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Mauricio Pochettino: We can play face-to-face against Manchester City

Victory in North London would be a good start. They’ll want to come out and attack us.

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The home side has on the other hand failed to win in their opening four matches, but have taken maximum six points from their last two outings, against Sunderland and Crystal Palace, and now welcome City in high spirits.

“It is a tough game“. On top of that, Tottenham continue to struggle to make it into the Champions League spots, while City have finished inside the top two for the last four years.

Pochettino also confirmed that, while they are all making good progress, Nabil Bentaleb, Mousa Dembele, Ryan Mason and Alex Pritchard remain on the sidelines.

Although Sergio Aguero is fit and firing, the likes of Vincent Kompany and David Silva are facing a race against time to be fit for the game this weekend.

The scuttling energy of Manchester City’s new-look attack had seemed irrepressible just a fortnight ago, but as familiar cracks emerge in central midfield their bulldozing resurgence has taken a hit. Sergio Aguero has scored ten goals in eight matches against them, including the victor in their last meeting at White Hart Lane in May.

Eric Dier – The title of “utility man” is one usually forced upon the worst player in a Sunday League side.

David Silva has provided the most number of assists(4) in the Premier League this season. It’s still not clear what went wrong for the Belgian at Stamford Bridge, but he’s had no trouble since. Looking to get on the ball and contribute frequently to Spurs’ attempts to penetrate the Palace defence while also pitching in without it back in his own half. Korean winger Son Heung-min is certainly finding his feet quickly after last month’s move from Bayer Leverkusen, having scored the only goal. After fleeting appearances from the bench against Crystal Palace and Juventus, he finally got his chance at home to West Ham.

GN_Punk: I haven’t picked against the boys yet, but while City didn’t pull a result against West Ham last week, I watched that match in terror realizing what City are absolutely capable of.

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Kevin De Bruyne – Signed for £55m from Wolfsburg in August, De Bruyne has made an instant impact in a Manchester City shirt. Especially after he scored his first goal since August midweek against Sunderland. The team has shown staunch defensive performances of late, as the centerback combo of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld have led Spurs to three consecutive clean sheets in league play. Among the more notable meetings between these two was an FA Cup tie in February, 2004- a game that turned out to be one of the most stirring comebacks in the history of the competition.

Nicolas Otamendi Says City must beat Monchengladbach