Can Guardiola find a way to beat Pochettino in Round 4?

Man City and Tottenham go head to head for the fourth and final time this season. Mauricio Pochettino has had the better of Pep Guardiola in recent weeks, but that could all change in another huge game in the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino are preparing to play each other for the fourth time this season. We will talk about the Champions League game between Man City and Tottenham for years to come. It was a game that had everything, including VAR. Man City must lick their wounds, pick themselves up and prepare for the next battle, the all-important Premier League title.

A repeat of Tuesday night’s 4-3 thriller is not likely, nor could anyone cope with the stress and anxiety of another rollercoaster shootout.  Guardiola can rely on a strong squad. Mauricio Pochettino will be without Harry Kane. Moussa Sissoko is a doubt for the game.

Aymeric Porte had a poor game on Tuesday night, Guardiola might opt to leave the Frenchman out of the game. I asked about whether Guardiola got his tactics wrong at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal; it appears that he did. Pep must pick his players up from a cruel exit in the Champions League, as another title is on the line this weekend.

Competition for places in the Man City midfield is fierce. Fernandinho and Leroy Sané came off the bench in midweek, but I believe the midfield pair should start on Saturday. Fernandinho will provide the assurance in midfield, Sané will give City options in the final third. Riyad Mahrez hasn’t lived up to his £60m price tag, the 28-year-old has made 26 league appearances, 13 of which have been from the bench. Those statistics say a lot about where Mahrez features in Pep’s plans.

Guardiola will do what he feels is the right thing to do ahead of the game with Tottenham, but another poor result will raise questions. City will feel that they were hard done by in midweek, however, they had 180 minutes to win the tie against Spurs. There weren’t excuses, it’s not the Guardiola way.

Man City have two things in their favour, the form of Raheem Sterling and Sergio Agüero. Odds of 12/1 for Sterling to win the Premier League golden boot could turn out to be a bookies nightmare. The England forward has been phenomenal this season, Spurs will be glad to see the back of him.

Nobody in the Man City dressing room will mind who picks up the individual accolades, the quadruple is over, but the triple is still on the cards. Can Guardiola rally his players and get his tactics right? We don’t have long to find out, the world is watching Pep to see if he can engineer a positive result in the title race.