Tottenham Hotspur have the opportunity to set a rare English footballing feat when they welcome Manchester City to North London on Wednesday night.
Ange Postecoglou's side have recorded many peculiar results this season, suffering some embarrassing defeats to relegation-threatened sides, while also beating some of the best sides in the country.
The most eye-catching win was their 4-0 success away to Man City in the reverse fixture back in November, and they will now enter the rematch on the back of three straight league wins - the longest ongoing streak in the Premier League.
It will also be their third meeting with Pep Guardiola's men this season, and it will offer them the opportunity to do something no club in English football history has managed before.
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Spurs to create history against Man City on Wednesday?
With two wins over Manchester City and three over Manchester United across all competitions this season, Spurs could become the first team to beat the two Manchester heavyweights three times each in the same campaign.
Postecoglou has already overseen a 4-0 thrashing in the Premier League, as well as an impressive 2-1 win in the EFL Cup at the fourth round stage back in October.
If it was to happen though, then a season in which both of the clubs from Manchester are enduring great struggles seems the most likely.
Man United's shortcomings are well documented, and they were exposed by Spurs at Old Trafford back in September, when Postecoglou's side won 3-0 in what was one of the final nails in Erik ten Hag's coffin.
Ruben Amorim had arrived by the time the two faced off in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup in mid-December, and Spurs were victorious again, winning a seven-goal thriller by the odd goal, and they repeated the feat in more low-key affair just over a week ago, winning 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Further records on the line at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Achieving this feat against just one of the Manchester clubs would be impressive, never mind both, given that Man City are the current reigning four-time English champions.
The last team to win three games in a campaign against the reigning English champions were Man United, against their city rivals in the 2019-20 season, and after those wins in the league and the EFL Cup, Spurs could repeat that feat here.
The last time Spurs managed that feat was exactly 40 years ago, in the 1984-85 season against Liverpool, who, like City, conceded their grip on the title that season.
Spurs enter the midweek set of fixtures down in 12th, and cannot move any higher, even with a win, but if results go their way, the gap to the top eight could close to six points.
Andrew Delaney
