Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City - Important to reduce gap to Man City

Posted Saturday, October 01, 2016 by PA

Mauricio Pochettino admits Tottenham cannot afford to let Manchester City pull any further ahead at the top of the Premier League table.

City's perfect start means they sit four points clear of Spurs as the sides prepare for their crunch clash of first against second on Sunday.

Tottenham endured a sluggish opening to the season last year and paid the price as champions Leicester established an early advantage and never looked back.

Pochettino insists this weekend's match at White Hart Lane cannot be taken as a gauge of his team's title credentials but admits they must halt City's charge.

"It's very early to start to speak about whether it's an important game to prove something," Pochettino said.

"It's only the beginning but we know three points is already important to reduce the gap. It's a very important game for us and them but it's only a game.

"At the beginning of the season, we play against City who are unbeaten in the Premier League, it's first against second in the table, a very tough match and very important for both teams."

Tottenham are unbeaten in the league so far and have won their last three games in a row to make their best start to a season since 1965.

Pochettino also has form for upsetting Pep Guardiola after he led Espanyol to a 2-1 victory against the Spaniard's scintillating Barcelona team in 2009.

Barca had gone six months unbeaten heading into the game but Pochettino pulled off a surprise triumph as Espanyol won at the Nou Camp for the first time in 27 years.

"I don't like to talk about the past - football is present and future," Pochettino said.

"For me, the most important thing is to meet them, play well, show our quality, get three points and, of course, to say hello to him.

"We share a lot of time together as players and managers, we shared time, him at Barcelona, me at Espanyol.

"He is the best manager in the world, he showed quality at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. It's always tough to arrive in the Premier League but it's exciting to play against him."

Pochettino hopes to have four first-team players available again for the match as Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Danny Rose all near returns from hamstring injuries.

The trio will be assessed on Saturday along with Moussa Sissoko, who took a bang to the head last weekend against Middlesbrough.

Harry Kane remains out with an ankle ligament injury, meaning summer signing Vincent Janssen is likely to start again up front.

Meanwhile, Guardiola has warned Manchester City's title rivals their best is yet to come as they look to stretch their perfect Premier League start with a seventh straight win.

Guardiola is convinced the strength and quality of his side will only continue to grow during his current three-year contract at the Etihad Stadium - and has not ruled out extending his stay with the club.

The Spaniard was pleased with the spirit shown by his side in their midweek UEFA Champions League draw at Celtic - but believes it underlines the fact that perfection is still some way off.

Guardiola said: "In my second and third year here we will be better than we are now. The results are almost perfect but the performances will improve more over time.

"We have won most of our games because of our enthusiasm, at the start a new coach wins a lot of games, but to create something more stable and more controlled you need more time.

"In my first year at Barcelona we won the title but by my fourth year we were better than my first year. In my third year in Munich we were better than my first year."

Guardiola admitted he made the decision to leave his two previous roles relatively abruptly, and said he would have to fulfil a number of conditions in order to extend his stay with City beyond his current deal.

"I am so happy here so I'm not just thinking about 'will it just be three years?', he added.

"When I decided to say goodbye to Barcelona and Bayern Munich I decided in the last year. I said 'okay it's enough'.

"I can stay more time or less. Less I know will happen depends on the results or if the chairman is not happy with me or our job. That always happens.

"But if they are happy with me I can stay that period and I am happy and they are happy, why not longer?"

Guardiola reported no new injury concerns arising from his side's entertaining 3-3 Champions League draw with Celtic in Glasgow on Thursday.

Kevin De Bruyne and Vincent Kompany remain absent with hamstring and groin issues respectively, while Fabian Delph is also still out.