Ange Postecoglou has Pep Guardiola's dream Man City player as Tottenham ace takes it personal

Dejan Kulusevski will be licking his lips at the prospect of coming up against Manchester City on Saturday evening. Pep Guardiola, on the other hand, will be desperate to stop the Tottenham ace from inflicting even more misery on his team this weekend.

Last meeting three weeks ago in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, the Swede was to have a pivotal say on the game as Tottenham set up a quarter-final tie against Manchester United following a 2-1 victory in N17. The 24-year-old delivered a dazzling display that evening and registered assists for Timo Werner and Pape Matar Sarr's goals.

Kulusevski was unplayable at times and his quality on the ball coupled with his incredible work rate proved to be something the visitors just couldn't deal with. Guardiola was asked in his post-match press conference about the Tottenham midfielder, stating that Kulusevski is a "really, really good player" and that he likes "everything" about him.

The Stockholm-born star is very much the perfect player for Guardiola's eye-catching team and he would fit seamlessly into the Spaniard's XI. Thankfully for Ange Postecoglou and Spurs, he is a Tottenham player and the best thing is that there is still even more to come from him.

Manchester City, perhaps more than any English club, know about the threat of Kulusevski. The Etihad Stadium has proved to be the perfect stage for the player to demonstrate his qualities over the past three seasons, duly seeing Tottenham dub City's home as "The Dekihad" on their X account on Wednesday afternoon.

Kulusevski has three goals and two assists in his three appearances at the home of the reigning Premier League champions so far, with those numbers possibly set to increase on Saturday evening if he is to have his way once again. His first game as a Tottenham player at Manchester City proved to be an extremely memorable one as he capped off his maiden Spurs start with a goal and an assist in a remarkable 3-2 victory.

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Opening the scoring on four minutes, the player was the architect for the team's last-gasp winner as he teed up Harry Kane with a cross in the 95th minute of the contest. On the scoresheet again the following season with a goal just prior to half-time as Spurs went in 2-0 at the break before eventually losing 4-2, Kulusevski was to haunt Guardiola once more last December.

Starting in a central role - which he is now flourishing in for Tottenham on a consistent basis - due to James Maddison's absence through injury, the ex-Parma loanee teed up Son Heung-min for the opener before then heading home Brennan Johnson's cross in the 90th minute to see Postecoglou's injury-hit side leave with a point following an mesmerising 3-3 draw.

Last month's Carabao Cup win was yet another reminder of just what Kulusevski can do when coming up against the Premier League's best. Speaking after the game, the attacking midfielder revealed that he "takes it personally" when it comes to playing against Guardiola's City team.

“I knew I had to do something important as it’s an amazing game to play against this team," he said, as reported by The Mirror. “I take it personally to play against City, I promised myself that I was going to have a good game and I think I did.”

On his performance after his woes at Crystal Palace a few days before, he added: “It wasn’t about Palace, no, it’s just because it’s City. I love to play against the best because it’s extra-motivating.

“It’s a personal thing, everybody that is close to me knows it and I knew that I was going to shine because I prepared for this game for a long time. I knew I had to perform and I did. I’ve played City away three times and scored three times. There is no fear. In fact, it’s the complete opposite of fear.”

There may well be some fear on Guardiola's part this Saturday going on the Swede's sparkling displays against Man City so far in his Tottenham career. Hopefully the best is to come this weekend as Postecoglou and Spurs look to bounce back from their Ipswich Town horror show just prior to the international break.

Kulusevski has been Tottenham's best player of the 2024/25 campaign by quite some distance and he will be determined to produce another standout showing at a stadium that brings out the very best in him.

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