Antonio Conte has a tough task ahead as he looks to avoid becoming the first Tottenham manager since 2004 to lose four consecutive Premier League matches.
Spurs have been very lacklustre of late, with back-to-back defeats by Wolves and Southampton following an FA Cup fourth-round win over Brighton and another forgettable clash with rivals Chelsea.
Such a crisis has once again raised serious questions over the lack of quality in Conte’s squad, with the manager making no shortage of headlines this week following his interview with Sky Italia.
Things don’t get any easier for Tottenham tomorrow as they travel north to the Etihad Stadium to face a City side that boast a nine-point lead at the top-flight summit and put Sporting CP to the sword with five goals in the Champions League in midweek.
Pep Guardiola’s side have scored 15 times in four straight wins across all competitions, conceding just once during that period.
Here, Standard Sport’s chief football correspondent Dan Kilpatrick looks at three ways Spurs can spring a shock this weekend...
Five in midfield
Antonio Conte has preferred a 3-4-3 system but Spurs’ two most exciting performances of the season — against Leicester and Liverpool — have come with a five-man midfield. A switch to 3-5-2, perhaps with new signing Dejan Kulusevski as one of the midfielders, would give Spurs more bodies in the middle of the park and a good base to counter.
Get Son firing
Heung-min Son has been hesitant and out of touch lately but the forward has a fine record against City. Conte acknowledged that City are likely to have the ball for 70-75 minutes, so Spurs must take their chances when they come. Son, particularly canny at getting behind City’s defence in the past, will need to have his shooting boots on.
Resist the press
Spurs’ defence was worryingly susceptible to pressing in the defeats to Southampton and Wolves, and they must keep a calmer head in the face of City’s pressure from the front. The likely return of Eric Dier should help, allowing Cristian Romero to switch to the right side of the back three, giving a better balance to Conte’s back line.
