Manchester City v Tottenham, Premier League: Where to Watch Live, Preview, Betting Odds and Team News

liverpool machester city — Manchester City will aim to repeat their high-scoring antics against Tottenham Hotspur Reuters

Manchester City take on Tottenham Hotspur in an early kick-off at the Etihad stadium on Saturday 18 October, with the reigning Champions seeking to close the gap on Chelsea with a win.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 12:45pm BST. Live coverage will be available on BT Sports 1 and BT Sports 1 HD. Highlights of the game will be available on BBC1's Match Of The Day at 10:30pm BST.

Overview

Manchester City are second in the league, five points behind Chelsea and need a win to keep the pressure on the Blues alive, who are in a good position to be runaway winners. City have drawn two and lost one of their opening seven games, securing late points against both Arsenal and Chelsea while succumbing to a solitary goal against Stoke City.

City's form at home over the years has been impeccable but the loss to Stoke has alleviated the fear factor, something manager Manuel Pellegrini needs to work on if they have to challenge Chelsea for the title. They come into the game on the back of a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Villa Park and will be favourites against a Tottenham side who are still in a transition period following the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino at the helm of affairs at the club.

Meanwhile, Spurs will be bursting with confidence after their 1-0 win over Southampton before the international break. They have reason to be optimistic about their performance in the last few games, keeping Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates and following that up with a win over the third-placed team in the league.

In spite of Tottenham's shaky start, they are in sixth place, above Arsenal and Liverpool by virtue of a solitary point. A win here would take them level on points with City and will be a killer blow to the Manchester club's chances of catching Chelsea to retain their league title.

Hugo Lloris is doubtful for Manchester City clash Getty Images/IAN KINGTON

What Managers Say

Manuel Pellegrini: "Last year one of the best games that we played was against Tottenham away. Here also we played very well but we are not expecting that we can score six or five goals every time we play Tottenham.They are a very strong team. Mauricio Pochettino is a very good manager.

"I'm not saying [Andre] Villas-Boas wasn't in that moment, but really we played our best last season. We hope on Saturday we can do a very good game also. He [Pochettino] is a young manager that was very successful in Spain with Espanyol, it was a team that always played good and attractive football and it was a creative team."

Mauricio Pochettino: "We arrive in a good moment. After our victory against Southampton we need to keep the momentum, to reproduce the same actions and to try to get the three points. It's not important now to think in the past. It's important to look forward. I don't have any concerns about these results [in last season's matches against City]."