City vs Spurs - Mauricio's preview

Mauricio Pochettino wants to build on the momentum of recent performances and results against Arsenal and Southampton as we travel to City on Saturday.

We’ve put together a four-match unbeaten run since the loss at home to West Brom and Mauricio was particularly pleased with the spirit on display at Arsenal and the team’s all-round performance in beating the Saints 1-0 last time out.

Now we travel to the Etihad for a 12.45pm kick-off and a meeting with reigning champions City, who sit second in the Premier League with one defeat in seven.

“We expect a tough game but we are confident in our skill and we’ll go to Manchester to try to get the points,” said Mauricio.

“We need to reproduce the same feeling and the same style we had against Southampton, to try to take that momentum and put it into practice against City.

“We are confident after the win against Southampton. We know we have a strong team in front of us but the most important thing is to follow our style and philosophy.”

Mauricio knows all about the strong Argentinian influence at City including Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis and faced manager Manuel Pellegrini numerous times during his spell at Espanyol, when Pellegrini was at Villareal, Real Madrid and Malaga.

“Manuel is a very good manager. We have a good relationship. I’m happy for him,” added Mauricio.

“I know the Argentina players and I know the squad, unbelievable players. Zabaleta was my team-mate at Espanyol and I know him well. Aguero and Demichelis are players of big quality. City have a strong squad and as I said, we expect a tough game.”