Man City desperate to end losing streak against Tottenham with Pep Guardiola set for new contract – predicted line-ups and how to follow

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Manchester City will be aiming to put an end to their losing streak this Saturday when they host Tottenham at the Etihad.

A defeat to Brighton last time out was the champions’ second in a row in the Premier League and fourth on the bounce in all competitions.

City sit five points behind Liverpool following back-t-back Premier League lossesCredit: Getty

Such a drop-off in form has been unprecedented for Man City in recent years and they’ve now fallen off the pace at the top of the table.

It’s Liverpool who lead the way by five points heading into this weekend and Pep Guardiola’s side are in desperate need of a win to keep up with them.

They will take on Spurs who aren’t in good form themselves, losing 2-1 to Ipswich in their last game before the international break.

Ange Postecoglou is starting to come under some pressure and his side will certainly need to step things up if they want to claim some points at the Etihad.

Man City vs Tottenham: Pep talk

It’s been a contrast in emotions over the last couple of weeks for Guardiola.

Heading into this game, all of the talk will be about the Spaniard being set to sign a new one-year contract at Man City.

His future was up in the air with the club’s hearing over their 115 charges still ongoing, but now he’s going to commit to another season.

However, rewind to before the break and it was all about an unwanted first for him.

He lost four games in a row for the first time in his long, successful managerial career and that is undoubtedly going to be on his mind heading into this game.

If City lose again, they will close in on an all-time record as the most games they have ever lost consecutively was six between March and April in 2006.

Pep has lost four in a row for the first time everCredit: GettyManchester City have won just three of their last 10 Premier League games against Tottenham (D2 L5) and are looking to win consecutive meetings with them for the first time since April 2019.Tottenham have scored at least twice in each of their last three Premier League away games against Man City, winning 3-2 in 2021-22, losing 4-2 in 2022-23 and drawing 3-3 last season. No team has ever scored multiple goals in four consecutive Premier League visits to the Citizens.

Man City vs Tottenham: Predicted line-ups

City’s crisis isn’t just specific to results as they are also struggling with injuries.

On top of Rodri’s season-ending ACL injury, Jeremy Doku, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jack Grealish, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake all have problems.

The latter two should be fit to feature in this game after a rest over the break, but doubts remain over the others, with City’s treatment room overflowing.

Jahmai Simpson-Pusey started against Brighton but Ake or Akanji are likely to replace him now, with Josko Gvardiol, Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis making up the back four.

Mateo Kovacic has been playing well in Rodri’s usual role while Bernardo Silva may be joined by Kevin De Bruyne in midfield too, as he looks to now be fully fit.

Out wide, Phil Foden and Savinho are set to be called upon depending on the fitness of Matheus Nunes who has impressed in recent weeks.

Of course, Erling Haaland will be leading the line.

As for Tottenham, Micky van de Ven remains sidelined along with Richarlison and Wilson Odobert.

They are going to be absent along with Rodrigo Bentancur who received a seven-game ban for making a racial slur in a reply to a question about Heung-min Son.

It means Spurs will be without a midfielder for a tough run of games, leaving a Yves Bissouma to cover next to Pape Matar Sarr and Dejan Kulsevski.

They will sit in front of a defence that will include Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero and Radu Dragusin who has majorly struggled in recent games.

At the other end of the pitch, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Son have become regulars and they should keep their places.

James Maddison hasn’t started the last two games and he may be left out again along with Timo Werner, as they will provide some creativity off the bench if needed.

No player has had more shots without scoring in the Premier League this season than Man City’s Bernardo Silva (17), while teammate Savinho has accumulated the highest xG of any player without a goal so far (1.7).As a team, Tottenham have made more off-the-ball runs into the box than any other side in the Premier League this season (612), with Dominic Solanke having the most among players (138). Spurs have also had the most shots inside the box of any Premier League side this term (134).

Man City vs Tottenham: What has been said?

Three-time Premier League winner Martin Keown has discussed City’s current form and he related it to his time playing for a dominant Arsenal side.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT.com, Keown said: "We're seeing a mini-crisis with Man City. When you never lose games, how do you take the doom and gloom away from the dressing room?

"Because it is almost like a morgue when you come in, but they've got to get some sort of reality check.

"They've been magnificent for four seasons, they've just got to start winning again, but it does feel like they've fallen off the cliff at the moment.

"And even for Pep, it's difficult. I don't think [fans] are getting any enjoyment out of it, I think we're all very interested to see how they stop the rot and how they improve things.”

He continued: "It's interesting, because I remember this happening.

“Arsene Wenger was really concerned, certainly in [the 02/03 season], that, 'Look, we haven't lost for weeks/months, if we lose a game, how do we pick this up?'

"And so you play very proudly with your record, but when you lose that record, you start looking around when things aren't going the way you want them to."

Martin Keown explains how Manchester City can learn from the Arsenal Invincibles on how to change their stuttering form in the Premier League

Though they’re the only team to have scored in every Premier League game so far this season, Manchester City have lost their last two (1-2 vs Bournemouth and Brighton). They last lost three in a row in the competition in February/March 2016, a run which included a home defeat to Tottenham.Tottenham have won just two of their last 11 Premier League away games (D2 L7), winning just once in five on the road this term. Since the start of this spell in March, no side have lost more Premier League away games than Spurs (7).