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Mauricio Pochettino has had a strange dig at Liverpool after bemoaning Tottenham Hotspur’s exits from both the FA Cup and League Cup in the space of a week.

Spurs were second in the Premier League on Boxing Day, six points behind Jurgen Klopp’s side after a 5-0 victory over AFC Bournemouth, but recent home defeats Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United have left them down in third and chasing a nine-point gap.

Injuries to Harry Kane and Dele Alli, as well as Son Heung-min’s international call-up for the Asian Games, have undermined Tottenham’s title challenge as a result, while they look set to complete a second-successive transfer window without adding to their squad.

And having seen their domestic cup exploits ended by Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Pochettino has enviously highlighted Liverpool’s spending power, specifically the arrivals of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, as the reason why his own side have lost ground on the Reds.

“In the past couple of years, Liverpool have invested a lot of money,” the Argentine stressed to ESPN . “I need a washing machine, your wife asks you for a washing machine. Now I need a door, a lightbulb, a bed.

“But for us, due to a number of circumstances, we’ve tried to produce young players with great futures such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier or Harry Winks.

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“We are creating players. But in this case, Liverpool need a defender, they get Van Dijk. They need a goalkeeper, who’s the best? Alisson!”

(Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

He continued: “It’s the same as Manchester City. In the end, it’s valid as Real Madrid and Barcelona do the same because they’re on a different level.

“At the moment, Tottenham haven’t reached that level, so when we can’t buy a washing machine, we get a dryer that can do the same job. Instead of a sofa, we get a chair where you can also sit.

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“That’s the difference between Tottenham and the teams that are built to win.”