Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players to take their chance to make history remain on course for a record fourth successive Premier League title by beating Tottenham Hotspur.

Instead, they tend to go to Guardiola. He is two wins away from joining George Ramsay and Bob Paisley in the group of managers who have won the English title six times, with only Ferguson ahead of them. And not even he did it four times in four seasons.

Pep Guardiola says the prospect of Manchester City becoming the first English club in history to win four consecutive league titles has “ignited something in all our heads” as he challenged his players to seize a moment he believes will never come again.