Supported, albeit briefly, by both sides of North London, Tottenham Hotspur will have the opportunity to help their archrivals Arsenal when they take on Manchester City in Tuesday's highly anticipated Premier League clash.
Ange Postecoglou's side mounted a 2-1 comeback victory over Burnley on Saturday afternoon, shortly after Manchester City temporarily reclaimed the top spot with a dominant 4-0 win against Fulham.
Both sides already played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Etihad in December, when Dejan Kulusevski's last-gasp header rescued a point for an injury-ridden Spurs side.
However, Pep Guardiola's side already claimed a well-deserved 1-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the FA Cup fourth round in January. More remarkably, Nathan Ake's late winner was Man City's first goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This ground had brought them nothing other than misery until the most recent clash.
Tottenham Hotspur appeared headed for a fifth consecutive Premier League defeat during the early stages of their clash with Burnley, a team desperate for three points to keep their slim survival hopes alive. However, Spurs turned the game around quickly after Jacob Bruun Larsen's opening goal.
Just seven minutes after Larsen's strike, Pedro Porro equalized, making amends for his earlier defensive lapse. Micky van de Ven, Spurs' Player of the Season, then completed the comeback with a composed finish that was more typical of a seasoned striker.
Saturday's comeback condemned Burnley to Championship football for the upcoming 2024-25 season and allowed Spurs, currently fifth, to close the gap on fourth-placed Aston Villa to four points until Aston Villa's 3-3 draw with Liverpool on Monday night.
Should Villa have won the game, Tottenham would've been officially out of the top-four race. With that said, Spurs' Champions League aspirations remain alive. Nonetheless, Ange Postecoglou has emphasized that finishing above the dotted line is not the ultimate goal in his debut season, one marked by a new club record for the Premier League era.
Tottenham's fightback against the Clarets means they have now recovered 25 points from losing positions this term, their highest ever in the Premier League and second only to Liverpool's 28.
After a few poor performances from Emerson Royal, Postecoglou tried Oliver Skipp at left-back against Burnley. However, Skipp's limited playing time and the quick turnaround between games may see Emerson return to the starting fold. Postecoglou hesitates to play Micky Van de Ven out wide due to his injury history this season.
Richarlison's surprise omission from Brazil's squad for the 2024 Copa America was due to a calf injury, confirmed by the national team coach Dorival Junior and Postecoglou. This injury likely rules him out for Spurs' final two Premier League matches. The Brazilian forward joins Fraser Forster (ankle), Ben Davies (calf), Ryan Sessegnon (thigh), Destiny Udogie (thigh), Manor Solomon (knee) and Timo Werner (hamstring) on the injury list.
Meanwhile, Postecoglou announced on Monday that Malian midfielder Yves Bissouma has sustained a knee injury, which will also rule him out of the season's remaining games.
The Sky Blues are just two matches away from securing a historic fourth consecutive league title, a feat unmatched in the 135 years since Preston North End clinched England's first league championship. While glorious clubs like Aston Villa in the 1890s and Liverpool in the 1980s have managed to win four titles within five seasons, only some of these legendary teams achieved the milestone of four consecutive victories.
Conceding the first goal in each of their last five matches is not an encouraging trend for a Tottenham side facing Manchester City. Following their latest victory in West London, Manchester City has surged to the top of the Premier League, dethroning Arsenal, at least for a while.
Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol scored twice in City's 4-0 triumph at Fulham's Craven Cottage, with FWA Player of the Year Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez also finding the net. Alvarez calmly converted a penalty after Gvardiol selflessly passed up the chance to become the Premier League's first hat-trick-scoring defender.
Gvardiol's decision to let Alvarez take the penalty may have been influenced by Manchester City's goal difference. Their win extended their lead over Arsenal to two points, resulting in their seventh consecutive Premier League success. Yet Arsenal reclaimed the top spot on Sunday with a scrappy 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, restoring their one-point advantage.
Therefore, Pep Guardiola's side must win on Tuesday to maintain control of their title destiny heading into the campaign's final weekend on May 19.
Manchester City have the chance to make club history at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, aiming for an unprecedented eight consecutive Premier League wins by at least two goals. They edged Spurs 1-0 in January's FA Cup tie in North London, but their Premier League record against Tottenham is less impressive, with just one win in their last five meetings and no victories at Spurs' new stadium. Some Tottenham fans might be willing to forgo that record if it means preventing an Arsenal title celebration.
Versatile defender Nathan Ake was substituted after just 25 minutes at Craven Cottage due to a minor issue. Despite the quick turnaround, Ake remains doubtful, though he should be Man City's only absentee. Jack Grealish is expected to return from the illness that sidelined him over the weekend.
Guardiola can mitigate Ake's potential absence by recalling Kyle Walker and repositioning Manuel Akanji or the returning John Stones to a central role. The Catalan manager might exploit Spurs' left-back problems elsewhere by reintroducing the tricky Jeremy Doku on the wing.
· Tottenham Hotspur: Guglielmo Vicario - Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Emerson Royal - Pape Matar Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur - Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Brennan Johnson - Son Heung-min. (4-2-3-1)
· Manchester City: Ederson - Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol - Mateo Kovacic, Rodri - Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden - Erling Haaland. (4-2-3-1)
Spurs' home matches in the Premier League nearly always guarantee goals from both teams. Indeed, Spurs' remarkable run of home matches with both teams scoring has reached 14 consecutive Premier League games - since a 2-0 victory over Fulham in October.
However, most of the action will likely take place around Tottenham's goal as they continue to struggle defensively.
Considering their selection issues at left-back and their failure to keep a clean sheet at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since October, the Spurs are expected to lose their unbeaten home record against the defending champions.
With 17 wins and four draws in their last 21 top-flight games, Manchester City are on the verge of securing yet another Premier League title - fourth in a row - and we don't see them stumbling against Spurs at this stage.
