Antonio Conte is looking for Tottenham to continue improving when they travel to Manchester United as the two teams battle for a Champions League place.
After hammering Everton 5-0 on Monday, Tottenham sit just two points behind the fifth-placed United with two games in hand and are looking to strike a huge blow in the top-four race on Saturday.
Conte has won four of his six meetings with United in all competitions, most recently winning the FA Cup final 1-0 against them as Chelsea coach in May 2018. However, the Italian has lost on both of his visits to Old Trafford.
Ahead of the crucial clash, Conte spoke about the improvements made by his team recently and suggested that the Red Devils' struggles had offered hope for his team in the battle for the top four.
"I think we've improved, and we are improving through our work every day," he said. "We're ready to understand what our level is now.
"They [United] lost the derby [4-1 at Manchester City last week], and you know very well the importance of this type of game. But, we have to try to give continuity, to think of ourselves, not of others. We want to show our progress.
"It's an important game on Saturday, [against] a team that is fighting this season for a place in the Champions League. Normally they stay regularly in this position, but this season they're struggling a lot.
"For this reason, we have to try to give our best to stay very close to the top of the table. Then, at the end of the season, we'll see what happens."
Conte's arrival at Spurs has brought dramatic improvements in their attacking play. In their last two outings, Spurs registered 4-0 and 5-0 wins over Leeds United and Everton, and are looking to net at least four goals in three consecutive league games for the first time since February 2004.
Meanwhile, Conte was again asked about the situation facing his former club Chelsea, whose owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the British government in response to Russia's war on Ukraine.
The Italian, however, suggested that players and coaches cannot be held responsible for the actions of their owners, only for their own performances.
"In every situation, you have to take responsibility," the 52-year-old said. "When you work you have to take responsibility.
"I think this is a type of problem. The job is a player and for me my job is a coach. This question could be also for other sports, not only for football.
"The moment the club decides to put you in charge, me as a coach or as a player, the most important thing is to take responsibility to give your best for the club."
Conte, who lifted the Premier League and the FA Cup during his two-year spell at Stamford Bridge, was also keen to stress that the publicity surrounding Chelsea's ownership should not detract from their past successes.
He added: "We are talking about four or five years ago. We're talking about a fantastic club, with an owner that made this club big.
"Don't forget that in the period he was the owner, Chelsea won everything, but it was for Chelsea.
"I think also we have seen other Russian owners in other teams. Not only in football but in many sports."
Ranieri comes out of retirement to take charge of Roma
Claudio Ranieri has come out of retirement to take charge of Roma until the end of the season.
The Italian retired in May, calling time on a career in which he famously led Leicester City to a shock Premier League title in 2016 and coached a host of teams from Europe's top leagues, including Chelsea, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Inter and Monaco.
Ranieri, who last coached Cagliari in Serie A, returns for a third stint in charge of Roma, with whom he came agonisingly close to winning the Serie A title in his first spell between 2009 and 2011.
Across his previous two spells, the 73-year-old managed 96 games in all competitions, registering 53 wins, with a win percentage of 55.21%.
"Roma is pleased to announce that Claudio Ranieri is the new Technical Manager of the First Team," Roma said in a statement.
"At the end of the season he will take on a senior managerial role, he will be an advisor to the ownership for all sporting matters of the club.
"The search for a new coach will continue in the coming months and Claudio will also have a say in this decision."
Ranieri replaces Juric, who was sacked after Roma lost 3-2 at home against Bologna on Sunday, leaving them languishing in 12th place in the Serie A standings.
Juric, who won just four of his 12 games in charge of the club, was Roma's second coach to be fired this season, with Daniele De Rossi being sacked in September.
According to reports in Italian media, Roma found it difficult to sign a replacement for the Croatian before settling on Ranieri, with former Italy coach Roberto Mancini and Maurizio Sarri among the preferred candidates.
Ranieri's first game will be away to league leaders Napoli on November 24.
