Despite not winning any trophies since 2008 and rarely being in the Premier League title race, Tottenham have always been a championship for Man City.
Only Liverpool have a better record than Tottenham in the confrontations with Man City. Regardless of who the coach is, Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini or Ange Postecoglou, Spurs always make things difficult for Man City.
Man City's poor record against Spurs, both at home and away, has stood out ahead of the fourth round of the FA Cup. Obviously, Pep Guardiola wants to end this more than ever.
5 consecutive losses
Tottenham Hotspur is considered one of the most beautiful and modern stadiums in England. However, Pep has never liked this stadium, because he has lost all 5 visits.
The Citizens are the second team to visit Tottenham Hotspur after the stadium opened in April 2019. As a result, Pep's team lost by a minimum when wasting countless opportunities. Despite a 4-3 win in the return match at the Etihad, Man City were still eliminated due to the away goal rule.
In February 2020, the "Roosters" under the leadership of Jose Mourinho continued to defeat Man City 2-0 when Ilkay Gundogan missed a penalty.
In November 2020, even when Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Man City still suffered a minimal loss.
Mourinho was replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo when Man City visited Tottenham on the opening day of the 2021-2022 season. And that continued to be a forgettable memory for the away team, when Son Heung-min scored the only goal of the match. It is more worth mentioning that it was 1 of 5 matches that Spurs won under Espirito Santo.
Even in the three-way campaign last season, Man City still could not beat Tottenham. Spurs beat The Citizens in February 2023 thanks to an early goal by Harry Kane. In particular, at that time, Conte had to be absent due to surgery and assistant Stellini. This was Spurs' 5th consecutive home win over their opponents.
Unable to score
It is worth noting that a strong team like Man City lost 5 consecutive times to Tottenham, but that was not the most surprising aspect. Pep's team has not scored any goals for more than 450 minutes at Tottenham Hotspur.
Pep is also well aware of the irregularities in this statistic - "Scoring a goal against Spurs away. That's why I stayed. I want to beat Spurs". Although it is just a cheerful statement, it is clear that this is a realistic goal for Man City.
6th lucky time?
Can Man City finally break the curse against Tottenham? There are some positive signs for The Citizens to be optimistic.
Kevin De Bruyne could start after a full recovery, John Stones will also return. Man City will still be without Erling Haaland but this is not a big problem. They have won eight of their nine games without the Norwegian.
The good news for Man City is that Tottenham will not have the service of Son Heung-min due to being busy participating in the Asian Cup. The Korean striker is the top scorer for Spurs this season with 12 goals and 5 assists. Sonny has also scored 8 goals in 16 matches against Man City.
Despite having to play away, The Citizens are expected to have around 9,000 fans following them. This will be a great encouragement for Pep's team in the overwhelming atmosphere at Tottenham Hotspur.
"There is always a new chance to break it. Now it's the FA Cup, there's one game and we have to score - otherwise we won't be able to get through this tournament. It's happened many times but hopefully we can break it," Pep said of the defeat against Tottenham.
