Antonio Conte praised Harry Kane’s display in Tottenham’s 5-0 win over Everton but insisted that he wants the striker to produce a similar display at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Kane continued his rich vein of form on Monday, proving a menace for the Everton backline every time he dropped deep to pick up the ball while also taking his chances with aplomb.
The 28-year-old’s second goal was particularly impressive, with the striker meeting a ball over the top with a first-time strike into the bottom corner past Jordan Pickford.
The goal took his tally in the Premier League 176 goals – one more than Arsenal legend Thierry Henry (Premierleague.com).
The England captain is now just 84 goals away from Alan Shearer’s record tally of 260 and few would put it past him to break the record, given that the Tottenham man is still at the peak of his powers.
However, Conte pointed out that Kane has not been able to string two back-to-back world-class performances together over the past month and challenged the striker to find the back of the net against Manchester United.
When asked about Kane overtaking Henry’s record, the Spurs head coach told Football.London: “We are talking about a world-class striker. But at the same time I tell you after Manchester City he scored twice and Harry didn’t score against Burnley. At Leeds, he scored again and he didn’t score against Middlesbrough.
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“Tonight he scored and my expectation is to see on Saturday a great game, not only for Harry but for all the team.
“It’s right to celebrate but at the same time we have to be focused and from tomorrow we have to start to think Saturday will be a crucial game for us and I repeat, it’s right to celebrate the players that they are doing fantastic things.
“But at the same time I want my players to celebrate but don’t lose the focus, don’t lose our target.
“We have 12 games to play and they have to be finals for us. I repeat, now I put this target to my team that we have to try stay until the end very close to the top team and to try and do something important.
“I repeat, to finish in the top four for us it would be we won the Champions League or Premier League this season.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It is certainly worth remembering that both Kane and Son were poor against Burnley and Boro, which is arguably when we struggled to create chances. However, I would expect both players to get plenty of space against United on Saturday as Ralf Ragnick’s men are not going to sit back at home like Burnley or Boro.
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