Tottenham Hotspur will aim to become the first side to beat Manchester City in the Premier League this season when they head to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Citizens have accrued a record 15 wins on the bounce and dropped just two points all season, earning themselves the tag of arguably being the division's greatest-ever side.
Manchester City
© Offside
Swansea City's Paul Clement was the latest beaten boss to heap praise on the runaway leaders, stating after Wednesday night's 4-0 defeat at the Liberty Stadium that Man City are "one of the best sides" he has ever come across.
No wonder, with the Citizens maintaining their impressive scoring rate that has seen them net at least twice in their last 10 matches and 52 in all - an average of more than three a game across their 17 fixtures.
Everton remain the only side to have taken anything from Pep Guardiola's men this term, with that 1-1 draw in August looking more impressive by the week, while Chelsea are the only other team to restrict the pacesetters to just the one goal.
Whether it is taking teams apart, which proved to be the case in South Wales on Wednesday night, or turning on the style late on in matches, City have a knack of getting the job done no matter what is thrown at them.
Their record speaks for itself, of course, with 15 wins in a row setting a new Premier League record and, going back to last season's FA Cup semi-finals, they have lost just one of their last 31 competitive matches - that loss coming in a dead rubber away to Shakhtar Donetsk last week.
As well as boasting the best attack in the division, scoring five more than closest challengers Manchester United, the two-time Prem champs also have the joint-best defensive record after shipping just 11 times.
The clean sheet away to Swansea was their first in five matches, however, with the mounting injury problems at the back perhaps starting to take their toll on Guardiola's charges.
Worryingly for the chasing pack, City have an 11-point lead and a nice run of festive games to come after this one, meaning that the gap could well get bigger before spring arrives.
Recent form in Premier League: WWWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWLWW
Tottenham Hotspur
© SilverHub
While City have been consistent throughout the campaign, Spurs have struggled to build momentum - a four-game winning run aside - and are now 18 points adrift of their opponents ahead of this pick of the weekend fixtures.
Boss Mauricio Pochettino is remaining positive, claiming that his side will be "more competitive" in the remaining five months of the season following Erik Lamela's injury recovery and the impending return of Victor Wanyama.
Pochettino would love to rotate his squad more often, with the likes of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen looking jaded at times this term, but it remains to be seen whether the former Southampton boss will bring in new recruits in January.
Back-to-back Premier League wins have at least helped to improve the mood around Wembley, where the Lilywhites have won five of their last six top-flight matches to put an end to any hoodoo talk, while also overcoming Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund there.
Pocking up points on their travels is becoming more of a problem, in fact, as they have taken just one from a possible 12 against Manchester United, Arsenal, Leicester City and Watford.
Not since September 30 when running riot at Huddersfield Town have Spurs picked up victory away from home, which does not bode well ahead of their trickiest test of the campaign to date.
Pochettino insists that his player are in a "positive" mood ahead of the match, however, having won successive league matches this week for the first time since October to move into fourth place in what is shaping up to be another tight battle for a Champions League spot.
Tottenham have bigger aspirations these days than simply finishing in the top four, though, so claiming a point from Man City will be on the agenda on Saturday evening.
Recent form in Premier League: LDLDWW
Recent form (all competitions): DLDWWW
Team News
© Offside
City remain without defenders Benjamin Mendy, John Stones and Vincent Kompany, though Guardiola does not appear to have any fresh injury concerns on the back of the win over Swansea.
The Citizens are expected to welcome back Leroy Sane and Kyle Walker, with both given a breather in midweek, but there is a decision to be made over who to play up front.
Despite boasting an impressive record against Spurs, Sergio Aguero is likely to be overlooked in favour of Gabriel Jesus as Guardiola continues with his rotation policy.
Wanyama, out since the opening month of the season, is still not ready to return to action and Tottenham will also be without Toby Alderweireld until February at the earliest.
Davinson Sanchez is the other big-name absentee due to a three-match ban, so Eric Dier is expected to continue in the heart of defence alongside Jan Vertonghen.
Pochettino has the luxury of rotating in the full-back department for each game, meaning likely returns for Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies, while Dele is in line to feature from the off.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Mangala, Otamendi, Delph, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling, Jesus, Sane
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Trippier, Dier, Vertonghen, Davies; Winks, Dembele, Eriksen; Son, Ali; Kane
Head To Head
Man City have failed to win any of the last four meetings between the two sides, losing three and drawing one since their last victory in May 2015.
The most recent encounter finished 2-2 at the start of the year, with the Lilywhites recovering from a couple of goals down in the second half.
City have scored at least two goals in six of their last seven home matches against Tottenham in all competitions, meanwhile - the exception being a 2-1 win for the Londoners in the 2015-16 campaign.
We say: Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs have a decent record against Man City in recent times and they also head into the match on the back of three wins in a week, but the Citizens simply look unstoppable at the moment. In what is their last big test of 2017, three more points for Guardiola's men will further cement their status as arguably the Premier League's greatest-ever side.
Daniel Lewis
