Manchester City were knocked off top spot at the weekend by Liverpool but have the chance to return to the summit with victory at Wembley Stadium on Monday night. City travel Wembley to play Spurs on a pitch that was used for an NFL game over the weekend. Along with continuing stadium delays, the state of the pitch will not please either manager ahead of this clash.

Spurs didn’t turn up when Liverpool visited Wembley earlier this season and this will be a stern test of their title credentials against Manchester City.

Manchester City will Provide Spurs with Toughest Test Yet

Manchester City remain unbeaten in the league and have been scoring goals for fun, with 26 already in the Premier League. City have caused teams trouble with their high pressing but also the pace in the squad. Tottenham have had their best start to a Premier League season without having played particularly well. Whilst Manchester City look set to safely navigate the Champions League group stages, Spurs have struggled and been architects of their own downfall, making too many basic errors; errors that they can ill afford to make against City.

Mauricio Pochettino Feeling Low

Despite that best ever Premier League start, Mauricio Pochettino has felt uneasy about the season so far.

‘Like a team, we still didn’t win nothing and we fail, but we achieve. Like a final game we always fail,” he said.

Pochettino has been much more snappy in his interviews this season and seems to be carrying over his thoughts from the end of the last season. A lack of signings in the summer coupled with not knowing when the new stadium will be ready seems to have added to the manager’s angst. He has talked about how Spurs are ahead in their project over the last few seasons but he now wants to see success, although his comments suggest he is not convinced that he has all of the tools to do that.

“The club is not focused completely on winning titles. Today we spend a lot of energy on many things. One is to win games, but it is not the priority to win games. The club needs to be more focused on winning titles.”

Prediction

If Spurs play as they have been despite positive results, it is going to a tough match for them to get anything from. City will press high and Spurs need to cut out the types of errors that have cost them dear in the Champions League. If the players want to prove to their boss that they can achieve the success he craves, the game against City is a great time to do so.

A City win will see them return to the top of the table whilst a Spurs win puts them just two points off the top.

Prediction: Spurs 1-1 Manchester City

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