Harry Kane: 'Tottenham can beat Manchester United without top scorer'
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Tottenham can beat Manchester United even without injured leading scorer Harry Kane, says manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Striker Kane, 24, will miss Saturday's match at Old Trafford with a hamstring injury he picked up in Sunday's 4-1 home victory over Liverpool.
"You are going to miss your best striker," Pochettino said.
"But I always believe we can win with one or another team, with one or another player."
The Argentine added: "I'm disappointed because he is our main striker and I think he is one of the best strikers in Europe, in the world.
"We have played without Harry before. We have Fernando [Llorente] and if you remember last season when Harry was out for many games we played with Son [Heung-min]."
Sunday's win - in which Kane took his Premier League tally to eight goals - kept Spurs third in the table.
Kane has scored 13 goals in 12 appearances in all competitions for Spurs this season, who are level on points with second-placed Manchester United.
"The doctor and medical staff made the decision to not take the risk," Pochettino added.
"There is no sense in taking that risk and making the problem bigger. It is not a big problem, only a small issue, but he is not going to play."
How did Spurs fare when Kane was out last term?
Analysis
Ex-Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas on BBC Radio 5 live
It's great news for Jose Mourinho and his United centre-halves. Kane would have been the last person they wanted to come up against after that defeat at Huddersfield.
Pochettino will have something up his sleeve. I am not 100% sure if he will go with Llorente. Is he at that fitness level yet? It wouldn't surprise me if he went with Dele Alli and Son up front.
Either way it is a huge loss for Tottenham, more because of the momentum they were getting after the result at Real Madrid and the home win against Liverpool, when it felt like they were at White Hart Lane again [rather than their current home of Wembley].