Pep Guardiola can call on new Man City strength as titanic tussle with Liverpool FC looms

On first viewing there are very few positives to take from Manchester City's 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

Pep Guardiola's side were ripped apart by a combination of an inspired Harry Kane and a clever counter-attacking set-up, while defensively City put in their worst performance for a long time.

It's hard to find upsides in a result that allowed Liverpool to further trim City's lead at the top of the Premier League table, but there was one continuing new trend that should please Guardiola and serve his side well heading into the business end of the season.

The Spurs game might have ended in farce with Kane allowed to head home for a second time inside the penalty area, but City looked like they had rescued a point.

Riyad Mahrez' emphatic penalty in the 92nd minute was the second time that evening that the Blues' had come from behind, following Ilkay Gundogan's strike that cancelled out Dejan Kulusevski's early opener.

Coming from behind is no easy feat, particularly for a team that plays as City do. Such is the power and quality that City have in attacking areas, teams will often sit back and defend after taking the lead against them. When the opposition have a lead to protect, it can be difficult for City to find routes to goal.

In seasons past that has been City's undoing. On other occasions - such as the Champions League final and FA Cup semi-final defeats to Chelsea last season - going a goal down seems to have psychologically impacted Guardiola's side to the point they stopped playing their usual fluid game.

Previously, City going down 1-0 pretty felt like that was that. They would abandon their principles, pepper the penalty area with fruitless crosses and put the result down to a bad day at the