Pochettino says Chelsea ‘never feel like underdogs’ ahead of Man City clash

Mauricio Pochettino declared Chelsea can’t consider themselves underdogs as he gears up to face Premier League champions Manchester City.

The tenth-place Chelsea has faced a string of defeats against City, failing to score a single goal in the past six games across all competitions.

However, they head into Sunday’s match at Stamford Bridge on the back of a thrilling 4-1 win against a nine-man Tottenham earlier this week.

Pochettino, in his first season in charge at Chelsea, lauded City boss Pep Guardiola and the club as a whole during his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“For me, they are the best team, have the best coaching staff, and the best manager,” he said. “We need to tell the truth — it is one of the best organizations in the world.

“When you have the results you are showing, it’s because from the top to the bottom, you are doing things really, really well.”

But the Argentine emphasized that his team had displayed the talent and character to compete with top clubs in their match against high-flying Spurs.

“Chelsea never have the feeling of being an underdog,” he said. “The feeling is always ‘you are Chelsea’. It is impossible, the history is there. (But) I think we cannot go and say ‘we are the big team of the day’ on Sunday.

“We need to go there trying to be protagonists, with our personality, with our character.”

jw/ea