The weekend’s results have given Tottenham renewed hope that they can chase down Chelsea and be crowned Premier League champions – but manager Mauricio Pochettino revealed they will have to do so without Harry Winks.

Midfielder Winks was stretchered off during Spurs’ 2-0 win over Burnley on Saturday, the 21-year-old given oxygen before undergoing scans on an ankle injury at a local hospital.

The England Under-21 international returned to Turf Moor post-game wearing a protective boot and headed to London with the rest of the Spurs squad.

Winks was due for more scans on Monday but boss Pochettino is fearing the worst with just nine Premier League games remaining.

“It will be difficult for him to play again this season,” said Pochettino, whose Tottenham side are now just seven points behind Chelsea after the Blues slipped up against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

“He has done scans and after that we will see what the real problem is. We hope it is no big issue but he twisted his ankle and now we need to see what happened.

“We need to see the results of the scan and then to start his recovery.”

Rising star Leroy Sane has not given up on Manchester City’s chances of catching Chelsea, but admits his side let a golden opportunity pass them by last weekend.

The 21-year-old German continued his impressive second half of the season by scoring City’s opening goal against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

However, winger Sane and his team-mates had to settle for a point as the Gunners twice came from behind to hold Pep Guardiola’s men to a 2-2 draw.

That stalemate meant that City were unable to capitalise on Chelsea’s shock 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace – their first Premier League loss in nine matches – but with the two teams locking horns in West London on Wednesday night, the fleet-footed Sane senses a chance to hand the league leaders reason to look over their shoulders.

“It’s very difficult (to catch them). They lost and it was very important for us to win the game (against Arsenal) and get three points,” said the City man.

“We only have one but we have to carry on.

“On Wednesday, it’s an important game against Chelsea.

“We can win and get three points.”

Sane also says that he revelled in the opportunity to pit his wits against Arsenal’s pacy right-back Hector Bellerin.

He said: “He is a very quick full-back. I don’t think I’m faster than him but it was okay!

“For the fans, it’s good to see how we run.”

Wilfried Zaha reckons that Crystal Palace sent shockwaves across the Premier League by springing one of the surprises of the season at Chelsea last weekend.

Within the opening 11 minutes at Stamford Bridge, in-form winger Zaha scored to cancel out Cesc Fabregas’ opening goal before then setting up Christian Benteke’s winner, with a 2-1 victory keeping Sam Allardyce’s Eagles four points above the Premier League drop zone.

Zaha, who looks set to be offered a new contract by chairman Steve Parish, is certain that few pundits would have tipped Palace to upset Antonio Conte’s title-favourites and has called on his team to use their West London triumph as inspiration for the remainder of the season.

“They are top of the league and playing really well, so no one was expecting us to beat them at their own stadium, and I can’t describe how good I feel about this now,” said the 24-year-old Ivory Coast international.

“You just have to believe in yourselves as a group and that’s what we did in this match – we worked hard and took our chances, which, as I say, was always going to be vital.

“It’s a massive confidence boost to us and it gives us all a lift going into the final nine games of the season.

“We know the talent we have within the squad and the work we are putting in is having its rewards, and everyone is seeing the difference with the recent results.”

Former Arsenal defender Gael Clichy believes Arsene Wenger is still the right man to lead the Gunners, despite recent criticism of the Frenchman who has been at the club since 1996.

Clichy played a peripheral role in Wenger’s ‘Invincible’ squad in 2004 – the last time the Gunners won the title – before departing for Manchester City in 2011.

And Clichy featured for Pep Guardiola’s side at the weekend that managed a 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

The French defender has given his support to his former boss as Arsenal sit in sixth position, seven points adrift of City in fourth.

(Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“I do believe he’s the right man,” he said.

“He has been the right man for so many years and I am listening to what people are saying. If the club is spending more money and they have the players they need, then perhaps Wenger is the perfect man.

