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Cape Town - Manchester City will be looking to close the gap at the top of
the Premier League standings when they welcome Tottenham to the Etihad
Stadium on Saturday.
The defending champions have allowed themselves to slip five points off the pace of leaders Chelsea after seven games, with the Blues having enjoyed a near-flawless start to the campaign, while the Citizens suffered a shock defeat to Stoke in the early stages.
Manuel Pellegrini's men are, however, undefeated in their last four league outings, having won the previous two to ensure they at least keep pace with the London giants.
Tottenham, meanwhile, are once again intent on launching a top-four raid and sit in a four-way tie for the final Champions League qualifying position, despite having won just one of their last three league matches.
That win did, however, come in their most recent outing, against high-flying Southampton prior to the international break, and manager Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping the two weeks off does not negatively effect his charges.
On the team front, City could be without talisman Yaya Toure, who will only return from duty with Ivory Coast on Friday, but on-loan New York City FC midfielder Frank Lampard is available to deputise.
Spurs, meanwhile, will perform a number of late fitness tests, with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (thigh) and midfielder Nacer Chadli (hip) having picked up knocks while on international duty, while Emmanuel Adebayor and Nabil Bentaleb are still to be assessed.
Defenders Kyle Naughton (ankle) and Kyle Walker (abdominal surgery) remain sidelined with long-term injuries.
The defending champions have allowed themselves to slip five points off the pace of leaders Chelsea after seven games, with the Blues having enjoyed a near-flawless start to the campaign, while the Citizens suffered a shock defeat to Stoke in the early stages.
Manuel Pellegrini's men are, however, undefeated in their last four league outings, having won the previous two to ensure they at least keep pace with the London giants.
Tottenham, meanwhile, are once again intent on launching a top-four raid and sit in a four-way tie for the final Champions League qualifying position, despite having won just one of their last three league matches.
That win did, however, come in their most recent outing, against high-flying Southampton prior to the international break, and manager Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping the two weeks off does not negatively effect his charges.
On the team front, City could be without talisman Yaya Toure, who will only return from duty with Ivory Coast on Friday, but on-loan New York City FC midfielder Frank Lampard is available to deputise.
Spurs, meanwhile, will perform a number of late fitness tests, with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (thigh) and midfielder Nacer Chadli (hip) having picked up knocks while on international duty, while Emmanuel Adebayor and Nabil Bentaleb are still to be assessed.
Defenders Kyle Naughton (ankle) and Kyle Walker (abdominal surgery) remain sidelined with long-term injuries.
