Spurs vs Man City preview
Manchester City will want to reaffirm their status as title favourites with a win when they visit the White Hart Lane for a league encounter with Tottenham on Saturday.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men suffered their first set-back of the new Premier League season when they lost 1-2 to West Ham last weekend. The Citizens responded with a resounding 1-4 thumping of Sunderland in their Capital One Cup third-round tie on Tuesday.
City are now just two points above Manchester United, who host a beleaguered Sunderland side this weekend, so Pellegrini’s men will be aware that losing their early kick-off encounter could allow their neighbours to overtake them at the top of the league.
But history would suggest the Citizens will collect maximum points from this trip because they have won eight of their last nine meetings with Spurs. Sergio Aguero, who is still getting back to his best, will hope to extend his excellent record against the Lilywhites.
The Argentinian forward scored 10 goals in his last seven games against Spurs, including four when these sides met at the beginning of last season.
Tottenham will be looking to bounce back from a bitter cup exit after they were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by their north London rivals Arsenal on Wednesday.
Spurs’ performances have been okay in the Premier League, but they were initially unfortunate with the results so Pochettino’s men need to rise up the table becaused they are currently ninth in the table; five places behind the coveted fourth-place.
There are promising signs for Tottenham, especially for the future, because they defeated Crystal Palace with a very young side with an average age of 24. Tottenham also have the in-form Heung-Min Son, who is taking the goalscoring load off Harry Kane. Son, Spurs’ current top goalscorer, is fresh after featuring late in the north London derby defeat.
Tottenham Hotspur team news
- Nabil Bentaleb will miss out again because of an ankle injury.
- Ryan Mason (knee) and Mousa Dembele (ankle) have been nursing injuries recently and could miss out as well.
Manchester City team news
- Pellegrini missed eight players through injury when he took his Citizens to the Stadium of Light and the City boss could have a lengthy injury list again.
- Vincent Kompany, David Silva (both calf), Kelechi Iheanacho (groin), Pablo Zabaleta (knee), Wilfried Bony, Samir Nasri (both knocks) and Eliaquim Mangala (muscular) are all doubts.
- Fabien Delph (hamstring) and Gael Clichy (ankle) are definitely out.
Spurs vs Man City prediction
Hugo Lloris and the back0four that has done fairly well this season should return to Spurs’ starting XI, while Eric Dier and Dele Alli start as central midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Alli is likely to be the one freed to push on and support play through the middle, with Dier remaining as the sitter.
Erik Lamela and Son could be the inverted wingers, drifting inside from the flanks, while Christian Eriksen floats between the lines looking to support Kane.
Silva could return to his usual number 10 role, which will probably mean Kevin De Bruyne will operate as a right attacking midfielder. Yaya Toure is expected to break forward from central midfield, leaving Fernandinho behind to protect the central defenders.
Since De Bruyne likes to influence the game by making infield runs and Raheem Sterling tends to make diagonal runs inside to attack the inside left channel from the flank, Aleksandar Kolarov and Bacary Sagna will have to commit to the offensive half to add width to City’s attack.
Aguero’s performance will be interesting here because while he generally shines against the Lilywhites, he has not been at his best this season. His finishing was below-par against West Ham last weekend and the former Atletico forward seemed hesitant to take shots with his weaker left foot at Sunderland.
On the flip-side, Tottenham have the second best defensive record in the league, mainly because of the rock solid partnership of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. Will Aguero get the better of these Belgians?
Score prediction
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Manchester City
