LONDON -- Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino has played down the importance of this weekend's two top-of-the-table Premier League matches, insisting they will not prove "decisive" in the title race.
Second-place Spurs are a point ahead of Sunday's opponents Manchester City and level on points with rivals Arsenal, who host runaway leaders Leicester City. The Foxes currently boast a five-point cushion at the summit.
The results of both matches could go a long way to deciding the destination of the Premier League trophy but Pochettino played down the significance of Sunday's action.
When asked in a news conference what result he wanted from Leicester's trip to Emirates Stadium, Pochettino replied: "It's not important. It's important to be focused on our game. We have a lot of games ahead. After Sunday, if different results happen, nothing changes. There's still a lot of games to play."
He added: "It's not decisive. It's important but it's not the last game. We know, and they know, we're in a position of having 13 games ahead. We're going into the more important period of the league."
Spurs have not taken a point from the Etihad Stadium since 2010 -- when Harry Redknapp's team sealed Champions League football with an historic 1-0 win -- but Pochettino's side hammered Manchester City 4-1 in September.
The Spurs boss said the victory was key in giving his young squad confidence: "It was a very important game, a very important victory for us. It gave us more belief and trust in our quality. It was one of the most important games."
He said Spurs' recent record at the Etihad was inconsequential, however, adding: "The past isn't important. The level that we are now is important. The team believes we can win and now we only need to show we can win.
"We are confident, we trust in ourselves. Football is football -- it's important to show we're better than them. We expect a very tough game because Manchester City have very good players."
Spurs have suffered heavy defeats at City in the past two seasons, with the hosts beating Andre Villas-Boas' Tottenham 6-0 before Pochettino's team lost 4-1 at City last term after four goals -- including two penalties -- from Sergio Aguero.
Pochettino said it was a "bad" result but said could not guarantee that it would not happen for a third time.
"It's impossible to ensure it doesn't happen again," he said. "Every game is different with different circumstances and you cannot guess what will happen. One thing is sure: we are confident, we go to Manchester to try to win the game. First we play well, perform well and try to win and take the three points. This is our objective but we can't guess what'll happen on Sunday."
Tottenham MP David Lammy said this week that former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson described Pochettino as the best manager in the Premier League but the Argentine dismissed the comments as "rumours," and said the same about reports Christian Eriksen is set for a new contract.
The former Southampton boss refused to comment on Harry Kane's suggestion that Spurs had got rid of their "bad eggs" but he admitted he was currently enjoying the best period of his managerial career.
The Spurs boss has no fresh injury concerns for City, with Jan Vertonghen and Clinton Njie the only absentees. He said that six players -- Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Ryan Mason, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Kane -- met up with England boss Roy Hodgson for a meeting on Thursday.