The battle for the English Premier League title in recent years has usually been between Manchester City and Liverpool. Just in the last two seasons did Arsenal come in between these two clubs. Coach Pep Guardiola always said that Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp are some of his toughest opponents in recent years. And yet, if someone hypothetically offered the Spaniard a chance to play against Liverpool or Tottenham tonight, it looks more likely that he would choose the Reds instead of Spurs. And why is that? Well, believe it or not, Guardiola is winless at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and he is also terrible against Tottenham!It sounds silly, but let’s look at the facts.Tottenham 2-0 Man City, February 2020Tottenham 2-0 Man City, November 2020Tottenham 1-0 Man City, August 2021Tottenham 1-0 Man City, February 2023So, not only did the Spurs won all four games against the current champion since they moved to a new stadium, they even managed to get a clean sheet in all of them. It looks unbelievable that the Citizens’ might attack failed to score at least one goal, but there it is. And the worst is yet to come. No matter who was their manager at the time, Spurs always managed to pluck a result out of somewhere when they face Pep Guardiola. In the 19 matches Guardiola has managed City against Tottenham, he has won nine of them, drawn three and lost seven times. Guardiola won an average of 1.58 point per game against Spurs. Mauricio Pochettino, Nuno Espirito Santo, Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho all picked up wins against the Spaniard since he became the City’s manager.‘If you want Spurs to lose, you need counselling’The only bright thing for City’s fans ahead of this game is the fact that all streaks come to an end so this one might as well, but also the current form. Guardiola’s boys have been flawless at the league level since the end of March. Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, and company have secured seven consecutive victories in the league. In six of these seven triumphs, the sky-blue side has scored four or more goals. The term “complete domination” has rarely been more fitting for the Citizens than it is now. City controls the game flow at will, appears much more concentrated, and has the quality to overcome the opponent’s defense. There are completely different statistics that support this. City is undefeated in 21 Premier League matches, and Guardiola’s team has won four consecutive away matches, the last three with a total goal difference of 10-0. On the other hand, Tottenham had suffered four consecutive defeats in the league, and for a while, it seemed they might face a fifth. In the last round, Spurs hosted Burnley and managed to turn the game around after they were losing. That triumph helped coach Angelos Postecoglou’s team reduce the gap to fourth-placed Aston Villa to the current five points.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 37SaturdayFulham – Man.City 0-4 (0-1)/Gvardiol 13, 71, Foden 59, Alvarez 90+7 pen/Wolverhampton – Crystal Palace 1-3 (0-2)/Cunha 68 – Olise 26, Mateta 29, Eze 73/Everton – Sheffield Utd 1-0 (1-0)/Doucoure 30/Tottenham – Burnley 2-1 (1-1)/Porro 32, Van De Veen 82 – Bruun Larsen 25/Bournemouth – Brentford 1-2 (0-0)/Solanke 90 – Mbeumo 87, WIssa 90+6/Newcastle – Brighton 1-1 (1-1)/Longstaff 45+5 – Veltman 18/West Ham – Luton 3-1 (0-1)/Ward-Prowse 54, Soucek 66, Earthy 77 – Lokonga 6/Nott.Forest – Chelsea 2-3 (1-1)/Boly 16, Hudson-Odoi 75 – Mudryk 8, Sterling 80, Jackson 82/SundayMan.Utd. – Arsenal 0-1 (0-1)/Trossard 21/Monday22:00: (4.40) Aston Villa (3.90) Liverpool (1.75)***odds are subject to change***
