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Postecoglou says Man City slump underlines their 'extraordinary' quality / Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS - AFP/File
NYSE - LSE
Postecoglou says Man City slump underlines their 'extraordinary' quality
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says it is no surprise Manchester City have dropped from their "unprecedented standard" following a record run of four successive English titles.
Postecoglou's side face faltering champions City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday as they look to beat their opponents for the third time this season.
Spurs' 2-1 win in the League Cup in October was City's first loss of the campaign and the start of a woeful run of nine defeats in 12 matches.
Guardiola's side are now fourth in the table, a huge 20 points behind leaders Liverpool.
"It looks like they're going through a rough trot at the moment but that's because of the unbelievable standards they have set since Pep has been there," Postecoglou told a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
"I think it's just a way of elite sport, you know and it just sheds light on how extraordinary they have been.
"The fact that they did win four in a row and the consistency of that four in a row of just the sheer numbers they accumulated in terms of points, in terms of goals, in terms of wins, just competing on all (fronts), it's just an unbelievable and probably unprecedented standard that they set."
The Australian, whose Spurs team are 12th in the table, added: "And it's only natural that that's never going to continue forever, I mean that's just not sustainable."
Spurs' Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero remain sidelined, with Ben Davies also set to miss out against City, leaving Kevin Danso and out-of-position youngster Archie Gray continuing at the heart of the north London club's defence.
Spurs, however, were also missing key personnel when they won 4-0 at the Etihad in November.
"They will have times in the game where they take control and it's how we deal with that and cope with that. We've done that not too bad in the games we've played against them and for us that will be the challenging bit," said Postecoglou.
"When we have our moments, we have to show quality. I know we beat them and the scoreline sounds convincing at their place, but it was the quality of our finishing that was the difference.
"I love coming up against Pep's teams and am looking forward to it."
Z.Franke--BlnAP
