Man City's aforementioned loss away against Brighton a fortnight ago condemned Pep Guardiola to a fourth successive defeat for the first time in his illustrious managerial career, while the Citizens have not lost this many games consecutively in all competitions since 2006 (six) under former boss Stuart Pearce.

Back-to-back top-flight defeats, including a 2-1 loss at Bournemouth, have seen Man City fall five points behind an in-form Liverpool outfit at the top of the table after 11 matches. While it would be nonsensical to write the reigning champions off at this early stage, they can ill-afford to slip further behind if they wish to continue pushing for a record fifth straight title.

Man City supporters entered November's international break dejected, but they are now in high spirits after the club confirmed on Thursday evening that Guardiola has signed a new two-year contract extension at the club, while a number of first-team stars have stepped up their recovery from injury and have made a timely return to training this week.

The Citizens are now gearing up for eight challenging fixtures - six in the Premier League and two in the Champions League - over a 29-day period leading up to Christmas, starting off with Saturday's clash against Tottenham whom they have beaten just three times in their last 10 league meetings (D2 L5).

After losing all of their last four games away from home, Man City will welcome this weekend's return to the Etihad where they have not lost any of their last 52 matches across all competitions, boasting a 35-game unbeaten home run in the Premier League, with 13 points from a possible 15 available collected so far this season.