LONDON • Jose Mourinho still believes Tottenham can finish in the top four of the Premier League despite a poor run that has sent them tumbling down the table.
Spurs have slipped from top to ninth after a run of just three wins in the past 12 games, meaning they are now outsiders to secure Champions League qualification.
Mourinho's men visit West Ham today six points behind the fifth-placed Hammers (42) with a game in hand. "It's very premature to think about the table," he said.
"People still have matches in hand. In our case, we played already two matches against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City."
Mourinho said Spurs, who play City in the League Cup final in April, would fight to qualify for next season's Champions League.
"We can finish top four, top six or outside the top six," he added. "We've to make sure the best possible thing is going to happen."
The reverse fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in October finished 3-3 after West Ham scored three goals in the final 10 minutes. That draw had long-lasting consequences as Mourinho adopted a more pragmatic approach to tighten up defensively.
The Portuguese, 58, said that game against the Hammers was a microcosm of Spurs' campaign.
"The first game against West Ham is a little bit of the reflection of some of our problems," he said.
"If we win that game you would all say we played amazingly well, which we did, we had an incredible first half, lots of quality, lots of dominance, we played really well but we didn't win it and this is a reflection of many of our matches."
Giovani Lo Celso, Serge Aurier and Sergio Reguilon remain injured for today's clash.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes that his second-placed team, who are 10 points behind leaders Manchester City (56), can still catch their rivals with 14 games left.
Speaking ahead of today's home match against Newcastle, he said: "We can't hide the fact we've dropped off our form a bit... Whatever other teams do, we can't control. We are going to have to get a good run together if we're to put pressure on City."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
WEST HAM V TOTTENHAM
Singtel TV Ch102 & StarHub Ch227, 8pm
MANCHESTER UNITED V NEWCASTLE
Ch102 & Ch227, tomorrow, 3am
