Mauricio Pochettino wants to harness the sort of feeling that surrounded Leicester’s run to the title last season when Tottenham face the leaders Chelsea on Wednesday and believes the rest of the Premier League will be cheering for his team.

Tottenham pulled to within 10 points of Antonio Conte’s team by defeating Watford 4-1 on Sunday. Pochettino suggested the chasing pack, led by Liverpool, who are six points behind Chelsea in second, will now will the home side to win at White Hart Lane, claiming that when Tottenham were fighting at the top with Leicester, it was their then-rivals who attracted similar goodwill.

“Maybe we will feel how Leicester felt last season,” the Spurs manager said when asked whether he expects the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal to be rooting for Tottenham to stop what currently seems an irresistible force – Chelsea made it 13 wins in a row with a 4-2 triumph over Stoke on Saturday. “It was all the teams with them and against us. Maybe [Chelsea] will feel the same as us last season.”

It is not an outlandish thought that a Tottenham win would bring them back into contention, such is their current level of performance, but Pochettino was keen to point out that the division as a whole might benefit from Chelsea’s winning run coming to an end.

“Chelsea arrive in a very good shape, we too, and it will be a very tough game but a great opportunity for us to try and stop them and reduce the gap,” he said. “I think it is important for the Premier League and for us that we try and win. Then our challenge is to be in the top four.”

The latter, at least, is reality at present and Pochettino was delighted with the performance that took Tottenham above Manchester City on goal difference. Two goals apiece from Harry Kane and Dele Alli saw Spurs record a fourth successive victory. “I think it was nearly a perfect game,” said Pochettino. “The shame was that we conceded a goal in the last minute but there were a lot of positive things and I’m very happy. Now we have two or three days to try and prepare in the best way for Chelsea.”

Pochettino’s players adapted well to his switch to a three-man defence, a system he has felt comfortable using since the autumn, but he gave no hint that he would approach the Chelsea match – for which Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen are available after suspension – similarly.

“We’ll see,” he said. “The formation we choose to play is not important – most important is the animation and how we move the ball. Today was a game where, from the outside, we can see the players were enjoying playing football on the pitch. Most important is the idea, the philosophy, and what we want to do with the ball – I think you give too much importance to the shape.”