Postecoglou insists Spurs can win the title despite the supercomputer giving a 0.1% chance
THE computer says no when it comes to Tottenham's title chances, but Ange Postecoglou vowed: AI still believes we are in the hunt.
Number crunchers Opta used a supercomputer this week to calculate the prospects of the current top five teams being declared Premier League champions by the end of the campaign.
Manchester City somehow came out on top, but Spurs were given “less than a 0.1 percent chance” of finishing top of the pile.
When that outcome was put to Spurs chief Postecoglou, he joked: “A supercomputer! Does it go to a phone booth and turn into something other than a regular computer?
“What did it say, 0.1 percent? So then we got an opportunity. Let's go for it. No problems, no problems with that, we have a chance!”
Opta's AI brainbox may not fancy Spurs, but they are just seven points behind leaders Liverpool and are on a winnable run of games.
Hosting Brighton on Saturday is the second of a series of four home games on Saturday at 3pm, followed by Wolves and Crystal Palace.
At the end of that run, it's likely that the gap to the top could be even smaller.
Especially now that Postecolgou can choose his strongest eleven for the first time this season after captain Son Heung-min and midfielder Yves Bissouma returned from international duty.
The only first-team players currently injured are Ryan Sessegnon and Manor Solomon, who underwent further knee surgery on Monday and will be out for a further two to three weeks.
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When asked how he feels about attacking the next matches with his best team, Postecoglou replied: “I'm absolutely excited.
“It gives us a chance to get some things on track with our training, with the way we want to play our football to see if we can go up another level or two or three between now and the end of the year.
“We've got 15 games to go and we've probably got the healthiest roster since the start of the season and that gives us that platform, but you still have to go out and perform.”
Everton and Manchester City have successfully attacked goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from corners of late – and Brighton can be expected to do the same.
Postecoglou is frustrated by a shift in the previously unwritten rule that pressure on goalkeepers by opponents would be given as a foul.
He revealed that Spurs have written to referees' body PGMOL for clarity.
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Former Celtic boss Postecoglou added: “We have sent some stuff to get some clarification.
“There's definitely been a shift, as I see it, where we've had two goals, maybe three, (against us) that in the past might have been fouls on the goalkeeper.
“And it's not just in our games, I've seen it in other games too.”