Both teams didn't concede in their opening fixtures, with Spurs winning 3-0 at home to Burnley due in no small part to Richarlison's spectacular overhead kick, whilst City eased to a 4-0 win over Wolves with new signing Tijjani Reijnders head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch.
Thomas Frank and Pep Guardiola couldn't have been more delighted by the performances of their respective sides, and with both keeping a clean sheet, City are only on top by virtue of scoring one more goal.
It meant that City carried on an unbeaten run that began in April (W8, D2), and in that time, they've picked up more points (26) than any other team in the English top-flight.
They also kept seven clean sheets in that run and conceded the least amount of shots per game (7.6).
Tottenham have only lost once in their last four visits to Man City
The hosts will have to be on their guard, however, as the Lilywhites have won on two of their last four visits to the Etihad Stadium, drawing one and losing the other. That's as good a record as their previous 11 visits to the north west giants.
Furthermore, Guardiola has lost nine games against Spurs in his career - including two defeats last season - with only Liverpool beating his teams on more occasions (10).
Indeed, the memories of a 4-0 home loss in the league during 2024/25 should provide more than enough motivation for the hosts ahead of Saturday's game.
Of all of the teams that Pep has faced more than 10 times during his career, Tottenham are one of three where he has won fewer than half of those games. To date, he has 11 wins from 23 games against the North Londoners (48%), whilst 13 wins in 27 games against Real Madrid also give him a 48% share.
His Achilles Heel by far is Liverpool, against whom he has won just six games from 24 fixtures (25%).
Thomas Frank could make it an unwanted hat-trick for Pep
Frank will be looking to add to his woes and help Spurs win their first two games of a Premier League season since 2021/22.
The Dane has his side playing well and with confidence already, albeit he will be aware that Tottenham haven't won in 11 games against non-newly promoted sides (D2 L9). Their last victory in this regard came in a 1-0 win over Man Utd in February.
Frank will surely have his 2-1 win at the Etihad in 2022 when manager of Brentford in mind when constructing a game plan which, should it prove to be a winning one, would mean he would become one of only three managers to win there with two different teams. Antonio Conte (Chelsea and Spurs) and Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid and Man Utd) are the others.
Importantly, Spurs haven't won two consecutive games at Man City since 2010, so despite a decent recent record, another away win isn't a foregone conclusion.
That said, City haven't won consecutive league games against the North Londoners since they managed four on the trot between December 2017 and April 2019.
Haaland looking for yet another record
The visitors will certainly have to keep Erling Haaland at bay as he looks to grab the two goals that would give him 50 in his first 49 home league games for the Cityzens.
Currently, the Norwegian has an astonishing 48 home goals in 48 games, and were he to get the record, he would become only the second player to do so in Premier League history.
Even if the striker doesn't get amongst the goals, they are virtually guaranteed. The last four Premier League games between the two teams have seen 21 goals scored (12 for Spurs, nine for City) and at least two goals scored by the visitors in each of those four games.
New signings on show at the Etihad
The match will give the home support the first chance to see all of the new signings in situ, and to witness first-hand how well they've integrated into the first-team set-up.
For Tottenham, Mo Kudus has already shown how easily he has found it to complement the skill sets of his teammates, and his partnership with Richarlison paid early dividends in the Burnley fixture.
Being the early kick-off on Saturday, the hosts could well build up a gap between themselves and the teams below them, even if for just a few hours.
Another dominant performance would at least signal their intent this season, whilst a win for Spurs might have the North London faithful dreaming of even more success in 2025/26.
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