Manchester City have been dealt a huge blow ahead of their clash with Tottenham. Pep Guardiola's side are set to welcome Spurs to the Etihad Stadium as the reigning Premier League champions look to force themselves back into the title race.
The home side head into the clash in second; eight points behind table-toppers Arsenal, who extended their lead with a dominant north London derby victory.
Tottenham, who sit fifth and six points behind City, will be eager to bounce back from defeat with a win. However, any points stolen from Guardiola's side will be bitter-sweet, pushing their local rivals closer towards lifting the Premier League at the end of the season.
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Despite this, Conte will have his eyes set only on a win - especially following City's latest injury update. According to Sky Sports News, Kevin De Bruyne was absent from training, while Ruben Dias and John Stones returned to action.
The reason for De Bruyne's absence remains to be seen. Speaking to the press after Tottenham's defeat to Arsenal, Conte claimed that only City have the ability to stop the Gunners from lifting the prestigious trophy.
The Italian said: "About the performance, I'm not disappointed. I'm not disappointed because we knew the game could be really difficult because Arsenal are a really strong team, and also tonight showed they deserve to stay top of the league.
"They deserve to be title contenders. In my opinion, Arsenal and City, they are the only two teams that can fight for the Premier League in this season.
"Now we have to move on. We know that on Thursday we have to go to play another difficult game against City, against the other team I consider will fight for the title."
The day prior, after City lost to United, Guardiola ruled his side out of title contention before later clarifying his comments. The Spaniard said: "Come on, of course I care who wins the Premier League.
"But right now, after Southampton, if we don't win, we don't win. We're not going to win everything for the next 25 years. We fight, because we saw [against United] we're going to fight and play to win, but sometimes football is like that. You don't."
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