Australia 0-0 Saudi Arabia: Visitors denied last-gasp winner on Renard's return
Saudi Arabia had a stoppage-time goal ruled out as Herve Renard's first game since returning as Saudi Arabia head coach ended in a 0-0 draw against Australia in World Cup qualifying.
Sultan Al-Ghannam fired through a sea of bodies in the 94th minute of Thursday's Group C contest at AAMI Park, but the celebrations were cut short due to an offside infringement.
Referee Ali Saeed Al Naqbi had earlier irked the home side by awarding a 12th-minute penalty for an Ahmed Al-Kassar challenge on Mitch Duke, which was then overturned.
Replays showed the incident happened just outside the box, but Australia felt the Saudi keeper should have been sent off and not issued just a yellow card.
Joe Gauci pulled off a fine double save later in the first half, albeit the offside flag later went up, but it was Australia who did more to win the game prior to the late drama.
Brandon Borrello was played clean through on goal and opted to square to Riley McGree, who was unable to help the ball past covering defender Saud Abdulhamid in front of goal.
Data Debrief: Another blank for both sides
Australia entered this game without a goal against Saudi Arabia in 2,716 days - a run that will extend for a little while longer after this latest blank.
The Socceroos have failed to score in three of their five third-round qualifying games, while Saudi Arabia have gone three in a row without netting.
Tony Popovic's side will justifiably argue they did more to win the game, though, finishing with an expected goals value (xG) of 1.31 to Saudi Arabia's 0.05, but the teams remain locked on points in Group C.
Carsley focusing on positives after nine England drop-outs
Lee Carsley wants the England players at his disposal to "make the most of the situation" after nine others dropped out through injury.
Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite on Wednesday became latest player to withdraw from the Nations League games with Greece and Republic of Ireland.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale and Levi Colwill have also dropped out.
England captain Harry Kane has admitted to being unhappy with the large number of withdrawals for interim boss Carsley's final two games in charge.
However, Carsley attempted to put a positive spin on the situation when speaking at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday ahead of facing Greece.
"The focus all camp has been on the players that are here and it's important that we make the most of the situation," he told reporters.
"With the amount of players that have pulled out, it gives other players an opportunity to be here.
"We're really looking forward to the game and it's going to be a tough test for us and the focus has been purely on the players that are here.
"With the amount of pull-outs we've had in the window, historically it's been like that in the past - November has always been a challenging window.
"But the culture that Gareth [Southgate], Steve [Holland] and the rest of the lads created has made it a really positive environment and the players that are here thoroughly deserve to be here."
Grealish was one of the first players to withdraw from the squad, having been called up despite not playing for club side Manchester City since 20 October.
City boss Pep Guardiola questioned England's decision to include Grealish in their squad as he recovers from injury, but Carsley insisted he was justified in doing so.
"The medical teams are constantly talking throughout squad selection, regardless of whether there are games or not," Carsley said.
"We are constantly getting updates. The medical departments have brilliant communication between club and country.
"It was always the case we were going to get the players who were potentially going to miss out in to the assessed. Jack was one of them. He was assessed and sent back and it was as clear as that."
England trail Group B2 leaders Greece by three points with two rounds of fixtures to play, having lost the reverse fixture 2-1 at Wembley last month.
The Three Lions have won on all four of their previous trips to face Greece, doing so by an aggregate score of 9-1 - only against Luxembourg (5/5) do they hold a better 100% win rate away from home.
However, Greece are on the longest active winning run of any European nation in all competitions (five games) and could win six consecutive matches for the first time November 2013.
Carsley, who will step aside for Thomas Tuchel after next week's home match with Republic of Ireland, said: "We're expecting a tough game against Greece and it’s one we have to win.
"But we're really looking forward to it, we've had a good week's training, the players are in good spirits and it's going to be a sell out with a great atmosphere.
"We've had to wait four or five weeks for this, but this next window is so important to us, not just tomorrow but Republic of Ireland as well, so it's a great challenge for us."
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