“If you take him off and you bring someone else with the same structure, would he be better? Would he do better? I’m not sure.

“I don’t think many managers could have done what he has in the last 10 years.

“You always want something new when you are used to something and what you get is probably most of the time not better than what you have so you have to be careful what you wish for.”

Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren admits the club’s three Brazilian imports are making the difference at Anfield at the moment.

Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino recovered from a 12,000-mile round trip after helping their national team beat Paraguay in Sao Paulo to start in the 3-1 victory over Everton on Saturday, while veteran midfielder Lucas Leiva was recalled to take the place of the injured Adam Lallana.

Firmino set up Sadio Mane’s opener before Coutinho both got himself on the scoresheet and teed up Divock Origi to seal the win, while defensively Lucas was the best player on the pitch winning the most tackles (nine) during the match.

And Lovren, 27, tipped his cap to the trio.

“It was good to see,” he said. “Philippe and Roberto had a long, long flight back from Brazil.

“They didn’t really even train with us – just a little session. They are such quality players they don’t even need to train with us!

“I have to say that Lucas was also brilliant. He was playing like he’s played 38 games already in a row this season.

“He was amazing. I was so happy about him and I think everyone felt the same.”

Mane limped off during the second half of the derby win over Ronald Koeman’s charges, the only sour note of an otherwise perfect afternoon for Reds manager Jurgen Klopp.

And Lovren hopes that does not prove costly towards the business end of the season.

He added: “If we hadn’t had injuries I’d say we could be around the same place as Chelsea. I don’t think Chelsea have even had one injury. Sometimes you need to be lucky.

“We played against Everton without Henderson and Lallana, who are massive players for us.

“There are a lot of points still to play for. We are in that top four and that’s where we want to be come the end of the season.”

Juan Mata admits it’s been frustrating watching from the sidelines as Manchester United’s top four hopes were dented this weekend with a goalless draw against West Brom.

United were without their Spanish playmaker who is recovering from surgery to his groin and will be absent for a number of weeks.

Without Mata, United failed to score in their clash with the Baggies and stayed fifth in the table, five points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.

They will have the chance to make up some of that gap this week with a clash against Everton on Tuesday, but for Mata it’s been a trying time as he is reduced to a watching brief.

(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

He said: “This situation is new for me, after having surgery this week, but I feel positive and I’m looking forward to getting well and trying to help the team.

“Watching a game of your team on TV is not the best possible experience, but I had to do it on Saturday.

“It was a shame that we weren’t able to get the three points because now we would be in a better position, especially after the draw between Arsenal and [Manchester] City, but we have to keep going.

“We had some chances to score that goal that sometimes is so difficult to get, but we couldn’t make them. Now we have to focus on the next game, against Everton at home this Tuesday, and try to win this one.

“At this moment, we’re being unlucky in terms of players injured or suspended. I hope the situation gets better from now until the end of the season.”

Demarai Gray is hoping his impressive display in Leicester City’s 2-0 victory over Stoke City last weekend will lead to more regular first-team opportunities in the weeks ahead.

It has been a frustrating season for Gray, who has often had to settle for a place on the bench in what has been a campaign of peaks and troughs for the Premier League champions as a whole.

Marc Albrighton falling ill led to the 20-year-old being given his first league start since February and just his eighth since signing from Birmingham in January 2016.

Gray was able to shake off a poor challenge from Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross before catching the eye down the left wing, where he could be lining up again against Sunderland on Tuesday night.

Gray said: “It’s been a tough season for me, being in and out [of the squad], because I just want to play games.

“I’ve just had to be patient and keep working hard and every time I get my opportunity, I just want to impact and play well.

“I’ve got to be direct and lively and get the fans lively. I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing and hopefully I can get a run of games.”

After climbing away from relegation trouble, Leicester are looking for their fifth win in a row when the league’s bottom club visit the King Power Stadium.

