Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City - Stats and Facts

Manchester City head to North London to give Spurs fans a second dilemma in three weeks as they look to keep pace with Arsenal. The blues can close the gap on the Gunners to two points with a win, which begs the question of would Spurs fans prefer to see their team lose so City can try and stop Arsenal, or win to boost their chances of Champions League football?

The two are no strangers to this sort of dilemma; in 2013, City needed to win at Spurs to retain their Premier League title. A Samir Nasri goal looked like it had set City on their way, but the home side came back and won 3-1, handing the title to Manchester United.

The blues didn’t have the best of records at White Hart Lane and that has worsened since Spurs’ move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the stats will show.

Overall record

City have faced Spurs 79 times in North London. Of those matches, City have won just 20 and lost 41. The blues have scored 97 times on Spurs soil, but conceded 135. City have kep 14 clean sheets with Spurs keeping the blues out on 22 occasions and there have been just three goalless draws at Spurs.

Goal shy blues

Discounting Spurs stay at Wembley, City have scored just one goal at Spurs in six matches. That was a 25th-minute strike by Kevin de Bruyne that gave the blues the lead. City went on to lose the match 4-1. The two have played four matches at Spurs’ new stadium, with the home side winning all without conceding.

Prior to this little run of poor form, City weren’t that bad. Two 5-1 wins and a 1-0 victory in May 2015 sent the travelling supporters home happy.

2-1 to the Tottenham

This is a strange little run from Spurs, but between March 2005 and and May 2009, Spurs won all five of their home fixtures by a scoreline of 2-1. On four of those occasions, Spurs took the lead and City equalised, and in three of those matches, Spurs scored a late winner. Only the match on 13th May 2007 did it differ, with Spurs taking a two-goal lead, before the blues pulled one back before half-time.

Streaks and runs

City have had a winning streak at Spurs. Hard to believe but true. Between February 1973 and August 1974, the blues visited The Lane three times and won them all. In fact, those three wins came in the middle of a seven-match unbeaten run at The Lane for City; they would win a fourth and draw the other three.

Spurs’ longest winning streak against the blues is six matches and is a little more recent. Between March 2005 and December 2009, City lost all six matches, with a 3-0 win in 2009 ending a run of those five consecutive 2-1 wins. Spurs longest unbeaten run is 14 matches, however this goes way back to 1912 when it started with a 4-0 win. City drew just three league games and an FA Cup tie while losing the other ten.

Both teams’ biggest wins have been 5-1 and have been achieved twice by each. Spurs first beat the blues 5-1 in April 1934 and again in February 1958. The blues eventually got their revenge by hammering Spurs 5-1 in August 2011, and again two seasons later. On both of those occasions, City went on to win the league.

Between December 1912 and January 1935, a run of 13 matches, City failed to keep a clean sheet, conceding 33 and scoring just 11. City have not kept more than two consecutive clean sheets.

February...

City have visited Spurs ten times in the month of February and the results haven’t been great. From those matches, Spurs have won six while City have won three, with one draw. Of the City wins, the blues won 3-2 on 10th February 1973 and 3-0 on 3rd February 1979. Their other win was the incredible FA Cup comeback in 2004, when the blues were 3-0 and a man down at half-time, but came back to win 4-3.

The two have never met each other on 5th February before this season.

Will City have a fourth February win to close the gap on Arsenal?