Statistics do not lie, and the uncomfortable truth for Mauricio Pochettino is that his Tottenham team have won just one away game against their main Premier League title rivals during his 30-month tenure.
Of the 13 away games Spurs have played against Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal since the Argentine took charge, last season’s 2-1 win at the Etihad is his only success.
The rest of the big six have better away records in the major clashes during that period.
Pochettino is well aware that if his free-flowing team are to be challenging for the title come May, those statistics need to change — ideally with another victory against City on Saturday.
"The most important is not the gap we can take [in the table]," said Pochettino.
"The most important thing will be our performance, to show we have improved and learned from last season.
"It will be a very tough game. It is too early to talk about decisive games.
"There are a lot of games ahead.
"For us, it is to try to show that we can be real contenders for the Premier League.
"That is the most important challenge.
"It is more important to show ourselves that we can be a real contender.
"We need to show ourselves that we are capable of dealing with that pressure and achieve big things."
Pochettino needs those away-day blues against Spurs’s main rivals to disappear if he is to avoid another disappointing climax to the season.
