Manchester City FC

After midweek success in the Champions League, it’s all about the Premier League now as we head to Tottenham Hotspur for a 16:30 (UK) kick-off on Sunday.

We’ll go into the game looking for a victory to keep pressure on leaders Arsenal as we start to look towards the business end of the campaign.

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After a difficult first few trips to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium following its opening in 2019, we’ve enjoyed some good times there recently - winning on each of our last two Premier League visits.

Spurs go into the weekend in 14th, with 28 points from 23 games but Thomas Frank’s side did win at the Etihad earlier this season.

We know we’ll have to be at our best to take the three points on Sunday.

So with that in mind, the players were hard at work this afternoon.

Released to celebrate the Lunar New Year, the collection celebrates motion, energy, and tradition through a refined, contemporary lens.

SHOP OUR YEAR OF THE HORSE RANGE

Set in earthy, neutral tones, the capsule draws inspiration from the stillness of vintage Chinese portraiture, contrasted with the energy and momentum of a team in full stride.

At its core is the Manchester City Year of the Horse pre-match jersey, featuring hand-drawn Fire Horse artwork that embodies power, movement and relentless drive.

And that’s the piece we’ll see on the pitch in north London before our latest huge Premier League challenge.

Influenced by traditional Chinese ink and watercolour techniques, the sketched horse motifs bring depth and fluidity to the design, creating a piece that feels alive and expressive.

It’s heritage with horsepower - crafted for matchdays and all the days in between.

The Manchester City Year of the Horse Capsule Collection is available now at mancity.com/shop and Manchester City Official Stores at 10% off for Members and Seasoncard holders.

If buying online, the discount will be automatically applied when logged in with your Member account. Free delivery over £90/US$100/130euros, or visit our Stadium, Arndale, Trafford Centre, Yas Mall Abu Dhabi or Dubai Mall stores.

Ever since Spurs’ move into their spectacular new home in North London, it’s fair to say the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium had proved an unhappy hunting ground for City.

Tottenham had enjoyed victory in four consecutive league meetings with Pep Guardiola’s side between the 2019/20 and 2022/23 seasons as well as winning a 2019 Champions League encounter.

The sole exception came in January 2024 when a Nathan Ake effort secured a 1-0 victory in an FA Cup fourth round meeting for the Blues.

SHOP OUR YEAR OF THE HORSE RANGE

However, City ended our league hoodoo in thrilling and vital fashion on the night of May 15, 2024 thanks to an eventful and defining 2-0 victory.

It was one that moved us within three points of a historic fourth consecutive Premier League title.

And, as so often, Haaland proved the man for the occasion, our Norwegian star striker claiming a brace to finally end a determined and sustained challenge from the hosts who were seeking a win to boost their own top-four hopes.

Haaland had struck first shortly after half-time, converting a Kevin De Bruyne cross from close range.

But that was followed by a period of late Spurs pressure, with City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega – a second half substitute after Ederson sustained an injury – producing two vital saves from Dejan Kulesevski and Son Heung-min as the clock wound down.

But with nerves shredded and the tension almost unbearable a late foul by Pedro Porro on Jeremy Doku saw City awarded a penalty, handing Haaland the chance to seal the deal and end the Hotspur hoodoo.

As always, Erling stepped up the plate, cooly converting from 12 yards to seal a seismic and unforgettable victory, our eighth in a row, to move the Blues within touching distance of yet more history.

“[We showed] Fantastic mentality. Focus on game by game and now relax,” said Haaland afterwards.

“We came here to try to win and we won.

“Focus on the next game and try not to think too much. Let’s get all together and finish this.”

The City winger was impressive against the Turkish side, setting up Erling Haaland’s opener before he was forced off in the first half.

Doku suffered a similar setback recently and will miss Sunday’s game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 1 February at 16:30 (UK) for another important clash.

Lijnders, who faced the media in Friday’s press conference with Pep Guardiola unavailable, hopes he could be back sooner than his last absence.

“I have to say first of all to Jeremy, I have to make a big compliment how he played,” the City assistant said.

“Because a top team is defined by individual quality of our front players and how he was between the lines to attack and first assist to Erling was unbelievable.

“Sorry he went out and its similar to last injury. Only that time it was lateral, this one is on the centre. it was 18 days. I think this time it will be a little bit shorter as he’s a robust player.”