“Everything is looking good right now so hopefully we can keep our momentum and keep getting the points,” Gray added.

Matthew Pennington marked his first Merseyside derby with a maiden Everton goal – but he admitted his special day was tainted by the end result.

The 22-year-old defender was somewhat of a surprise inclusion in Ronald Koeman’s starting XI for Saturday’s clash at Anfield, Ramiro Funes Mori’s knee injury while on international duty with Argentina opening the door for the youngster.

Pennington himself has had his fair share of injury woes of late, with the game against Liverpool his first appearance of the season having struggled with a hamstring problem during the first half of the campaign.

But he showed no signs of those problems as he pounced on a loose ball in front of the Kop on 28 minutes to bring the Toffees level following Sadio Mane’s opener.

However, Everton would go on to lose 3-1 thanks to further goals from Philippe Coutinho and substitute Divock Origi.

And while being delighted to have tasted the Merseyside derby atmosphere, Pennington was left wishing for a better end result.

“It was a very special moment to score but it was obviously dampened by the result,” Pennington said.

“I’m always proud to wear this Blue shirt and to score a goal for the fans and team was special.

“I found out I was in the team on Friday when we did the shape, so I had time to mentally prepare.

“After my injury, my aim was to get back into the fold and get a few games. Hopefully now I can get a few more.

“It’s a disappointing day in the end. We wanted a result for our fans but unfortunately we couldn’t do that.”

Sunderland were pushed another step closer to relegation with a 1-0 defeat to Watford on Saturday, but that didn’t stop manager David Moyes heaping more praise on Jordan Pickford.

The goalkeeper has been a rare ray of sunshine for the Black Cats this season, but not even he could prevent Miguel Britos’ header from giving Watford all three points at Vicarage Road.

Sunderland sit with just 20 points from their 29 games so far, knowing that three wins from their last nine matches are an absolute minimum if they are to escape relegation danger.

But despite being on the end of his side’s 19th defeat this season, local hero Pickford still took the plaudits from his manager, thankful that his interventions didn’t prevent the loss from being even greater.

(Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images)

“Jordan is a top young goalkeeper, and is now beginning to look like a top senior goalkeeper as well, albeit that he’s of a young age,” said Moyes.

“He made one really good save in the first half, but more importantly, it felt as though he had a real command of his penalty box.

“Watford are probably the biggest side in the league, they remind me of a couple of old-fashioned teams from years and years ago, but we defended set-pieces against them really well, except on one occasion.
“We just didn’t deal with that one in the second half.

“If Jordan keeps up his form like he’s doing, then there’ll be few goalkeepers who can do what Jordan Pickford is doing at the moment.”

Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter insists he will be sticking his hands straight back up for penalty duties for the Cherries, despite his horror show in the goalless draw at Southampton.

The south coach derby ended 0-0 on Saturday, despite 27-year-old Arter having a golden opportunity to score when Ryan Bertrand tugged on Ryan Fraser’s shirt.

But the second-half substitute, who was making his first appearance since March 11 after recovering from injury, skied the spot kick over the bar after losing his footing in the St Mary’s turf.

And while he admitted that was a bruising experience, Arter insists it will not put him off the responsibility in future.

“With the penalty, I picked my spot and when I went to hit the ball my standing foot gave way a little bit and I ended up putting it over,” he said. “It looked a terrible penalty in the end.

“If the manager wants me to take another one in the next game then I’ll be more than happy to put myself forward.

“I’ve been practicing penalties in training for the last three months now. I’ve been disappointed that I haven’t been able to take one so far. In training they have definitely turned out better than that!

“It was nice to get back on the pitch after a bit of an injury. I’m glad there’s a game on Wednesday, because it’d feel like a long week if there wasn’t. I’m looking forward to the Liverpool game where hopefully I can put right a few wrongs.

“I was really disappointed to miss the Swansea game and the international break with Ireland, but it was good to get back out there.”