Tottenham Hotspur are currently 14th in the Premier League and have one league win in their last six games. They lost to West Ham and drew with Burnley in their last two games.
Last week they only just avoided defeat at Turf Moor, thanks to a late goal from Cristian Romero. Romero is currently one of the club's top scorers with two goals from their centre back in their last two league games.
Yet in Europe, they have qualified for the Last 16 in the UEFA Champions League and have had some impressive results, notably a recent win over Borussia Dortmund.
The pressure remains on manager Thomas Frank and many of the Spurs supporters are not convinced that he is the man to take the club forward.
Manchester City will undoubtedly provide a tough test and it will be a challenge for a Spurs side who need to start picking up points sooner rather than later.
Pep Guardiola's side remain second in the table and will be looking to keep the pressure on Arsenal. However, before their win last weekend, they were without a win in their previous four league matches and had lost ground in the title race.
When the sides met back in August, it was a 2-0 win for Frank's side.
Time to climb the table?
After disappointing results lately they have slipped down the table and with Leeds United and Nottingham Forest starting to pick up points, Spurs may have started looking over their shoulder.
It may seem too early to talk of Spurs in a relegation battle but they are only three points ahead of Forest and two ahead of Leeds.
They have tough fixtures coming up in their next four games and City is the start of this but they need to start putting points on the board and climbing the table.
Performances in recent weeks may have improved slightly but the results have not been what is expected of the club.
The lack of an out-and-out goalscorer has hindered the sides chances of winning games.
Why the difference between Europe and the Premier League?
Spurs finished fourth in the Champions League yet are 14th in the Premier League.
The difference is stark. Last season they won the UEFA Europa League yet finished 17th in the league but there would have been an expectation that they would improve this time around.
Thomas Frank will point to the injuries and that he feels as though it will take time to turn the club's fortunes around. However, they have struggled for consistency.
In the one-off games in Europe, Spurs have produced some good performances and successful results.
Previous success against City
In recent games against City, Spurs also have had some promising results such as a 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium last season under Ange Postecoglou.
When the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium first opened, City did not enjoy any of their first five visits. They lost all five without scoring.
They have improved in recent years as they won back-to-back matches in 2024. This included a 1-0 FA Cup fourth-round win in January of that year, followed four months later by a 2-0 Premier League win, courtesy of two goals from Erling Haaland.
This will be remembered as the game in Postecoglou's first season where the club missed the opportunity to finish in the top four but the City win meant that Arsenal's chances of winning the league suffered.
Spurs will be hoping that they can put in a good performance against City.
As with Europe, they have been able to raise their levels for games against some of the tougher opponents, on paper, so they may be able to reach those levels against City and pick up some vital points.