Mourinho demands Spurs perfection as Kane holds key to ending Man City run

Jose Mourinho believes Tottenham must be “perfect” to stop Manchester City racking up a 16th straight win on Saturday, and Harry Kane is poised for a key role.

City’s last defeat in any competition came at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November, when Son Heung-min and Giovani Lo Celso struck to stun Pep Guardiola’s visitors.

What has become a record-breaking run of wins for any English top-flight team began in December, and it appears City are charging towards the Premier League title following last Sunday’s 4-1 thrashing of Liverpool.

Spurs led the way briefly before Christmas, but their season has unravelled and they enter the weekend in eighth spot, already 14 points behind City.

The 5-4 FA Cup defeat at Everton on Wednesday was another jolt and Mourinho’s stewardship is again coming under scrutiny, with the head coach seeking an upturn in momentum.

Mourinho will usually dissect the post-match data of Tottenham’s game, but when presented with the file from the Everton game he recognised it was too bleak an experience to relive.

“I opened and in two seconds I closed it immediately because I didn’t want to go through it,” he said on Friday.

“And I don’t want even to share that with my players.”

Among those players, Mourinho says Kane is fit and well. The England captain came off the bench early for Spurs in the second half at Everton, with his equaliser sending the game into extra time.

An