Despite no league wins in their last five games, the mood at Tottenham Hotspur has improved recently, just ahead of the visit of one of their favorite opponents: Manchester City.
Spurs’ Jekyll and Hyde
Tottenham last won in the Premier League at the end of December. Their last league win at home was eight weeks ago.
They have been in turgid form, winning three of their last 11 games in all competitions. Many calls have come for Thomas Frank (left) to be sacked, but they have been resisted by the board.
And now it seems that faith may have paid off. Not definitely, but maybe. Despite sitting in 14th place in the Premier League table, with seven wins from 23 games, Spurs managed to qualify in the top eight of the Champions League.
In a true Jekyll and Hyde season, Spurs have been brilliant in Europe’s premier competition and managed to finish fourth in the league table. Frank’s side ended the league phase ahead of the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG, and Sunday’s opponents, Manchester City.
Manchester City Struggling Too
City also managed a top-eight finish, thanks to Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin. The Ukrainian’s last-gasp header against Real Madrid pushed Los Blancos out of eighth place, and lifted City into it.
Despite that, it has been a far from ideal season for Catalan coach Pep Guardiola. City’s campaign has been riddled with inconsistency and injury, and despite their mixed league form, they are still only four points behind leaders Arsenal.
City have one win in their last five domestic games and had Arsenal been more ruthless, Guardiola’s perennial winners could already have been out of this year’s race. But the Gunners have not been firing of late, picking up just two points from the last nine available.
Do-or-Die
Sunday stands as a do-or-die for City. As Arsenal play Leeds on Saturday, City will know – in no uncertain terms – the margin between themselves and Mikel Arteta’s side going into the game.
If it is seven points (as one would expect it to be) and City fail to pick up three points, they can surely be ruled out of the race. But if Leeds do them a favor, and City are victorious on Sunday, Arsenal may well start to feel the same heat that has burned them over the last three years.
Spurs Love a City Game
Tottenham’s record over City in recent years is undeniably impressive. Since Guardiola joined City in 2016/17, he has lost more Premier League games against Tottenham (eight) than against any other opponent.
Also, Guardiola has suffered more defeats (ten) against Spurs in all competitions than he has against any other team in his entire managerial career.
Tottenham beat City 2-0 in August and could become the first-ever side to complete the league double over a Guardiola team on two separate occasions. They also beat them home and away in 2021/22.
The stats make for horrendous reading for City fans. Sunday is one of the rare occasions Arsenal fans will be supporting Tottenham. All sides involved – directly or indirectly – know just how important the game is.
