Mauricio Pochettino has expressed doubt towards his Tottenham Hotspur team’s ability to push Chelsea for the Premier League title after two Sadio Mané goals in two minutes handed Liverpool the three points on Saturday.

Tottenham were without Danny Rose and Jan Vertonghen as they travelled up to Anfield and that showed as Spurs looked weak on the left without the duo, with most of Liverpool’s attacks coming down that side.

But it was not only Tottenham’s left hand side that looked under pressure throughout the game across a disappointing display in which Harry Kane was isolated for majority of the ninety minutes as Spurs only had two shots on target.

The result was Spurs' third loss of the season, with the other two also coming away from home against top six teams.

It sees Tottenham remain in second place, above Arsenal on goal difference but only one point behind in front of fourth-placed Liverpool.

Performance not good enough

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino criticised his team’s ability to challenge for the Premier League after a “sloppy” performance.

The Argentine went on to praise his opponent saying that “they were better than us and fully deserved the win” before expressing his displeasure at his own team's performance.

He explained that he was “very disappointed in our first-half display” but in the “second half we reached their level, but it was really late.”

Pochettino also commented that “the whole team was poor. It is about balance and today it was poor.”

The manager went on to question Tottenham’s ambition as “we are in a position that is up to us. But if you show that you cannot cope with the pressure to play to win the league then it is difficult to challenge and fight for the Premier League.”

However, Tottenham were helped out earlier on Sunday as Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley at Turf Moor, meaning that they are now ten points clear at the top rather than the expected 12.

But Spurs still have to worry about Manchester City who will move above them if they beat Bournemouth away from home tomorrow night.

Pochettino also added that his team “need to show more. In the end we will fight for the top six but it’s difficult to fight for the Premier League.”

Spurs will travel to Belgium in the Europa League this week before going to Craven Cottage to face Fulham in the FA Cup next weekend.

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