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Spotlight on... Manchester City

Sat 01 February 2020, 13:30|Tottenham Hotspur

On Sunday afternoon we are back in Premier League action with Manchester City making the trip to N17 (4.30pm kick-off).

The last time City visited Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was for the first leg of last season's UEFA Champions League quarter-final meeting between the sides. Hugo Lloris produced the early heroics in the encounter, saving a Sergio Aguero penalty, before Heung-Min Son gave us the advantage at the halfway stage of the tie with a fine solo effort on 78 minutes. We then lost the return leg on the night 4-3, but progressed to the semi-finals on away goals.

Team news

City boss Pep Guardiola has not ruled out defender Aymeric Laporte from featuring in this Sunday’s game. The French international returned to action in the Sky Blues’ last Premier League game - a 1-0 win over Sheffield United – but has suffered with fatigue since. Meanwhile, he also confirmed the game will come too soon for winger Leroy Sane.

City’s form

The reigning league champions have continued to show their quality this season in the top flight and are currently on a run of just one defeat in their last 12 outings. Their last game in the league saw them take all three points at Bramall Lane as they defeated Sheffield United 1-0, however, taking their form in all competitions into consideration, they do head into this game on the back of a defeat. That was a 1-0 loss to Manchester United on Wednesday night in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final although they still progressed to the final 3-2 on aggregate.

One to watch

Currently sitting fourth in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts with 180 goals to his name, Sergio Aguero is in the sort of form which could see him break into the top three by the end of the season. Just seven goals behind Andy Cole on the list, the Argentine striker has 16 goals already this campaign, which has included seven in his last four games. In all competitions this term, he has been involved in 24 goals in as many games (21 goals, 3 assists).

Last time we met

A resilient performance back in August saw us come away from the Etihad with a point after a 2-2 draw. Twice in the game we fought back from a losing position. Raheem Sterling opened the scoring for our hosts on 20 minutes, but we quickly equalised three minutes later through Erik Lamela before Sergio Aguero restored City's lead on 35 minutes. We then brought it back level just 11 minutes after the break through Lucas Moura before late drama as City looked to have won the game in the final seconds. Gabriel Jesus slammed the ball into the back of the net but, just as had happened in our Champions League quarter-final visit to the Etihad, a VAR review ruled out the strike - this time for handball.

Last five meetings

17 August, 2019 – Man City 2-2 Spurs – Premier League
20 April, 2019 – Man City 1-0 Spurs – Premier League
17 April, 2019 – Man City 4-3 Spurs – Champions League quarter-final second leg
9 April, 2019 – Spurs 1-0 Man City – Champions League quarter-final first leg
29 October, 2018 – Spurs 0-1 Man City – Premier League

It’s a numbers game

23 - Only versus Everton (26) have we won more Premier League matches than we have against Manchester City (23). Indeed, seven of our last 10 league wins against City have come on home soil.

3 - In all competitions, Manchester City have lost three of their last five away matches against us (W2), losing their most recent game in April, 2019, in the Champions League.

5 - Manchester City have won their last five Premier League away games in north London (vs Arsenal and us) - as many as they had in their first 40 such games in the competition (W5 D10 L25). No team has ever won six consecutive top-flight away games against the two sides.

42 - City defender Aymeric Laporte has ended on the winning side in 42 of his 49 Premier League appearances – the record for wins in the first 50 games for any player is 42, shared by Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben and Ederson.

9 - Dele has had a hand in nine goals in 16 games under Jose Mourinho in all competitions (6 goals, 3 assists).

Played for both

Representing seven London sides in his career but enjoying his most prolific period with us, striker Clive Allen also had a rare spell outside London with Manchester City before later returning to N17 to join our coaching set-up.

A prolific striker throughout his career, Clive began his career with Queens Park Rangers before having spells with the likes of Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, West Ham United and Millwall as well as a very successful four years with us in the mid-1980s.

His father Les had been part of our 1960/61 double-winning team before the forward joined us in 1984. He made 135 appearances and scored 84 goals for us before leaving for Bordeaux in 1988 and then moving to Manchester City in 1989.