Nervous? Not a chance - Mauricio Pochettino says he is relishing the chance of taking on Manchester City

Mauricio Pochettino is relishing the prospect of taking on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and said that his team are going to go to City believing they can win, with the same brave attitude they showed at Real Madrid.

Spurs ground out a 2-0 win over Brighton on Wednesday night but they will face a very different game on Saturday against a City team who have won 15 straight in the league. Pochettino confirmed afterwards they will go on the offensive even against the in-form team in the world.

“I am a positive person, I am so happy because we won,” Pochettino said afterwards. “What is going to happen on Saturday, who knows. I am positive. We go to Manchester to try to win, thinking that we can win. Then football is football, anything can happen.”

Spurs got a 2-2 draw at the Etihad last year as well as beating City 2-0 at White Hart Lane, and Pochettino said they would push for the win again this season. “We are going to enjoy it,” Pochettino said.

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“It’s a fantastic challenge to play against Manchester City. We are going to play with I think this year the best team in England, one of the best teams in Europe, I am so excited to play. Because I love to play against teams, against managers like Guardiola, that they are the best. I am so positive, I am so motivated and I am so happy we are going to play.”

Pochettino left Dele Alli on the bench this evening and confirmed that he was as frustrated as any player would be to not be starting. “How did react Mousa Dembele, how react another player in Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool when they are on the bench,” Pochettino responded, when asked how Alli reacted.

“No-one is happy [to be on the bench]. The youngsters and the senior players. The more experienced, the people that have massive salaries, and the people that have small salaries. That is football. Sure he’s not happy. But like another player, Trippier, Ben Davies, everyone that was on the bench wanted to play.”