Man City v Spurs winning and losing minutes

With news that Dele Alli is OK after his bout of dizziness and available to play against Manchester City at the weekend I have been looking at different angles.

While I like a bet and make money each football season I don't bet on Tottenham, that doesn't mean I don't apply the same metrics to our game. Statistics as well as instinct play their part, but it is statistics that generally hold sway, particularly how team fare home and away.

In a previous post I looked at just that and in this post I have looked at how long each side is winning or losing. Tottenham have never been more than one goal behind this season and have only spent just over 200 minutes in a losing position.

Manchester City
Losing by 3 for 59 mins
Losing by 2 for 204 mins
Losing by 1 for 255 mins
Scores level for 989 mins
Winning by 1 for 346 mins
Winning by 2 for 189 mins
Winning by 3 for 166 mins
Winning by 4 for 14 mins
Winning by 5 for 28 mins

Tottenham Hotspur
Losing by 3 for 0 mins
Losing by 2 for 0 mins
Losing by 1 for 208 mins
Scores level for 1,290 mins
Winning by 1 for 361 mins
Winning by 2 for 281 mins
Winning by 3 for 76 mins
Winning by 4 for 31 mins
Winning by 5 for 0 mins

Manchester City at home
Average shots for 15.6, against 9.3
Average shots on target for 5.0, against 2.9
Time spent Winning 212 Drawing 628 Losing 240

Tottenham Hotspur away
Average shots for 15.4, against 10.9
Average shots on target for 5.9, against 2.7
Time spent Winning 320 Drawing 582 Losing 178

Let's hope we don't add to the losing time and add considerably to the time spent winning.

We have had a full week to prepare for the game, as have they. Their last result means nothing and this game is just another three points, it carries the same reward as the Watford game. The players have to stay focused and do a professional job, getting carried away with the occasions would dimish our chances.

The season doesn't end this week, we have been in this position before and bottled the run-in. This group seem to have the mental side of the game that previous squads were lacking. It is the beginning of crunch time for them and for Pochettino such is the impact this weekend could have.

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