The last time Tottenham went to Manchester, they came away with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Manchester United. On Sunday, Andre Villas-Boas will look for more of the same when they travel to the blue half.
Manchester City have been far from convincing this season, but still only lie two points from table-toppers United. Despite their growing disappointments in Europe, Roberto Mancini and his squad know what it takes to win games in the English Premier League, an experience which has come in quite handy so far.
That knowledge will be vital against a Spurs side, that have looked more dangerous in away matches than when playing at their White Hart Lane home, illustrated by last week's disappointing loss to Wigan.
One thing is certain, Villas-Boas will put out a team that will want to attack right from the word go, at a high pace and tempo, typical of the Premier League. City will need to be alert in the first phase of the game; otherwise they might go a couple of goals down, like United did when Spurs played in Old Trafford earlier this season.
"We are extremely good away from home," Villas-Boas said. "I know in the end that can mean nothing. But we have to approach it in the right manner. And in these games we have nothing to lose so we can approach it in a confident way."
After another forgettable outing in the Champions League - a 2-2 draw with Ajax - which has virtually put them out of the elite competition, Mancini, clearly frustrated and irritated by the constant media attention, will be desperate to make positive headlines.
The Italian received a lot of flak for his antics after the Champions League game, where he stormed onto the pitch and confronted the referee for not giving them a goal.
"We have got back to 2-2 and then we have a free kick in the last few seconds and the camera angles show it is a clear penalty," said assistant manager David Platt, who spke at the pre-match press conference instead of Mancini. "Why wouldn't the manager of a football club be frustrated? Why wouldn't we all be frustrated? Players are frustrated, supporters are frustrated, staff are frustrated.
"Robbie has gone onto the pitch and spoken to the referee. As he comes back, he turns around and has a camera in front of his face for 30 yards.
"He turns around and says, in English, that basically it is enough now. People then want to start talking about what has happened and almost exaggerating the incident. I don't think he is the first manager to go on to the pitch.
"We can sit here and drag it on for another three days, but that's what seems to be happening to us at this moment in time - half voices, half truths. Stories that are probably big enough to go one day are actually lasting a lot longer than that and for what reason, I don't know.
"For three or four press conferences, the manager has not spoken about the next game but about what people want to write about."
Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, City need to show their true color on the pitch, because at the end of the day, City have a squad like no other, and even if they might have been struggling with injuries to several players, Mancini has players at his disposal that other teams' managers can only dream of.
Spurs had a victory in Europe over Maribor in the Europa League, with Villas-Boas deploying two strikers in Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor. While the ploy seemed to work, the Portuguese manager hinted he would most likely go back to the single striker formation he has played with for the entire season.
"We still are a team that creates lots of opportunities with one or with two up front," he said. "It was good to see the link-up of Ade and Defoe like we saw last year to such perfection.
"But we ended up with one striker coming short all the time so basically it was the same dynamic of the team.
"What we play on the weekend is the champions of England. It is a totally different proposition to this game against Maribor."
Spurs have no new injury worries, with Mousa Dembele still not fit enough, while Scott Parker, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Younes Kaboul are long-term absentees.
City, on the other hand, are hoping to welcome back Joleon Lescott, Maicon and more importantly David Silva. The Spaniard's creativity and vision has been sorely missed by the reigning champions, and if Silva starts, the game's dynamic could change considerably, or at least Mancini will be hoping so.
Expected lineups: Man City: Hart; Clichy, Nastasic, Kompany, Zabaleta; Barry, Toure; Nasri, Silva, Tevez, Aguero.
Tottenham: Friedel; Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen; Sandro, Huddlestone; Lennon, Bale, Dempsey; Defoe.
Prediction: 2-1 to City