SHOP OUR YEAR OF THE HORSE RANGE

City will have new signings Marc Guéhi and Antoine Semenyo available after missing the midweek victory over Galatasaray as they are ineligible along with Rodri, who was also out through suspension.

Lijnders also confirmed that Ruben Dias will return to training on Monday after being out since the start of the new year.

Meanwhile, Oscar Bobb has moved on after his completing his move to Fulham today.

The Dutch coach believes it is a good switch for the winger and again shows the strength of the players coming through the Academy.

“I’m really happy for him I think it’s a great step to go to Marco [Silva’s] team with the way they set up and play,” Lijnders said.

“They’ll feed him a lot of balls I am really happy for him.

“It’s a big compliment to our academy as it’s another player who make a big step with the quality to play in the Premier League.”

The Blues face Spurs on Sunday with a 16:30 (UK) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Before that, assistant head coach Lijnders will speak to journalists to look ahead to the game in the absence of boss Pep Guardiola who is unavailable this afternoon.

You’ll be able to watch the press conference live right here on mancity.com and our official app when it gets underway from 13:00 (UK) at the City Football Academy.

There’ll also be a second embargoed part which will go live on our digital estate from 22:30 (UK) on Saturday.

For now, log-in and watch part one above.

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Pep Guardiola’s side visit the capital on Sunday 1 February, with kick-off scheduled for 16:30 (UK).

The Blues lock horns with Thomas Frank’s side with the view of recording a third win in succession in all competitions.

But we face a Spurs side who beat Frankfurt 2-0 in the Champions League in their previous assignment, meaning we’ll need to be at our best to collect three points this weekend.

All roads lead to an enthralling clash in north London and FPL managers will have an eye on proceedings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Read the latest Scout report below ahead of Saturday 31 January’s 13:30 (UK) deadline.

CITY STAR

Rayan Cherki (£6.7m) looks a great option for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers ahead of Gameweek 24 (GW24).

The Frenchman has created 33 chances this season, of which 14 have been big chances, meaning 42.54% of his chances have been big ones. This is team leading at City.

He has also created a chance, on average, every 30 minutes in the league this season, which is the most of all the regular starters at the Blues.

Cherki’s 45 crosses, can only be bettered by Phil Foden (£8.5m) across the City team and his 64 successful passes into the penalty box is ten more than the next most in Guardiola’s squad.

ONE TO WATCH

Christian Romero (£5.0m) is Spurs’ form player. The defender has scored six goals this season including three goals in the last three matches in all competitions.

DIFFERENTIALS

Elsewhere, Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.3m) and Matty Cash (£4.8m) are low-owned gems who can return points in Gameweek 24.

Gibbs-White has returned two goals, one assist, three bonus points and two clean sheet points in the last four matches.

Cash has registered an assist and two clean sheets in the last four gameweeks. This season he has created 19 chances, only eight defenders can better that.

We head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 1 February at 16:30 (UK) for another important clash.

Before the encounter we take a look back at our last 10 matches at Spurs which takes in three different venues and showcases a list of City greats from the past decade.

We begin in January 2014 with Vincent Kompany scoring a late fifth in a 5-1 victory at White Hart Lane.

SHOP OUR YEAR OF THE HORSE RANGE

The following season Sergio Aguero scored the only goal in a 1-0 win before a goal from Kevin De Bruyne the following season in defeat.

In April 2018, we faced Spurs at Wembley with goals from Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling in a 3-1 victory.

City returned the following season in October, when the pitch was covered in NFL markings, Riyad Mahrez getting the only goal from the six-yard line.

Following their move to a new home, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium became something of a bogey ground until a tense 2-0 victory at the tail end of the 2023/24 title-winning campaign.

Erling Haaland got both goals that night as he did in last season’s 1-0 victory.

Pep Guardiola’s side booked a place in the Champions League Round of 16 with a 2-0 win over Galatasaray on Wednesday night thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki.

But with fixtures coming thick and fast, City’s staff and players were back at the CFA on Thursday to recover and begin our plans for our trip to Spurs.

The Blues visit Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 1 February, with kick-off in the capital set for 16:30 (UK).

And with just three days until the clash, our meticulous preparation continued on Thursday.

