Saturday evening, Etihad Stadium and another chance for Manchester City to further distance themselves at the top spot of the Premier League table. Their guests – Antonio Conte and his Tottenham Hotspur.Tottenham occupy the eighth position, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United while the Citizens are currently nine points clear of second-placed Liverpool at the summit. With defending the Premier League crown (sitting top of the pile with 63 points from 25 matches), Man City are also chasing FA Cup success this term (fifth round of the competition at the start of March) and on top of it all – the Citizens have all but secured their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League (courtesy of a stunning performance away to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday evening, running out 5-0 winners in the first leg).Pep Guardiola’s side cannot afford to take their eye off the ball and will be fired up to collect all three points as Liverpool Reds have a game less. Winning 14 of their last 15 matches, Man City are unbeaten in the league since the end of October. A staggering run of form, especially at this level of football. They have also been excellent defensively – holding the best record in the division with conceding just 14 times.Long live the old rivalries! Leeds welcome the Red Devils in the Elland cauldronEarlier this season, the English champions lost 1-0 to Tottenham in the reverse match in North London. The capital side have won three of their last four Premier League matches against Man City, with each of the victories coming in London. Even so, Tottenham will be the underdogs heading into this weekend’s contest given the form of the teams and the fact that the Spurs have not overcome the Citizens in Manchester since February 2016.Even with their disappointing recent form, top-four finish is certainly still achievable for Conte’s side – they currently sit eighth in the table, seven points behind fourth-placed Man United, but they have three games in hand on the Red Devils. Recent comments from Conte will not have helped improve the mood at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and there is certainly a possibility that the Italian could walk away from the club in the coming months, particularly if their form does not improve, but a positive result this weekend could be a springboard.Harry Kane denied a big-money switch to the Etihad Stadium last summer and that’s all nice and swell but he contributed nowhere near enough to Spurs in the ongoing campaign. His finding the back of the net on just five occasions is one of the reasons Tottenham have scored just 28 Premier League goals this season.We’re all getting along, honestly!Man City are expected to send out Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling to feature as the front three, Kyle Walker should come back into the starting eleven after missing out against Sporting in the Champions League due to suspension. However, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus are likely to miss out due to recent injury problems.As for the Spurs, Japhet Tanganga is definitely out, Oliver Skipp is also unavailable while Eric Dier is back in first-team training and is expected to feature from the get-go.Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg could be introduced to add some steel to the midfield. Upfront, Lucas Moura is expected to retain his spot alongside Son Heung-min and Kane in the final third of the pitch. January arrival Dejan Kulusevski is likely to start on the bench once again.With Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilon potentially coming into the team in the wing-back areas, Conte will make changes to the side that started against Wolves last time out.PREMIER LEAGUE – Round 26Saturday15.30: (1.70) West Ham (3.70) Newcastle (5.20)18.00: (1.70) Brighton (3.50) Burnley (5.60)18.00: (1.65) Aston Villa (3.70) Watford (5.70)18.00: (1.12) Liverpool (10.0) Norwich (17.0)18.00: (1.45) Arsenal (4.20) Brentford (8.00)18.00: (5.40) Crystal Palace (3.70) Chelsea (1.67)18.00: (2.20) Southampton (3.40) Everton (3.30)20.30: (1.32) Man.City (5.30) Tottenham (9.50)Sunday17.00: (4.30) Leeds (3.60) Man.Utd. (1.85)9.30: (2.30) Wolverhampton (3.20) Leicester (3.25)***odds are subject to change
