Guardiola tells City 'statistics don't matter' ahead of Spurs clash

Pep Guardiola tells his Manchester City players that ‘statistics don’t matter’ despite record-breaking run of 15 straight wins as he insists incredible form does not guarantee three points in huge clash with Spurs this weekend

  • Manchester City host Tottenham at the Etihad in the Premier League on Saturday
  • City have won 15 straight matches in all competitions – a record-breaking run
  • Pep Guardiola’s side last defeat came away at Tottenham back in November 

Pep Guardiola warned Manchester City must forget the plaudits for their record-breaking winning run.

City became the first team in English football to chalk up 15 consecutive victories as they progressed to the FA Cup quarter-finals at Swansea City in midweek.

But Guardiola has made it clear that statistics and praise count for nothing when they meet Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola has warned Man City against complacency after a record 15th-straight win

Gabriel Jesus (centre right) scored City’s third in a 3-1 at Swansea in the FA Cup fifth round

‘The 15 games in a row winning doesn’t help us to start 2-0 up before the start of the game,’ Guardiola said.

‘It helps us to be where we are but no more than that. Statistics are nice but statistics don’t help to win the next one.

‘We have to start again and go onto the next one. We have three incredibly strong teams this week. We need to see how we are, look at what happened in the game there, how we can play better and beat them. That’s the only concern in these three days after the game in Swansea.’

City’s last defeat came away at Spurs back in November and Guardiola’s side have since taken charge of the Premier League title race. They will go eight points clear of Manchester United with another win on Saturday evening.

Guardiola suggested that Ruben Dias and Rodri will both be available. Dias missed the FA Cup with through illness, while Rodri hobbled off in the second half.

‘Rodri trained quite good today, I think he will be available,’ he added. ‘Fernandinho is out. Ruben came back today to training. Sergio (Aguero) is in training. I think except Fernandinho, Nathan (Ake) and Kevin (De Bruyne), the rest of the first-team squad are available.’

Despite their electric form Guardiola has told them it counts for nothing against Tottenham




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