We face Tottenham Hotspur in north London at 16:30 (UK) on Sunday 1 February.

SHOP OUR YEAR OF THE HORSE RANGE

After our first league win of 2026 in our last Premier League outing, we’ll be looking to build on that success and keep tabs on Arsenal at the top of the table.

With the help of Opta data, we find out what to expect from our hosts.

Recent form

Spurs are winless in their last five Premier League matches – drawing three and losing two. It’s their fourth run of five or more winless games in the last two seasons.

They only had four runs of five or more winless games across their previous 12 seasons combined from 2012/13 to 2023/24.

They are 14th in the Premier League, with 28 points from 23 outings.

Preferred formation

Spurs have often favoured a 4-2-3-1 but played a 3-4-3 in their most recent Premier League outing.

Guglielmo Vicario is the number one in goal, with Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero regulars at the heart of the defence.

Any combination of Djed Spence, Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro can feature at full-back, while there are a plethora of options in midfield including new signing Conor Gallagher, Joao Palhinha, Archie Gray, Yves Bissouma and others.

Ahead of them, Xavi Simons has been used often in his first season in England while the likes of Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel tend to help support Randal Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke up top.

They are suffering a few significant injuries in attacking midfield areas, with James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Mohammed Kudus.

Manager

Thomas Frank was the Premier League’s second longest serving manager behind only Pep Guardiola before leaving Brentford last summer.

The 52-year-old Dane had established the Bees in the Premier League after taking them to promotion.

He’s found life a little tougher at Spurs domestically, winning just four of his last 22 Premier League home games. Despite that, he guided them into the top eight of the Champions League league phase.

In total in the Premier League, he’s won 61 of 175 matches in charge, scoring 261 goals and conceding 255.

Head-to-head record

After a long run of difficult trips to Spurs, we have won our last two away league trips there.

In fact, 14 of Spurs’ last 15 goals against us have come at the Etihad rather than the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

With eight defeats, Pep Guardiola has lost more league games against Spurs than any other opponent in his managerial career.

Spurs have won 30 of the 57 meetings in the Premier League era, with City victorious 19 times.

In our competitive histories, the two sides are neck and neck with 69 wins each and 37 draws.

How they attack

Spurs are the league’s outstanding side in terms of outperforming their xG. Their 33 goals have come from an xG of just 24 – a nine-goal difference.

That could perhaps be partly explained by their lack of shots, with their 253 only the 14th most in the division.

With 10 headed goals, they are the division’s most threatening side aerially. That is a key part of their league leading threat from corners, scoring 12 times via that means so far.

Meanwhile, with 13 different scorers, only Brighton can better the expectation of goals from all over the pitch.

With 425 passes per match and an average possession of 51.6%, they’re not particularly focused on keeping the ball but they’re not quite as direct as Frank’s Brentford sides were known to be.

Richarlison is their top scorer with seven, while centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero are next with four each.

How they defend

In opposition to their attacking numbers, Spurs are conceding goals largely at the rate you’d expect when judging by xG.

Their 31 goals let in so far is the ninth best defence in the division and from an xG of 31.3, meaning that they are conceding about as often as you’d expect for the quality of chances they are allowing.

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is very much middle of the pack across the Premier League when it comes to save percentage, with 65.6% of shots on his goal being stopped.

As with their threat offensively from set pieces, they are also adept at keeping them out. Their six goals let in from dead balls is the second best in the division, only behind Arsenal.

It will be worth keeping an eye on Spurs’ yellow card count, as with 58 so far they’re the joint most cautioned team across the league alongside Brighton.

We make the trip to London as we face Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a 16:30 (UK) kick-off on Sunday 1 February.

The Blues are looking for a second successive Premier League victory in 2026, after securing a 2-0 win over Wolves last time out.

We currently sit second with 46 points, with Aston Villa just behind us on goal difference.

Our visitors sit 14th but will come into the game after rescuing a 2-2 draw against Burnley last time out.

The game will be shown live in the UK via Now TV, Sky GO, SKY GO Extra, Sky Ultra HD, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League.

You can also keep across all of the action via mancity.com and our official app, as well as the key moments on X/Twitter: @ManCity.

Supporters living around the world can find out how they can tune in via our global listings below, courtesy of livesoccertv.com.

Listings correct as of Thursday 29 January.