 2017

    Of course Spurs will miss him. But we showed last year goals came from elsewhere with Alli, Son and double figures with Erikson. Whatever people state who dislike Tottenham, Spurs will go to OT and make a good fight of it. COYS.

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