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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has insisted that his team will not be "putting down the red carpet" for Manchester City during their midweek Premier League clash. Fierce cross-city rivals, Arsenal are hoping that Spurs do them a favour by nicking something from City to win the title. 

In the lead-up to the match, there has been significant chatter from Spurs fans who want the team to lose so that Arsenal are unable to win their first league title in almost two decades. However, Postecoglou quashed such sentiments saying the fans will turn up for the win. 

"You think the majority of our fans are not going to want us to win tomorrow night? I don't see it that way. I think the majority of our fans will create the atmosphere they always create at our games," said Postecoglou in the pre-match press conference. 

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'I'm not going to do that'

Quizzed that a proportion of Tottenham fans wanted to lose to stop Arsenal from winning the league, Postecoglou fired a rhetorical question.  

"A proportion of our fans? What does that mean? What proportion? 50 per cent? 20 per cent? One per cent? That's fine, people are allowed to feel the way they do," he added. 

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As for Manchester City's dominance in the league who will be eyeing a fourth consecutive title, the Australian manager said: "They haven't done it yet. That's an important point. But if you think they have then it does become an issue because all of us are just putting down the red carpet for them."

"I'm not going to do that - and I don't think any managers will. It's in the hand of each  individual club to try and break that dominance and create teams that will challenge."

Also read | Premier League: Not a fan of VAR as system complicates matters, says Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou

While Postecoglou wants his team to challenge City, he will be without the services of Richarlison and Yves Bissouma. Both players will be out for the remaining two games of the season.  

Arsenal have a one-point lead over City at the moment, having played a game extra. If City get all three points against Tottenham, they will leapfrog to the front, setting up an exciting final day of the league where only City dropping points will allow Arsenal to win the title. 

City have already won the league twice under Pep with a one-point margin. On both occasions, it was Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool that fell short in the most agonising manner. 

(With inputs from agencies)