Manchester City will have a “creaky time” against Tottenham, admits Pep Guardiola

Guardiola appeared momentarily stunned when asked if this represented “creaky time” for his players and needed his press officer to translate the meaning of Ferguson’s famous phrase to describe those pressure-cooker moments of seasons when fans they are left to shift restlessly in their seats.

Unbeaten in 21 league games since defeat at Aston Villa in early December, City have been relentless in their efficiency and have looked thoroughly unsettled in recent weeks, scoring 15 goals in their last four league outings and conceding just once . But Guardiola insisted there will be nerves at the start.

“Tomorrow we will feel the tension and the nerves, of course,” he said. “Of course I will feel it, otherwise it would be a bad sign. Focus on what they have to do, read what will happen in the game and not be so excited or make bad decisions and make my players a little anxious. Because of my behavior, sometimes it happens – unfortunately for me and the team.”

Former United captain Gary Neville claimed in February that City’s dominance had become “boring”, but this will be the fifth time the club’s quest for an eighth Premier League title has come down to the final day.

City have often faced criticism for the money they have spent en route to their success, while a shadow has hung over the club in the 15 months since they were hit with 115 charges by the Premier League for alleged financial irregularities, on who denies them.

But Guardiola insisted there is nothing dull about City’s success and that if it was down to money alone, United, Chelsea and Arsenal – all of whom have had far higher net spends than City over the past five seasons – should have been more successful.

“Is it boring? It’s not. It’s so difficult,” Guardiola said. “But before you know what it was? It was the money, that’s why: Man United should have won all the titles. All of them. And second Chelsea all the titles .And the third Arsenal. They spent as much money as us. That’s why they shouldn’t be in the Champions League. and Leicester shouldn’t have won the Premier League years ago. It’s boring now. It’s so hard to be here again and we want to win it.”