Mauricio Pochettino's men delivered one of the performances of the season last time out, when a hat-trick from Harry Kane and a Gareth McAuley own goal secured a 4-0 triumph over West Bromwich Albion in front of their own supporters at White Hart Lane. Spurs were dominant from start to finish, creating plenty of scoring chances while giving away hardly any at the other end of the field. That convincing triumph moved Tottenham into second spot and kept them seven points behind league leaders Chelsea; while it will still be difficult for Pochettino’s side to overhaul Antonio Conte's charges and finish on top of the pile this year, they are in an excellent position with 17 matches of the campaign still to play.
Manchester City, on the other hand, are struggling at present: Sunday's 4-0 thrashing by Everton leaves them 10 points adrift of Chelsea, with their title hopes now surely extinguished. Things have not gone particularly well for Pep Guardiola in his first few months in English football, with City having dropped points in eight of their last 15 encounters in the top flight; their main problem lies at the back, with opponents finding it far too easy to cause problems in the final third, but it is also worth noting that Guardiola's charges have failed to score in two of their last three games.
Spurs will have to make do without Jan Vertonghen (ankle) and Erik Lamela, who has been out of action since October due to a hip problem. Pochettino could stick with the 3-4-3 formation that has brought out the best in players such as Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen in recent weeks, with Kevin Wimmer the leading candidate to fill the third centre-back spot in the absence of Vertonghen. Flying wing-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker will look to provide penetration down the flanks.
Guardiola will be unable to call upon the services of Vincent Kompany (knee), Ilkay Gundogan (knee) and Fernandinho (suspended), but Fernando could return after recovering from a knock. Guardiola has preferred a 4-2-3-1 formation in recent fixtures but the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach regularly switches between different shapes and may look to spring a surprise against Tottenham, particularly as things have not exactly gone to plan for City of late.
Tottenham are probably the Premier League's form team at present and they will fancy their chances of adding another three points to their tally for the season at the Eithad Stadium. Spurs are extremely difficult to play against and City could struggle to contain the likes of Kane, Alli and Eriksen, while Pochettino's side are also relatively solid and sturdy at the back. An away win looks like the way to go in this one, while Kane is the obvious choice to find the back of the net anytime.
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