Ruben Dias pictured among Manchester City squad en route London for Tottenham clash | OneFootball

Manchester City have been handed a major boost for their Premier League clash with Tottenham on Sunday evening after Ruben Dias was pictured amongst the travelling contingent from the Etihad Stadium.

City are aiming for a third successive win after recent triumphs against Wolves and Galatasaray, the latter helping the Blues secure direct qualification to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 and crucially avoiding the play-off stage of the tournament.

The Blues were handed a renewed lifeline in the title race last week as Arsenal suffered a shock 3-2 defeat against Manchester United 24 hours after City claimed a 2-0 win over Wolves, though the Gunners have restored a seven point lead at the top of the table after a 4-0 beating of Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola is dealing with a long list of injury absentees as his side vie for silverware on four fronts in the second half of the season, with Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Savinho missing the last few weeks of action.

City have slowly recovered from a poor start to 2026 that saw them begin the calendar year with three successive Premier League draws – against Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton – a period that saw Dias and Gvardiol succumb to injuries and force club officials to recall Max Alleyne from loan at Watford and sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace.

Guehi started on his Manchester City debut against Wolves last week and led the Blues to a much-needed shoutout, with fellow January signing Antoine Semenyo also registering a third goal in his first fortnight in City colours since joining from Bournemouth for £64 million.

City will be hoping to cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table back to four points with victory over Tottenham and Thomas Frank in north London on Sunday evening, having gained momentum with back-to-back victories over Wolves and Galatasaray.

Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki were on the scoresheet for Guardiola in midweek, with Semenyo and Guehi expected to return to the starting XI at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after being ineligible against Galatasaray due to UEFA squad registration rules.

In a major boost to Guardiola, Dias has been spotted among the Manchester City contingent travelling to London from Manchester Piccadilly, though it remains to be seen whether the Portugal international will even make the matchday squad.

Dias has endured a difficult week after his Cheshire residence was burgled into on Wednesday night, with the 28-year-old still recovering from an injury sustained against Chelsea on January 4.

Guardiola is unlikely to throw Dias back into the lineup in a high-stakes fixture such as against Tottenham, who are entering the game off the back of a 2-0 UEFA Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek that sealed an impressive fourth place finish for the north Londoners in the group stage.

Guehi is expected to start in central defence, with Abdukodir Khusanov also in line to retain his place after a stellar run of performances that will instil great confidence in Guardiola over the Uzbekistan international’s quality and prospects in the first-team for the years to come.