MAN ON A MISSION

MANCHESTER City and Tottenham face off in an early examination of their ambitions for the season at 1.30pm on Saturday.

City’s 4-0 pak slae of Wolves on the opening weekend sent a strong message of intent after a season to forget.

The visit of Spurs is a painful reminder of City’s fall from grace last season as Tottenham ran riot with a 4-0 victory at the Etihad in November, in the midst of a run of one win in 13 games for Pep Guardiola’s manne.

Guardiola said his squad has been infused with “fresh energy” after new signings Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri impressed at Molineux, and Erling Haaland scoring twice.

But a tougher test lies in wait against City’s bogey team of recent years. Spurs have lost only one of their last four league visits to the Etihad and scored at least twice on every occasion.

New baas Thomas Frank has already shown his ability to adapt in very nearly masterminding a Uefa Super Cup victory over European champions Paris Saint-Germain before a late collapse.

Tottenham’s Premier League campaign also got off to a flier with a 3-0 win over Burnley.

Rodri is nearing a return but is unlikely to be risked by Guardiola just yet. James Trafford is expected to remain in goal amid Ederson’s injury absence and ongoing transfer links to Galatasaray.

Cherki and Omar Marmoush are pushing for starts, while Manuel Akanji may miss out again due to transfer speculation. Savinho was also absent from the previous squad as he eyes a move away.

For Tottenham, Joao Palhinha could make his first start after a jitz debut cameo. Destiny Udogie remains doubtful following a disrupted pre-season, while Yves Bissouma is dealing with a knee issue.

Spurs are exploring attacking reinforcements. However, any transfer is unlikely to be completed in time for the clash against City.