(Football news) Both Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs are looking to get back on track after suffering 2-1 defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Ipswich Town, respectively, prior to the international break.

Man City’s aforementioned loss away against Brighton a fortnight ago condemned Pep Guardiola to a fourth successive defeat for the first time in his illustrious managerial career, while the Citizens have not lost this many games consecutively in all competitions since 2006 (six) under former boss Stuart Pearce.

Back-to-back top-flight defeats, including a 2-1 loss at Bournemouth, have seen Man City fall five points behind an in-form Liverpool outfit at the top of the table after 11 matches. While it would be nonsensical to write the reigning champions off at this early stage, they can ill-afford to slip further behind if they wish to continue pushing for a record fifth straight title.

Man City supporters entered November’s international break dejected, but they are now in high spirits after the club confirmed on Thursday evening that Guardiola has signed a new two-year contract extension at the club, while a number of first-team stars have stepped up their recovery from injury and have made a timely return to training this week.

The Citizens are now gearing up for eight challenging fixtures—six in the Premier League and two in the Champions League—over a 29-day period leading up to Christmas, starting off with Saturday’s clash against Tottenham, whom they have beaten just three times in their last 10 league meetings (D2 L5).

After losing all of their last four games away from home, Manchester City will welcome this weekend’s return to the Etihad, where they have not lost any of their last 52 matches across all competitions, boasting a 35-game unbeaten home run in the Premier League, with 13 points from a possible 15 available collected so far this season.

This time last year, Spurs were flying in Ange Postecoglou’s debut season and were sitting second in the Premier League table, just one point behind Man City at the summit. Fast forward 12 months, and they are 10 points and eight places worse off following a frustratingly erratic start to the current campaign.

Inconsistency has indeed been a real issue for Spurs, who have won five, drawn one and lost five of their opening 11 Premier League games this term, while they have also won four and lost four of their last eight matches across all competitions, most recently losing to Galatasaray and Ipswich.

Tottenham may be down in 10th place in the top-flight standings, but there is no need to panic for Postecoglou and co, as they are only three points behind Chelsea in third, while their recent record against Saturday’s opponents, Manchester City, whom they beat 2-1 in the EFL Cup just over three weeks ago, should provide them with a psychological boost.

Indeed, the North Londoners have accumulated 17 points across their last 10 Premier League meetings with the Citizens, while they have scored at least twice in each of their last three visits to the Etihad, including three in a thrilling 3-3 draw last season—no team has ever scored multiple goals in four consecutive Premier League trips to Manchester City.

Tottenham’s overall away form leaves little to be desired, though, as they have won just four of their last 18 Premier League matches on the road over the last 12 months. Since the start of March, no top-flight team has lost more games than Spurs (seven), who have picked up just four points from their opening five away fixtures so far this season.

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